I first wanted bangs when I was 6 years old. It was the mid-80's, and my little sister had a blunt fringe that would have made Jane Birkin jealous. (She also had hair as thick and straight as heavy drapery.) I begged my mom for bangs, but she made it clear that with my round face and curly hair it would never happen. No way. Zero chance.

Fast-forward 24 years: After abandoning my obsession with bangs for most of my life, it's suddenly back. I'm in love with Zooey Deschanel's hair on "New Girl" and I can't stop thinking about Dakota Johnson's fringe. But my anti-bang traits haven't changed much in two decades: I still have a round face, and my hair is as curly as ever.

Then I got an email that did change everything: Butterfly Studio Salon in New York City opened a "bang bar" for clip-in bangs where a stylist matches you with the right color and bang shape. I made an appointment immediately.

Skip ahead to see if my clip-in bangs look real.

A few days later, I arrived at the Bang Bar and sat down with hairstylist Lawrence Martinez. I told him my sad history with bangs. And after proclaiming that my mother was completely wrong (sorry, Mom), Martinez set out to find my ideal fringe and a style that would work for me.

Here's the diary of my bang-ification -- and some surprising tips about fringe I learned along the way.

Although my hair is naturally curly, the texture is fine so the curls fall out easily. I generally wear my hair wavy like this. Martinez moves my usual side part over to the middle -- a more modern look when paired with bangs.

The Butterfly Studio Bang Bar is tucked away in a side room of the salon. It feels intimate -- like a VIP lounge just for fringe.

There's a huge wall of inspiration photos at the Bang Bar -- we're talking old-school Pinterest, here. Before getting bangs, Martinez recommends looking for a celeb with a face shape similar to yours who has bangs. If you like her shape and style, bring the photo to the salon. This will ensure that you don't end up with wispy bangs when what you really want is a blunt fringe.

When I sit down at the Bang Bar, Martinez selects two different sets of clip-in bangs that match my hair color. One is wispy and longer on the sides, and the other is heavier and cut straight across. We decide on the blunt version because the straight line breaks up my round face instead of highlighting it.

Then, he takes two small sections of hair on either side of my part and secures them behind my ears with bobby pins -- this creates a stable base on which to clip the bangs. He secures the bangs with their built-in clips and trims them to fit my face.

If you're not in New York, you can still do this at home: The bangs at Butterfly are Hairdo by Ken Paves Clip-in Bangs, $26.50. I also like Wow Bangs by LUXHAIR, $20.95.