Don’t choose a new hairstyle without first considering geometry. Finding the most flattering haircut hinges on your face shape. That's why guys are so often disappointed when they bring a photo of their favorite celebrity's hairstyle along to the barber-those celebs likely have a completely different facial structure to their own.
Understanding your face shape is crucial in selecting a hairstyle that enhances your best features, brings a sense of harmony to your overall appearance, creates balance, and highlights your eyes, cheekbones, or lips. By the end of this article, you'll have a clear understanding of how to select a hairstyle that complements your unique features, making you look and feel your best.
To determine your face shape, take a selfie straight-on with your phone, then use the mark-up function to draw an outline. Look at the overall contrast in width between the forehead, cheeks, jaw, and chin, as well as where the facial features settle compared to the height of the forehead. Your hairline, bone structure, and weight all also impact your face shape.
Now that you've taken your photo and traced the shape, it's time to figure out exactly which category you fall into. Here's a breakdown of the nine basic face shapes:
Once you've determined your face shape, it's time to find the perfect hairstyle to flatter your features.
Read also: Hair Meat Origins
If you’ve got an oval face, then you won the genetic lottery-at least when it comes to having the widest range of flattering haircut options. “The oval face shape is the perfect balance between width and height,” says Conrad. Many of the other facial shapes are trying to use their hair and facial hair to create a more oval effect, so count yourself lucky that you’ve already got that as a baseline. Still, certain styles will flatter you more than others.
Do: Keep the sides closely cropped, and wear hair swept up and back, or parted to the sides. You can even slick back hair for an edgy effect. When styling an oval face shape, try to keep the face as clear as possible. High-fashion, slicked-back looks and updos are also ideal to create on oval shaped faces, as you do not need to overcompensate a certain side or think too hard about softening certain features. If you're looking to go shorter, try a blunt bob with face-framing pieces that clears the shoulder. Otherwise, choose a shoulder-length cut with subtle layers to add volume and keep your hair from falling flat. If you're looking to keep your hair long, a simple part change can make all the difference.
Don’t: Avoid fringe or anything that might cover the forehead and shorten the length of the face. Don’t detract from your already-optimal oval-ness. When choosing the right hairstyle for your oval face, the main goal is to avoid elongating your face.
Facial Hair Advice: Consider just a simple mustache, to fully express those angles of the jaw. Going barefaced or perma-stubbled should work great, too.
Celebrities with Oval Face Shape: Justin Bieber, A$AP Rocky, Ryan Gosling, Henry Golding, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, and Bella Hadid.
Read also: Why Use Deshedding Shampoo?
Rectangular faces are one degree away from a few different shapes. Like oval shapes, they have a defined jaw and wide brow; so many things will flatter them. Like square faces, they’ve also got sharp angles and a prominent forehead, so softness and roundness up top is terrific; and like oblong faces, rectangular guys need to pull focus from anything that adds too much height and emphasizes facial length.
Do: Try a textured or volumized look, emphasizing mass on the sides. Cropping the sides too close on an otherwise textured top will elongate the face too much, so aim for more fullness and definition all around. Sweeping hair parts and business haircuts are a terrific option for these guys. That said, you can also consider close-crop buzzcut hairstyles if you like. “The rounder, more natural shape that gives the head will soften the look of the extreme angles [on the jaw],” Conrad explains.
Don’t: You want to stay away from harsh, lean, angular haircuts, Conrad says. Again, these will overemphasize that length.
Facial Hair Advice: Avoid anything that overemphasizes the jaw’s angles, like chin straps and low-rider beards.
Celebrities with Rectangular Face Shape: Joe Alwyn, Chad Michael Murray.
Read also: Color-Treated Hair Shampoo Guide
With softer structure and low-set facial features, guys with round face shapes need to work their angles. Choose styles that add length and sharpness, as well as textural movement to de-emphasize the roundness. Round shaped faces are the same in width and length, with no prominent angles or corners. Round faces are usually "baby-faces," which means you look younger and can opt for more youthful hairstyles.
Do: Keep a leaner cut on the sides with a textured top, like a high and tight. Go for texture and movement up top, and perhaps even sharp corners rather than a soft scissor-cut blend that will only further accentuate the roundness. When styling a round face, your main goal is to elongate the face and make it appear more oval. A quick trick to doing this is to always leave a little piece of hair untucked on one side of your face. Short hair is particularly flattering on round faces, if parted and styled the right way, so go ahead and make the chop to that trendy lob. Try a deep side part to also create more angles to a round face, or pull your hair up into a high ponytail to elongate the face. A longer bob can elongate the face and create a more angular appearance. Choosing hairstyles that add height to your round face shape helps create a more balanced look.
Don’t: It’s important to avoid anything wide on the sides, which will only pull focus to the face’s width. Avoid fringe as well, which will shorten the face. Again, you want to emphasize height to soften the overall effect. To avoid making a round face shape look rounder, avoid bob haircuts and styling that makes the hair go inward. A common mistake for round-faced women is to hide their face behind lots of hair, which actually ends up accentuating the wide face. Instead, go for medium length hair with long, face-framing bangs, and keep the texture smooth and sleek. Avoid soft, wispy bangs, as this can further accentuate the softness of your features.
Facial Hair Advice: Avoid a mustache, since it will widen the face at its already widest point. Try a close-cropped beard on the sides that elongates the face instead of accentuating extremities. Don’t underestimate the power of a long beard, either, which will shift the center of focus down, and away from the width itself.
Celebrities with Round Face Shape: Michael Cera, Kodak Black, Jeremy Renner.
With width throughout the face and a high forehead, the aim is to add slightly more length and precipitate roundness-which means you don’t want to just add to the top or bottom. Square-shaped faces are wide, and the forehead, cheekbones, and jawline are almost the same width.
Do: Always emphasize height, but with nearly-matched length on the sides, too. Think of how Robert Pattinson often wears his hair tousled and almost poofed out-this is creating roundness up top to contrast the squareness of his face. The most classic swept styles will work really well here. When choosing a hairstyle for a square shape face, you can either choose to accentuate the squareness of your face or soften your strong jawline. Soft Shapes: Opt for hairstyles that soften the strong angles, such as wavy shags with wispy fringe, soft side-swept bangs, or long layers with a fringe.
Don’t: Conrad says not to shorten the appearance of the forehead with fringe; the height of your forehead is actually working in your favor in terms of adding length to the face. Avoid overly thick bangs or blunt hairstyles, as this could accentuate the angles on your face even more. Also, any severe, slicked back looks should also be avoided, if you are trying to soften your face shape.
Facial Hair Advice: Try “anchored” facial hair, which is a mustache paired with chin fuzz and/or soul patch-à la Michael B. Jordan. It elongates your face.
Celebrities with Square Face Shape: Pedro Pascal, Michael B. Jordan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Pattinson.
The key feature of triangular face shapes is that carved-out chin, which graduates upwards and outwards towards the brow. It’s one of the more elusive face shapes, and an eye-catching one at that. Some celebs, like Tom Holland, are categorized here because their chin is so defined and pulled forward away from the jaw.
Do: Try to narrow the forehead-perhaps with a sweeping or parted style in long hair or medium-long hair. (Mr. Chalamet does this often, and Conrad gives you his full endorsement if you want to grow the shag out over a triangle face.) Some fringe styles will also work well, since they will help de-emphasize that width and pull focus to the angular jaw.
Don’t: When it comes to shorter hairstyles on triangle face shapes, Conrad advises against anything wide on the sides. This will only widen the top of that triangular shape.
Facial Hair Advice: You have a perfectly chiseled jaw, which most men would kill for. Why not wear it clean shaven?
Celebrities with Triangle Face Shape: Timothée Chalamet, Tom Holland, Danny Ramirez.
Remember: The aim is to make things more oval. Diamond face shapes are coveted because they are symmetrical and balanced, so your main objective is to accentuate your elegant face shape, rather than balance anything out.
Do: Aim for a little bit of height-but only a little. You don’t want to elongate the diamond shape too much. Clean, cropped sides are pair really well with that volume. Rounder styles work nicely, too, with a balance of scissor-cut sides and texturized or swept top (with width on the top and corners). This will deemphasize the narrowness of the forehead, says Conrad. Opt for long, side-swept bangs to highlight your cheekbones with long layers, or go short with a textured lob. Side-swept bangs are a YES if you have a diamond-shaped face.
Don’t: You want to avoid anything angular and overly high, which will negatively contrast your face’s natural angles and cheek width. Because your face narrows at the chin, avoid heavy, rounded bangs, which shorten the face, making it look smaller than it is.
Facial Hair Advice: Try one of two polar-opposite options: Stick with stubbled, natural outlines to avoid elongation; or, if you want a fuller, longer beard like James Harden, keep the top nice and cropped since the bottom now has more width.
Celebrities with Diamond Face Shape: James Harden, Jason Derulo, Tye Sheridan, Jamie Kennedy.
When choosing a hairstyle for your heart-shaped face, you can either choose to accentuate your tapered face shape, or to balance it out by making the bottom half of your face appear wider.
Do: Embrace texture, softness, movement, and natural curls. Harry Styles is a good case study in that he often wears hair swept up and to the sides-and loosely-but never straight back. If you choose to wear something high and tight, then make sure to emphasize texture and prioritize soft movement, which will soften the sharp jawline. If you choose to accentuate your face's heart shape, pull your hair up into a high top knot, or slicked-back high ponytail. Otherwise, opt for a lob that just clears the shoulder to add wideness around your jawline.
Don’t: It’s best not to slick anything back that might emphasize the widow’s peak or recession, though that’s not necessarily a note on symmetry. Given the width of the cheeks, try not to sport anything overly round and wide at the sides. So, movement and texture up top is good, but always let it overpower what’s happening at the sides. A "true" heart-shaped face has a widow's peak hairline. If you have one, try and avoid forcing a middle part. Chances are, one side of your hair will part as you would like it to and one side will have a mind of its own. Instead, part your hair slightly off center to whichever side your hair naturally falls over the widow's peak.
Facial Hair Advice: Avoid anything that emphasizes the chin’s narrowness; Conrad says that most guys with a heart-shaped face will look best with stubble. (A big, bushy beard might suit them just as well, since it can basically strip the jaw of any shape.)
Celebrities with Heart Face Shape: Harry Styles, Nick Jonas, Shawn Mendes.
The main goal for long face shapes is to make your face appear wider than it is to balance out the longer length.
Do: Go for an ultra-close buzzcut, or even embrace a bald shave. A high fade haircut with a not-too-high top works well too, with soft sides to promote roundness and pull focus away from the face length. Also, you can get away with wide, flowy sides in medium-length haircuts because they balance the length with added width; try to match the length on the sides with the height in this case, for that softer, rounder finish. Curls are an excellent option for you. Flat-iron waves are a great way to achieve loose curls and waves for a widening effect. You want the widest part of your waves to hit around the area of your cheekbone, to create the illusion of a wider face, so start curling the hair closer to the root to achieve this. A good salon-style blowout is also a quick, simple way to achieve more volume and width.
Don’t: With oblong faces, it’s wise to avoid low fades of all kinds, unless everything is getting an ultra-close crop. Things like quiffs and high-and-tights will only flatter if there is some length on the sides, too. Keeping with the "wider not longer" rule, avoid hair that is too far past mid-length, as this lengthens the face.
Facial Hair Advice: Goatees can be extremely complimentary here, says Conrad, since they create a visual anchor for the chin shape, whereas a beard will only further stretch out your wide jaw and chin.
Celebrities with Oblong Face Shape: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Here’s a face shape that hasn’t been given its rightful attention in most of these types of haircut tutorials. While this isn’t the case for all guys with pear faces, Conrads explains that weight gain around the jawline will often transform one face shape into that of a pear-like shape. This is because the pear-shaped face is characterized by a wide jaw and chin.
Do: Aim for softer, rounder, and (especially) wider hairstyles that de-emphasize the width of the jaw and add roundness and width to the brow and top. Secondly, any hair style that has texture, movement, and flow is going to work really well since it creates more width at the top.
Don’t: You want to avoid anything high and tight, since they will make the top look more narrow and the bottom look more wide, says Conrad.
Facial Hair Advice: Go for a structured, angular beard, meaning that any outlines have corners and angles as opposed to softness and roundness.
Celebrities with Pear Face Shape: Anthony Anderson, Jonah Hill, Zach Galifianakis.
While face shape is a crucial factor, it's not the only one. Your hair type, texture, and the amount of time you're willing to spend styling your hair also play significant roles.
tags: #best #hairstyles #for #face #shape
