Face Shapes: Ultimate Guide {how to determine face shape} (original) (raw)

Whether you’re shopping for a new frame of glasses, wondering what makeup might make you shine, or you’ve just stumbled upon this article while doom-scrolling, I’m here to tell you all about face shapes. They are potentially the missing puzzle in your holy trinity of style components (body shape, color, and… you guessed it, face shape!).

You might have stumbled down the Kibbe rabbit hole only to be convinced your body is a wildly different type from your face. So then you moved on to Kitchener’s essences, only to find a massive blend that you’re not quite sure how to make “work”.

Style systems and concepts, especially ones that focus on yin/yang or lines of the body and face are tools for you to begin to see yourself more objectively AND with more love. What you once perceived as a flaw, or as a hindrance, becomes an eye-opening revelation that you now love and embrace (with time of course.. I mean this isn’t pure magic).

There are 7 main face shapes that I will explain fully, but just so you have an idea of the options, here they are:

• Round Face Shape
• Oblong Face Shape (also called rectangular face shape)
• Oval Face Shape
• Triangle Face Shape (also called pear face shape)
• Diamond Face Shape
• Heart Face Shape
• Square Face Shape

So where do the face shapes fit into your pursuit of an authentic and flattering personal style?

Determining your face shape can help you begin to see what harmonizes with your natural anatomy and how to work WITH your features instead of against them.

This isn’t about trying to contour round cheeks to razor-sharp angles or capture those ever-popular straight eyebrows and hunter’s eyes. Instead, it’s about understanding the natural lines of your face and seeing your unique beauty.

So before we dive into the 7 different face type characteristics, how to determine your face shape, and alllll the recommendations I can throw at you in one article, I want to first talk about drawing. Yes, drawing.

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The Lines of The Face and Communication

So before you start staring at your face and measuring random distances between your features, let’s talk about the basics. The lines and shapes of your face ultimately make up your face shape and your overall impression.

We are on a journey of self-awareness and learning how to hone our “style toolbox” so that getting dressed becomes an easy process of our most authentic self (lofty goal, I know!)

What is a Style Toolbox? A set of foundational fashion knowledge and style systems that you like to apply to your authentic personal style. How and when you use each tool(s) depends on the outfit goals of the day.

Gabrielle Arruda

And I encourage you to consider adding your face shape knowledge to your style toolbox. Hence, this article.

Now, back to lines and drawing. Cartoonists and caricature artists are essentially masterminds at understanding face lines and shapes. They know exactly what shapes to use to exude the essence of a character, and they know what features to emphasize to turn up the volume while maintaining the resemblance.

Now, you don’t have to be religious to have seen how Santa Claus is drawn. Lots of round shapes, cupid bow lips, laugh wrinkles, a turned-up nose with a round bulb at the end of it, and a large iris shape that feels compassionate and warm.

Just look at the below drawing. It’s all round shapes.

Now, take a different style of drawing like Maleficent. Yes, she’s not real and has horns… But every part of her face is sharp, angular, severe, intense.

I mean just imagine Santa Claus drawn with the angular lines of Maleficent? Not… who I want coming down my chimney on December 25th 😉

We are not, in any way, saying round or sharp is good or bad. But rather we are striving for self-awareness to see the shapes we have in our faces and what they communicate to the world.

With this knowledge, we are not trying to make a square box roll. We are trying to harmonize!

Lines and shapes are like a universal language, and once you begin to see them and appreciate them your personal style can blossom. Notice I said “see them” and not “overly obsess and fall into a 5-year rabbit hole”.

Universal Lines and Seasonal Color Analysis

If you’ve been deep-diving into your seasonal colors you’ll notice that shapes are often mentioned in conjunction with each season. (Don’t take this as a hard and fast rule, it’s a general association!)

Spring: Triangles

• communicated fun and excitement

Summer: Circles

• communicates grace, smoothness, youthfulness

Autumn: Squares

• communicates comfort, practicality, and rebirth

Winter: Ovals

• communicates balance, sophistication, and regalness

These 4 shapes are also the shapes we examine within our Faces. So we have an outer face shape (which we get to shortly), but we also need to pay attention to shapes within our face.

Facial Feature Shapes:

Oval Shapes: Still, Set, Balance

Circular Shapes: Soften, Curve, Blend

Square Shapes: Natural, Enrich

Triangular Shapes: Accent, Animate

Just like with other style systems we are trying to merge our design details and our style lines with our natural features.

So the spacing and shape of your face’s actual features impact your outfit just as much as your face shape.

Facial Features and Style + Accessorizing

The space between your features, the shapes of your face and features, and your overall scale all influence how you “pull off” certain looks and why something might be a winner while other trends or styles just don’t seem to “work”.

Think about the drawing example I gave before, we have different accessories for Santa and Malificent and they carry clothing silhouettes completely differently. You may think this analogy won’t help you improve your style, but just keep reading.

And if you’re into the Kitchener essences, I also believe he relies heavily on the balance of face shape and facial features to assign his recommendations. However he does evaluate the face’s vibe and overall impression, so there are some differences.

This is why if you’ve ever stumbled onto “looksmaxing” articles, I just want to tell you their advice is horrible and completely misses the point of harmonizing with individualized beauty traits.

We don’t all need “Hunter eyes”.

Knowing the shapes of your facial features and their spacing can give you valuable accessorizing and scale information.

Typically we evaluate our inner facial features by the spacing they have and their overall shape and scale. Close-set features and smaller-scale features need smaller details to harmonize. In the above image, the large bow looks cool but we definitely notice the bow before we notice the woman’s face. Whereas wide-set features have a lot of space between each element and can handle wider scales or details.

Now if you’re thinking of Kitchener’s essences and are confused because “wide-set” eyes are typical of Ingenues who do “small-scale yin”… You have to make sure you evaluate your entire face not just one feature. In the above image, the female with wide-set eyes has a lot of yang also present which allows for larger key scale details. The larger bow scale matches the space between her face, creating harmony. Remember that these are all slightly different systems and how you apply them is a personal choice.

Now most people can pull off “medium key scale” pieces. This would be something like an average size pair of earrings. Their scale doesn’t disrupt any of your natural balance or pull enough focus.

However, if you have very small spaces between your facial features or very large spaces, you may find matching your details and accessories to this general space to be effective. You can see some print examples above and what the spacing would look like numerically:

• Extra Large (1.5″ and more)
• Large (1-1.5″)
• Medium (2/3-1″)
• Small (1/4″ to 3/4″)
• Small (1/8″ to 1/4″)

In the below example, you can see it applied. The woman with the oval face shape and slightly close-set eyes thrives with the medium-scale accessories. She could probably do a large scale for a more “dramatic effect” but the extra-large scale overwhelms her. The earrings become the focal point and it feels “off balance”. The second woman has a square face shape with lots of angles, larger-scale facial features, and more space between them. The small-scale studs do nothing for her whereas the large to extra-large earrings match the scale of her face. We are paying attention to both the shapes within the face, and the distance between them.

Now, let’s go over some specific steps and methods to determine your face shape. Sometimes, your face shape will be easily determined by just looking at the general shape in a mirror, and sometimes it’s a bit more nuanced and needs you to bust out your measuring tape.

You can determine your face shape by just looking in the mirror, but sometimes it can be hard to “see”.

If that’s the case you can try using a photo and drawing a line over your face to see what actual shape is created. In order to do this and get an accurate result you MUST follow proper photo guidelines.

1. Put a camera or phone on a tripod. Only use your rear camera, do not use your front-facing camera as that causes distortions.
2. Stand 3 ft away
3. The center of your face should line up with the camera lens
4. Jaw/chin in a neutral position, not tilting your head up or down.
5. Hair pushed back away from the face.

Selfies cause distortions because of the angle of the yours and they tend to round out your face slightly. Tilting your chin up or down can create a misdiagnosed heart or oblong face. And being too close to the camera or not looking straight at the lens causes weird distortions.

Be wary not to have these photo pitfalls because they will steer you the wrong way.

Once you have a proper photo you can use any “markup” tool to plot the major points on your face. I like to plot where my forehead ends, the widest part of my face, where my jaw starts, and the chin. gently connect those dots and see what face shape you come up with.

If the shape is not quite clear yet, try using the face shape flow chart below to examine your face shape.

While you can take the time to measure out your face in the video if you’re struggling to see your face shape, overall this is less scientific than people make it out to be. If you squint your eyes, what general trait or shape do you see is most prominent? That’s your face shape. There are always some degrees of nuance, but don’t overthink it!

My face has a dominant feature of length, which means I have an oblong face. My forehead and chin shapes are not overly square so I identify as a rounded oblong. There is not much difference in the recommendations of a “square oblong” versus a “round oblong”, but it’s sometimes nice to see the variations so you don’t accidentally categorize yourself as an oval. I found the oblong recommendations to suit me perfectly.

Can’t I just use an app?

So there are plenty of apps that will claim to tell you your face shape, but should you trust them? The problem is most of them use a live camera setting that requires you to use your front-facing camera. You can see my above results are “oval face shape”. And in that picture, you might see an oval shape. It has you come “really close” to the camera.

The problem is that when we take a proper face shape photo we see my jawline more clearly, and it becomes obvious that I have an oblong face shape. A round oblong instead of a square oblong but still.. oblong.

The 7 Face Shapes: Overview

So, if you’ve studied Kibbe or Kitchener you might have also stumbled upon their predecessor, Grace Morton.

And guess what? She essentially developed the concept of the 4 base face shapes and their 3 variations in her book The Arts of Costume and Personal Appearance in 1943!!

It’s a fantastic book but does have some “outdated” or archaic terminology and concepts. So read it with that in mind, but allow yourself to embrace all her astute fashion concepts.

Now let’s get into some of the characteristics of each face shape.

Round Face Shape

Features: Round faces have cheekbones that are wider than the browbone and jawline. The outline of their face is curved and circular in shape. There is often a fullness to the face. It doesn’t always exhibit as a “perfect” circle, but roundness and width through the middle of the face are dominant traits.

Round Face Celebrities: Kate Winslet, Ingrid Bergman, Natalie Merchant, Drew Barrymore, Elizabeth Olsen, Chrissy Teigen, Kirstin Dunst, Selena Gomez, Florence Pugh, Kiersey Clemmons, Ashley Olsen, Mary Kate Olsen, Elizabeth Scanlen and Barbie Ferreira

They often have a youthful or slightly cherub-like quality to their face.

Oblong Face Shape (also called “the long face” or the “rectangle”)

Features: Brow bone, cheekbones, and jawline are almost the same width. The length of the face is noticeably longer than the width. They tend to have an elongated quality to their faces that can feel either narrow or like a blunt rectangle. Can have a narrow chin and a higher forehead. There are two subtypes of the oblong face shape; the round oblong and the square oblong. The recommendations generally stay the same, it just depends if you have a slightly narrower jaw/forehead area.

Oblong Face Shape Celebrities: Liv Tyler, Alexa Chung, Uma Thruman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Leona Lewis, Stephanie Seymour, Meryl Streep, Joan Smalls, Maggie Q, and Maya Hawke.

Triangle Face Shape (sometimes referred to as “pear” face shape)

Features: Jawline is often significantly wider than the brow bone and cheekbone. This is the reverse of the “heart shape” face shape. You often have a strong or wide jawline with a forehead that narrows at the top. Sometimes it is a softer shape and resembles a pear more than an actual triangle.

Triangle (Pear) Face Celebrities: Minnie Driver, Kelly Osbourne, Pauly Perette, Ali Larter, Geena Davis, Ellie Kemper, Meghan Markle, Katherin McPhee, Jennifer Aniston, Raven-Symone, Billie Piper, Sasha Alexander, Sophie Ellis, and Kate Walsh

Diamond Face Shape

Features: Cheekbones or your cheek area are wider than the brow bone and jawline. The jawline tends to be pointy and/or narrow. And the forehead tends to narrow a bit. The difference between the diamond face shape and the heart-shaped face shape is that the diamond has a narrower hairline. They do not always have “razor-sharp” cheekbones. Sometimes it’s just evident in the prominent width of their cheeks. This face shape tends to be less common.

Diamond Face Celebrity Examples: Lori Loughlin, Camila Alves, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez (before some of her work), Zendaya, Ashley Greene, and Olivia Munn.

Now, some may think Olivia Munn has an oval face shape because her cheeks are not “sharp” and her face is fairly balanced. But if we look at the widest part of your face and how her forehead and chin taper significantly, I think she falls into the diamond face shape category.

Heart Face Shape

Features: The forehead and the cheekbones are wider than the jawline, and your face tapers down towards a narrow V-shaped chin. They often have a widow’s peak hairline. It’s possible to have a heart-shaped face without a widow’s peak, which is more commonly referred to as an “inverted-triangle” face shape. But the recommendations for both heart and inverted-triangle are pretty much identical.

Heart-Face Celebrity Examples: Reese Witherspoon, Kat Graham, Kourtney Kardashian, Kerry Washington, Alyson Hannigan, Chloe Grace Moretz, Fran Drescher

Oval Face Shape

Features: This has traditionally been considered the “ideal” face shape. But honestly, I think we should move away from concepts like this. If you don’t have an oval face shape no amount of contouring or surgery will get you one. Instead, consider this the most neutral of the face shapes. The face shape is slightly longer than the width of the face, but it is not overly wide or overly long. You have a lot of balance to your face overall. The cheekbones are technically the widest part of this face, but not overly so. They are gently rounded. Your chin is also not typically super prominent in shape.

Oval Face Shape Celebrity Examples: Sienna Miller, Jessica Alba, Katy Perry, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence, Megan Fox, Beyonce, and Taylor Swift.

Square Face Shape

Features: Your browbone, cheekbone, and jawline are all approximately the same width. The length of face is shorter in proportion to the width. This is a very common face shape.

Square Face Shape Celebrity Examples: Kiera Knightley, Angelina Jolie, Olivia Wilde, Katie Holmes, Margot Robbie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek, Diane Kruger, Lucy Lui, Sandra Bullock and Cameron Diaz.

Now, let’s get into how to use this information to glow up.

Face Shapes: Hair Guide

The general guidelines for hair can get overly complicated fast. If you want a quick tip, just try opting for an oval silhouette that creates balance for each individual face shape. Notice where the oval line is laid on top of each face shape and seek to “fill in” where the empty space lies.

That doesn’t mean you need chin-length hair, just that your emphasis points should be in those emptier places.

Round Face Shape Hair

Round faces have a youthful and sweet appearance at times. They often have full cheeks and their best hairstyles often reflect the full/round shapes found in their face. Building up some volume on the top of the head can do this nicely. As well as opting for a side part. Any length of hair is usually flattering. Super short hair doesn’t work for all round face shapes, but there is always an exception to the rule ( like Ginnifer Goodwin).

If you have very curly hair you might opt for a shoulder-length or shorter option so that it doesn’t create too much heaviness.

Best Bangs: Side swept bangs, or bangs that have some movement/texture/curl

Hairstyles to Avoid: Round haircuts that end near the chin, short baby bangs, short bobs, sleek ponytails, or extremely blunt cuts. Center parts are typically not your best.

Oblong Face Shape Hair

Oblong faces look beautiful with hairstyles that add volume to the sides of their faces, especially beginning along the eyes, temples, or cheeks. Shoulder-length straight hair looks great, as does hair cut in long layers, loose waves, or curls. Fullness to the sides of your face can be impactful.

Don’t feel like you need to “change” your natural hair to fit within these guidelines. Embrace your natural beauty and simply apply what feels right to you. This is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

My layers add some nice volume to the sides of my face

Best Bangs: Bangs can help balance out the length of the face. Longer, more blunt bangs can look fantastic on an oblong face. If you feel this is too severe you can try a feathered edge for your bangs but make sure they aren’t too thin. Curtain bangs can also look nice.

Hairstyles to “avoid”: Pixie and spiky short hair often feel in contrast to your oblong face shape. Super long hair without any layers can feel too severe on you. Overly fussy styles that emphasize the crown of the head can feel off on you, you need a bit of freedom in your hairstyles. And asymmetrical bobs that end at your chin don’t do anything for your face shape.

Triangle Face Shape Hair

You have a strong jawline and you don’t want your hair to compete with it. This isn’t about hiding our strongest traits, but making sure that nothing overpowers them or detracts from them. Some volume at the top of the head or around the temples can be especially flattering. Often longer lengths are flattering on you, generally aim for lengths that start below the jawline. Shorter haircuts can be very flattering, again just make sure that the emphasis point of the haircut (where volume lands, or where your haircut ends) is not at exactly your widest jawbone point. Shags can also be a great option.

Best Bangs: Side-swept bangs, and longer straight bangs can be beautiful options for the triangle face shape. You can opt for a heavy or light cut for straight bangs. Side-parted curtain bangs can also look fantastic on you, just be sure they don’t have too much volume at your jawline.

Hairstyles to “avoid”: Generally, anything that creates volume or lines exactly at your jawline can overly pronounce your triangle shape and create an imbalance. Center parts can at times over-emphasize your triangle shape. Too much volume at the crown of the head is also not generally recommended.

Diamond Face Shape Hair

This is typically a less common face shape and can be mistaken for an oval or heart-shaped face. Any layered cut usually flatters the diamond face shape well. And because they have such strong cheekbones open and loose updos and ponytails are a fantastic choice. They can opt for shorter or longer layered cuts. Diamonds can have delicate chin lines, and they often need to have some visual weight around the line of the nape of their neck. Shorter styles work well for you.

Best Bangs: Curtain bangs with a middle part soften the face ever so slightly and can be especially flattering. Soft light bangs or straighter/heavier bangs can work as well. Just be sure not to hide those cheekbones!

Hairstyles to “Avoid”: Rounded voluminous hair can feel too round for your angled face. Super short blunt bobs that end near the cheekline can sometimes create a mushroom effect.

Heart Face Shape Hair

The heart-shaped face looks fantastic with medium to shorter-length hair that gives some volume near the chin, neck and/or shoulders. Pixie cuts, bobs, and lobs are great choices. If you want to opt for longer-length hair, some volume/waves/curls below the chin can help keep your visual line balanced.

Best Bangs: Straight or curly bangs look chic on you. You can sweep them to the side or opt for an asymmetrical cut. Baby bangs can be attractive, but they are a statement. And soft gentle wispy bangs look beautiful as well.

Hairstyles to “Avoid”: Bouffant, volumized hairstyles can be overwhelming on you and create an imbalance between the crown of your head and your narrow chin line. And super long straight hair can feel a bit unfinished at times.

Oval Face Shape Hair

Because you have a lot of symmetry in your face shape, a lot of hairstyles look great on you. You can do lengths that range from short, medium, or long. You just don’t want too much covering your face, so generally avoid overly flouncy layers that hide your features.

You often have beautiful proportions to your face, so don’t be afraid to lean into some classic hairstyles.

Best Bangs: Full bangs with slightly choppy ends, soft curtain bangs that start at your eye line, and side-swept bangs are all solid options. Baby bangs and overly long bangs can throw off your natural balance.

Hairstyles to “Avoid”: Hai cuts or styles that cover too much of your face can overwhelm you, and haircuts that are overly voluminous or overly flat can create an unwanted emphasis point.

Square Face Shape Hair

We want to be able to see the angles of your face without creating imbalanced focal points around them. Medium or short hair can be especially attractive on you because you have the cheeks and jawline to pull it off. Don’t be afraid to add some texture or roundness to your cuts. But any cuts that are overly geometrical or one that has harsh straight lines near your jawline can create a very severe impression. Curls or waves look fantastic with this face shape and create a freshness to your look. Hair cuts that cover parts of your face like side-parts, face-framing layers, and soft bangs can be especially flattering.

Best Bangs: Textured or side-swept bangs look great. Wispy bangs are also a great choice.

Hairstyles to avoid: Super short hair should be done with caution as it can create a very strong look. Overly thin or long hair can make the face feel wider and you can lose some of your angles. Top-heavy hairdos can feel severe.

Face Shape: Earrings

Studs or medium-scale earrings that stay on the ear itself work for most face shapes. If they feel off, perhaps examine your Kitchener Essence blend to see if the material, shape, or vibe is clashing.

Round Face Shape Earrings: Curved lines that are longer than they are wide or vertical shapes with movement.

Oblong Face Shape Earrings: Wide and curved shapes, earrings that visually crawl up the ear, and earrings that have a lot of movement

Triangle Face Shape Earrings: Longer or shorter than the jawline. Angular shapes or shapes that create movement

Diamond Face Shape Earrings: Oval or soft triangle shapes that stay close to the face

Heart Face Shape Earrings: Dangling earrings, drop earrings, or elongated teardrop earrings

Oval Face Shape Earrings: Most shapes look nice on you, just avoid the extremes. Overly long earrings can create imbalance.

Square Face Shape Earrings: Medium size, angular, blunt edges, avoid squares that will compete with your natural face shape

If you’re struggling to determine if an earring shape suits you, step back and take a photo using your rear phone camera (ideally far enough away that your camera isn’t distorting your face slightly).

Then ask yourself if your attention is being pulled away from your face to the earrings. Did you notice the earrings first? This can be ok if you want to make a statement, but ultimately we want to be in harmony with our accessories. Second, look at your jawline and the “empty” space from the temple of your head to your chin. Does the earring “fill” that space in nicely or does it overwhelm or distort that space?

shop these earrings

Because I have an oblong face shape with larger facial features and larger spaces between my features, I can handle the larger earrings. But the smaller earrings that crawl up my ear are especially flattering because they create some horizontal and vertical movement.

Face Shape: Best Glasses

Round Face Shape Glasses

Choosing the right glasses for you can make or break your look because you don’t have a lot of angles to your face and your face has a beautiful fullness that you don’t want to hide. We want eyewear that is either slightly square or slightly rectangular frames that are generally narrow (meaning they don’t hang over your face easily). In my opinion, sometimes overly round glasses can create a very charming effect on people with round faces, but do note that this look can have a more youthful effect.

Opt for high or mid-high temples and a clear bridge shape. Colored temples can also be a nice detail to try.

• High or mid-height temples help create a longer profile
• Clear bridge widens the eyes
• Color temples can be effective
• Frames should generally be wider than they are deep

Oblong Face Shape Glasses

You have a long face and glasses can sometimes feel like they break up your face too harshly. Strong horizontal lines can be effective, just make sure they aren’t too visually heavy. Round, deep, or low-triangle shapes are great for you. We want your frames to have top-to-bottom depth. Mid-to-low temple positions can be effective as well.

• Frames should be deeper than they are wide ( top to bottom space)
• Round, deep, or bottom-heavy shapes are great
• Strong horizontal lines are good
• Avoid: Strong geometric shapes, and wide rectangular glasses with low depth

Triangle/Pear Face Shape Glasses

This face shape really shines with glasses! We want frames to accent the eye area and not compete with your jawline. The tops of your frames can be visually heavier or have a contrasted texture/color. The bottoms of your frames should gently angle inward. You look great in square, or straight top aviators that have rimless or visually light bottoms.

Generally, avoid any low-temple styles.

• Wider top and narrow bottom frame
• A lot of shapes work as long as they don’t widen at the bottom of the frame
• Accent the eye area but be wide enough to balance jawline
• Avoid: low temple styles, overly thick geometric styles, round rimless frames, or oversized frames that emphasize the outside of the face.

Diamond Face Shape Glasses

You have high and dramatic cheekbones so you need to choose your frames with that in mind. We want frames that widen the forehead and jaw but don’t compete with your cheekbones at the same time. Your frames can have heavier details on the top and the frame sides can be rounded or straight. You can try rimless frames or square frames with slightly blunt edges. You can also opt for frames with a straight top and curved bottom shape.

• Heavy on top, but avoid low temples
• Frames can be straight or rounded
• Rimless frames
• Square frames or frames with a straight top or curved bottom
• Avoid: Narrow cat eyes, narrow rectangular shapes, and oversized that emphasize the cheekbone area

Heart Face Shape Glasses

Frames can be very charming on you! Try frames that are slightly wider at the bottom, or have a thicker frame all around.

Styles can include aviator, butterfly, or low-triangle styles. Frames with rounded tops or squared-off bottoms also work. Round shapes can look charming, but this will depend on how they fit on your temple and the scale of your face.

For temple placement look for mid to low level to create more balance.

• Frames should add width below the eye line to balance out your narrow chin
• Can be tricky to find glasses that suit you, so don’t be afraid to try a lot of styles on in person
• Frames can have rounded tops and squared bottoms
• Avoid: rimless or “barely there” styles

Oval Face Shape Glasses

We want the frames to maintain the natural balance of the oval shape. You should select frames that are as wide or wider than the broadest part of the face. Keep your proportions in check and don’t go overly large or overly small.

• A lot of frames will work for your face shape
• Avoid extreme shapes (overly small or large)
• Sometimes round shapes don’t work

Square Face Shape Glasses

Round glasses or gently curved narrow styles are excellent for you. The frames should generally be wider than the widest part of your face. Ideally, we want the frames to feel more horizontal than vertical.

Heavier focal points or visual “weight” on top also works. Oval shapes with mid to high temples work well.

• Frames with visual weight on the top
• Oval shapes with mid to high-level temple lines
• Upper design details
• Gently curved narrow styles
• Frames should be more horizontal than vertical
• Avoid: frames with a lot of vertical, frames that sit far inside the face shape

Face Shape: Makeup Contour Guide

We aren’t trying to change our face shape with contours and highlights but rather emphasize our natural shape. You’ll notice that the highlights and contours tend to follow the natural shadows and highlights already on the face. We are essentially emphasizing our natural face shape.

Round Face Shape Contour Makeup

Oblong Face Shape Contour Makeup

Triangle Face Shape Contour Makeup (pear face shape)

Diamond Face Shape Contour Makeup

Heart Face Shape Contour Makeup

Oval Face Shape Contour Makeup

Square Face Shape Contour Makeup

Face Shape: Makeup

Round Face Shape Contour Makeup

With the round face shape we want to make the natural fullness shine, without making your face appear larger than it is. And we also want to highlight your eyes and lips since they are natural focal points in this face shape.

• Contour/Highlight: Follow the natural shadows of your face, contouring along your forehead and lower chin. You can add a slightly darker color to your temples, jawline, and below your cheeks. Apply a highlighter on your forehead and chin
• Eyes: Heavy eye makeup looks fantastic on your face shape. Smokey eyes are a great choice just make sure you don’t make them too angular or wide. (Selena does a great job of this in the above image). Use a dark eyeliner and mascara on the lashes to highlight them.
• Cheeks: Apply blush from the cheekbones to the temple area. It should be done with softer brush strokes and not too circular. We are not trying to “create” cheekbones” from nothing, but we also don’t want to overly round your face by using large circles here.
• Lips: Your lips tend to be a central focal point because they fall closer to the center of your face. This means you can always emphasize them. I’d recommend choosing a lipstick shade within your seasonal color palette for the most harmony.
• Eyebrows: Gently define your eyebrows, and don’t be afraid to sharpen them ever so slightly (again Selena Gomez does a great job of this).

Oblong Face Shape Contour Makeup

Oblong faces can have strong features and a lot of length to them, so you want to plan your focal points ahead of time and watch the angles you create within your face.

• Contour/Highlight: Use a bit of contour around your forehead to follow the natural shadows created here and narrow your forehead slightly. This allows for your eyes to be a focal point. We don’t want harsh lines so make sure the contour is blended well. A highlight can be applied to the chin, nose, and center of your forehead.
• Eyes: Sensual cat eyes look amazing on an oblong face. It elongates the eyes and adds a more horizontal visual line to your face. False lashes (these are my favorite for oblong faces!) or mascara on the top lashes can also be a nice touch.
• Cheeks: Apply blush or bronzer gently around the highest point of your cheeks. Don’t blend it up towards your temples as that can make your face look even longer.
• Lips: Bright and/or defined lips are great on the rectangle face shape. It draws the focus into the center of the face and it highlights your strong bone structure.
• Eyebrows: Follow the natural shape, don’t try to overly round them.

Triangle Face Shape Contour Makeup

You naturally have a very strong face shape and you want to choose your focal points carefully to create a harmonious balance between your features and strong jawline.

• Contour/Highlights: You have great bone structure, so don’t be afraid to show it off. Add a bit of contour along your natural shadow lines around your cheekbones, jaw, and add a bit of highlight on the forehead and chin.
• Eyes: Drawing attention to your eyes helps keep your face more balanced overall. Smokey eyes, darker eyeshadow, or top eyeliner can help create this harmony.
• Cheeks: Lightly apply blush to the center of your cheeks/face. This draws some focus toward the center of your face. Avoid adding blush too close to your nose or drawing it out towards the ears.
• Lips: Because your jaw is so prominent, you don’t want your lips to “compete” for attention along that same visual plane. Nude, soft, or more discreet lips achieve this. If you do go for a bolder color, opt for a softer application and skip the lip liner.
• Eyebrows: Follow your natural shape, fill in as necessary. You look great with longer, slightly arched eyebrows but don’t go crazy if this goes against your natural shape.

Diamond Face Shape Contour Makeup

You have a lot of strength in your face shape so you need to be strategic about where you draw the eye and not make it compete with your strong cheekbone area.

• Contour/Highlight: Contour along the hollows of your cheeks to the jaw to define your strong diamond shape. Add highlights on your forehead, under-eye, and chin. Follow your natural face shape.
• Eyes: Your cheeks/cheekbones are already a very prominent focal point and we don’t want our eyes to compete with them. You look great with blended eyeshadows, upper lash mascara, and soft winged eyeliner. We don’t want anything overly bold or harsh that “challenges” your cheekbones for dominance.
• Cheeks: You already have great cheeks, so go light with any blushes or highlights. Make sure you apply the cheek makeup to the apples of your cheeks and not underneath the cheekbones.
• Lips: Neutral, soft, or natural lips are great. If you go bold it can sometimes make your lower face feel even smaller, so you’ll have to experiment with this.
• Eyebrows: Follow your natural shape, fill in as necessary. Don’t go too heavy with this.

Heart Face Shape Contour Makeup

Your face gives your a fresh appearance and has a beautiful mix of curved and sharp lines. Play into your natural beauty!

• Contour/Highlights: Follow the contour guide above. Use some contour along the natural shadows starting at the side of your forehead down to your jawline. Add some lighter foundation along your forehead, chin, and under your eyes.
• Eyes: You have great eyes that don’t need a lot of sparkle. Lighter eyeshadow applications are best as we don’t want to create more angled lines in this area. A soft top eyeliner looks great on you, as does natural mascara. If you want to add fake lashes, try these lashes and add them only to the corner of your upper lash lid. This draws the eye upward.
• Cheeks: You have prominent cheeks so just add a touch of blush to the fullest area of your cheek. Don’t go too heavy with this, as you typically don’t have a lot of space around your cheeks.
• Lips: You have a narrow chin so adding a super prominent color to your lips can sometimes make your lower face look even smaller. If you use lip liner you can try lining the bottom of your lip to create a bit more width in this area. Otherwise, opt for soft accented colors. If you go bold with your lips, it’s best to do a full face of makeup so it feels in balance with your other features.
• Eyebrows: Rock your natural shape. Don’t go too round with them.

Oval Face Makeup

You have a very balanced face which means you don’t even really need a lot of makeup.

• Contour/Highlight: Follow your natural face shape and use a light highlight to illuminate under your eyes, nose, and forehead. Optional: highlight cheekbones
• Eyes: Lots of different eye makeup work for the oval face shape. You can do a light smokey eye, gentle eyeliner, or even a cat eye.
• Keep in mind: Because you have a lot of balance a strong eye and lip can create competing focal points. Choose one to really “emphasize” and subtly enhance the other.
• Eyebrows: Keep them natural and refined, don’t overdraw or extend them
• Cheeks: A subtle blush at the apples of your cheeks can look nice, but you don’t really need it. You can just add a subtle highlight to your cheeks as well.

Square Face Shape Makeup

This is a very common face shape and you will see lots of variations of it. You look great with a strong lip and letting your natural bone structure shine. Don’t try to create too many focal points within your face.

• Contour/Highlights: Follow the contour guidelines from the previous section. Highlighter or lighter foundation on the forehead, chin, and under eyes. Apply a slightly darker color or contour to the four corners of your face. Blend seamlessly.
• Eyes: You have a lot of angles on your face so it’s best to either choose your eyes or lips to “emphasize”. If you choose your eyes opt for heavier makeup on the outer corners of your eyes. You could do a slightly extended liner, or fake lashes at the corners of the eye to draw this shape up and out. Avoid super sharp lines around your eyes, because you already have sharp lines in your face.
• Cheeks: Apply blush just below the bone of your cheeks and don’t blur it up towards your temples. Add a bit of highlighter to the cheekbone and blend.
• Lips: As mentioned previously, choose either your lips or eyes to emphasize. If you choose your lips use a matching lip liner to define your lip shape and apply color to the center of your lips.

Face Shape: Necklines

There are a lot of factors that can influence whether or not a certain neckline works well for you. But it mostly breaks down to how you use your style toolbox and what elements of your body and face you like to highlight and feel comfortable with.

If you want some general neckline guidance, let’s talk about the three characteristics you need to be mindful of. Necklines can be defined by the length and width of one’s face, and after you’ve read this whole article you should have a better grasp on how this applies to you.

Our eyes are naturally drawn to balance and optimal balance is achieved when a necklace or neckline essentially repeats the length of the face or elements of the facial features.

Don’t be afraid or hesitant to deviate from these guidelines though! Remember that these tips are just foundational fashion guidelines, and that fashion is truly a language. The more you learn the basics, the more you can create your own poetry. (cheesy, but true!).

Some people also find it effective to make their neckline shape match their jawline shape (generally).

If you aren’t a fan of those guidelines or you prefer more specific examples you can try these:

Round Face Necklines

• Cowl
• Moderate V-neck
• Queen Anne
• Scoop
• Sweetheart
• “avoid”: high necklines that hide too much of your neck

Oblong Face Shape Necklines

• Deep Sabrina
• Square
• Standard Boatneck
• Turtleneck
• One-Shoulder
• Soft Off-The-Shoulder

Triangle/Pear Face Shape Necklines

• Deep Sabrina
• Scoop
• Cowl (not touching chin)
• Plunging V-neck
• Square
• Crew (try matching the opening of your neck to the width of your jaw)

Oval Face Shape Necklines

• Most necklines work for an oval face shape just be aware of extremes like plunging V-necklines or lots of fabric
• Scoop
• Square
• Crew
• Turtleneck
• Gentle Boatneck
• Wide V-Neck
• Cowl

Heart Face Shape Necklines

• Square
• Crew
• Sweetheart
• Grecian
• Mock Turtleneck
• Ruffle

Square Face Shape Necklines

• Standard Boatneck
• Scoop
• Off-The-Shoulder
• Cowl
• Square
• Soft/Draped Off-The-Shoulder

Diamond Face Shape Necklines

• Scoop
• Crew
• Asymmetrical
• Gentle Boatneck
• Wide V-Neck
• Turtleneck
• Avoid: Super deep v-necks can sometimes compete with your face shape and narrow your chin more

Confused about what a certain neckline is called? Check out my ultimate guide to necklines here.

Hats for the Face Shapes

Hats can either make or break a final outfit. And while your full outfit definitely can dictate which hat works or not, your face shape can also help you make this choice.

When choosing a hat, we do want to focus on balancing out our face. This is not to “hide” our strongest features but to create a visually pleasing balance point. This allows our features to shine.

Round Face Shape Hats

Now sometimes people with round faces shy away from hats, worrying that they will round out their faces even more. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. You just want to opt for a hat that has some fullness or shape at the crown. Straight-brim hats, high-brim hats, and asymmetrical styles are all great. An angled hat can harmonize with your full face. You want to wear your hat higher on your forehead or not cover too much of your forehead; this will prevent you from “halving” your face proportionally.

Cloches, fedoras, baseball caps, Panama hats, beanies with pom poms, scarves, and floppy hats can all be great.

Tight-fitting beanies, or hats that sit super low on your forehead can be less than ideal.

Oval Face Shape Hats

The Oval Face already has a lot of balance to it, so you can opt for a lot of different hat styles. You might find that opting for the crown of the hat to be in line or larger than your cheekbones has a flattering effect. Large-brimmed hats that are structured or floppy also look great. You can try fedoras, bucket hats, baseball caps, beanies, and wrap-style pieces. Contrasting the color of your hat to your hair can allow it to feel like a more individual accessory.

Hats with extreme scale pieces (like large pom poms or big feathers or thick ribbons) can sometimes throw off your balance. Tight-fitting beanies can also cause a bit of an “egg-shape” effect and should be used cautiously.

Square Face Shape Hats

You have great bone structure and hats can help highlight this and draw attention to your face. Round-brim hats and anything with a curved silhouette can be extremely flattering. Wide-brimmed floppy hats, derby hats, bucket hats, center-dented fedoras, bowler styles, berets, and thick beanies all look great on you. Adding some softer shapes to your hat styles allows your strong jaw and cheeks to shine. You want hats to sit higher on your forehead so they don’t distort or hide your cheekbone shape. Don’t be afraid of a little vertical volume, you can handle it!

Generally, hats with a short flat top, short brims, or overly tapered crowns can be less appealing.

Heart-Shaped Face Hats

You look great in hats! Medium-brimmed hats, asymmetrical styles, and angled styles can be especially flattering on a heart-shaped face. Styles like fedoras, berets, boater hats, beanies (with pom poms too!), trapper hats, and cloches are all fun options. Watch how narrow the crow of the hat gets as we don’t want to create too much of a diamond shape overall.

Small-brimmed hats, tight-fitting thin beanies, or oversized hats are not generally suited for the heart-shaped face.

Diamond Face Shape: Hats

You have such strong cheekbones, we don’t want to hide them! But we can add a nice balance point to your faces by using hats that sit higher up on your forehead and ones that add some width to the tops of your head. Medium-brim hats with slightly rounded edges look great. Outback shapes, fedoras, flat caps, berets, and medium-to-wide brimmed hats are all great options. You want to tilt your hats up slightly so they don’t cover too much of your forehead and hide your beautiful bone structure. If you opt for a beanie, try a thicker beanie with a pom pom at the top.

Overly floppy hats and any hats that visually end exactly at your cheekbones should be avoided. Hats that sit too low on your forehead can also look off.

Oblong/Rectangular Face Shape: Hats

Hats can sometimes compete with your naturally strong bone structure. At times you may find an asymetrical hair accessory or adornment to be more effective.

However, long-brimmed hats and wide-brimmed hats can look great. As well as floppy hats, cloches, bucket hats, derby hats, beanies, wrap-style accessories, sun hats, and berets. Tilting the hats or creating some diagonals can be a great styling tip for oblong faces.

Narrow hats, or hats with a high/deep crown or overly geometric styles can feel too harsh on your face shape.

Triangular/PearFace Shape: Hats

You have a strong jawline so creating a balance point can be very effective for style flow. Hats that add some width to your forehead and temples can accomplish this. Full crown hats with wider brims are especially attractive. Wide-brimmed sun hats, asymmetrical brings and crowns, and any hats that have some width to them generally look beautiful.

Cloche hats or hats with narrow crows should be avoided.

Can your face shape change with weight gain?

So when we are evaluating your facial shape we are simply seeing the outer lines created. So yes, with drastic weight gain, you may see your face shape change slightly.

There is a lot of nuance to face shape typing and some people may find themselves slightly “between” two types. And after losing or gaining weight they may find themselves leaning more towards one than the other.

Certain features of facial anatomy will not change. For instance, losing weight will not give you a widow’s peak or a narrow forehead, etc.

Can your face shape change with plastic surgery?

Your face shape is generally based on your bone structure, flesh, and overall outer lines of the face. Certain surgical/beauty procedures might shift your face shape.

Massiter jaw botox can give you a slimmer jawline and may make you lean more towards an oval face shape than a square.

Or buccal fat removal can cause a round face to appear more heart-shaped.

I also think a lot of the filler we are seeing being added to cheeks is causing a lot of faux “diamond faces”. This is not a common face shape and has a very unique proportion to it, and adding so much filler to your cheeks (to the point where it spills outside your natural face shape line) can cause a visual “off-ness”

That being said, I really think embracing your natural face shape should be a goal. Every face shape can be beautiful ( I mean look at Liv Tyler and her beautiful oblong face!).

And it’s also important to not quantify any face shape as more “ideal” or more feminine/masculine. There is beauty to the lines created in your face, show them off!

I know that was a lot to digest, but I hope it has you considering different accessories and lines so that you can show off your best self.

Please remember that there are “many ways to skin a cat”. These recommendations are only suggestions and many factors can impact whether they work for you.

Take this information, test it out, take some pictures, and decide if it’s worthy of being in your style toolbox.

I hope you find strength through style.

That was a lot of information… So you might want to pin the below images so you can refer back to it as you progress along your style journey.