Believe it or not, even though us girls spend literally thousands of hours in front of our mirrors throughout our lives, the overwhelming majority of us have absolutely NO idea what our face shape really is – or the kinds of hairstyles and makeup that go best with it!
Crazy, isn’t it?
Because of that, most of us are walking around with styles that just aren’t quite as flattering as they could or should be, without even knowing that we are handicapping our beauty. Thankfully, though, once you really start to understand the type of face shape that you’re dealing with your going to be able to start picking hairstyles that really complement and accentuate your beauty – and from there you are going to be off to the races!
Thankfully, figuring out your face shape is nowhere near as much of a challenge as many people make it out to be. All you really need is a mirror, a critical eye, and a fundamental understanding of the same kinds of shapes you played with as a child.
Afterwords – after you really understand your face shape – you’re going to be able to cut, style, and highlight your hair in only the best ways possible, drawing out your ideal features and breathing new life into your overall look that just wasn’t there before.
And we are going to help you get rocking and rolling with this!
Just pay attention to all of the inside information that we are able to offer you below, really focusing on the tips and tricks that we are able to provide (as well as all of the recommendations that we have collected from top stylists around the world) and this is going to come together easier than you ever could have anticipated.
You’ll be a brand-new you!
The First Step is Figuring Out How to Identify Your Specific Face Shape
Look, there are plenty of high-end stylists and spas out there that would ask you to pay a truckload of money to get your face measured with all kinds of tools and technology, figuring out (right down to the finest detail) exactly what kind of face shape you are dealing with – but most folks just don’t have to go through that headache and hassle or hand over that kind of cash to get the answers that they are looking for.
All you must do is take a nice hot shower (and extended hot shower, at that) and let the bathroom get a nice and steamy. Let your mirror fog up, slide out of the shower, draw your hair back up (all the way) and then trace the general outline of your face onto the mirror using your finger.
If you don’t want to wait for the shower to heat up and the room to steam you can do the EXACT same thing with your non-steamed up at the mirror and an old eyeliner or lip pencil.
From there, figuring out your actual face shape becomes a lot easier!
There are really six major face shape types that you’re going to be working with here, and they are:
- Heart-shaped
- Round shaped
- Diamond shaped
- Oval shaped
- Square shaped and
- Oblong shaped
Determining the actual shape of your face is as simple as asking the following questions:
- Just how wide is my face, and is it as wide as it is long with the widest part of my face right around my ears? If so, you’re dealing with a rounder face.
- Just how long is my face, and is it longer than it is wide with a slender chin or a high forehead to? If that’s the case, you’re looking at a rectangular and more oblong face.
- Where do my forehead and cheekbones accentuate my look, and does everything tapered to a narrow jaw? If that’s the case, we’re talking about a heart-shaped face.
- Does my forehead have the same with as my jaw line, and do I have a more prominent jaw line with a squared off hairline? If that’s the case, we are working with a squared shaped face.
- Do I have a jawline that is wider than my forehead? That would be the perfect shape for a diamond face.
- Am I working with a face that is just about twice if it is wide? If that’s the case, you have and oval face!
Now that you know better what you are working with as far as your face shape is concerned to let’s dive a little bit deeper into the types of hairstyles that work best with your face.
Perfect Hairstyles for Round Faces
The general idea here is to minimize (as much as possible) the fullness of your face by framing your face with a bunch of layers and a middle or slightly off center part of it really breaks up the roundness of the face itself.
It’s also not a bad idea to make sure that your hair stays longer than your chin, allowing you to add quite a bit of extra length to your face that simply wouldn’t have existed otherwise.
You may be able to get away with hairstyles that are a little bit shorter, but you must be really clever with your makeup on a day to day basis if you’re going to go in that direction. You can’t EVER go with hair that’s going to come right down to your chin (it will make you look as though you are wearing a space helmet).
If you go really – REALLY – short (we’re talking about like a shaved head here) you can open some fun and flirty looks, but as a rule, you’ll want to keep you style a bit longer.
Perfect Hairstyles for Heart-Shaped Faces
Those that have a more heart-shaped face are going to want to go with long, flowing, almost side swept hair with bangs that hit right at the corner of the eye to balance out the kind of “top-heavy” look your face will have naturally. Not only will this kind of approach really balance out your face in general, but it’s also going to eliminate what would have been in otherwise pointier chin – something that most people are going to want to shy away from.
Bob’s that are a little bit longer in the front the in the back will also bring quite a bit of balance to the youth focal points of your face, evening things out while offering you a lower maintenance hairstyle at the exact same time.
Choppy layers are probably something that you were going to want to stay away from. This is only going to add extra angles and extra layers to an already angular face shape, and really draw attention to shapes that you probably are looking to suppress.
Perfect Hairstyles for Oval Shaped Faces
If you are lucky enough to have an oval shaped face you’re going to be able to rock and roll with pretty much ANY kind of hairstyle you’d like without restriction.
Yes, you’re going to be you’ll to walk into any hairstylist and ask them for free much any kind of cut imaginable and the stylist is going to be more than happy to go with your recommendation. 99.99% of all the hairstyles out there for women are intended to help them create a more oval-shaped face with the hairstyle itself, and the oval-shaped is the real ideal.
You are going to be able to wear your hair nice and long and loose, tight and clipped or layered with or without bangs and not have to lose a wink of sleep worrying about how it looks.
There really aren’t any looks that you should try and shy away from, aside from maybe shaving your head all the way down right down to the skin. But if you have ever seen the movie G.I. Jane with Demi Moore you’ve likely seen exactly what a beautiful woman with an oval face looks like with their hair shaved down to the skin – it’s almost unfair!
Perfect Hairstyles for Diamond Shaped Faces
Very (VERY) like those that have oval-shaped faces, women with diamond shaped faces are going to be able to rock most any kind of hairstyle there is out there – with only a few exceptions.
Some of the most beautiful women on the planet have been blessed with diamond shaped faces, and a lot of them choose to wear their hair with longer cuts – sometimes with bangs, and sometimes without. A lot of women with diamond shaped faces also decide to go with all kinds of funky layers and highlights, working with pretty much any kind of style they’d like to go with so long as they stay away from adding a lot of volume to the sides or top that really stretch out their faces.
That’s really the only kind of cut you’re going to want to stay away from as a woman with a small chin and forehead and more prominent cheekbones. You don’t want to overthrow the tops and sides of your face with too much hair in a wild cut, or you’ll look a lot longer in the chin than you are hoping to.
Perfect Hairstyles for Rectangular and Oblong Shaped Faces
The general idea as far as hairstyles for women with rectangular and oblong shaped faces is to add as much width to your face as possible. Most women are going to do this by adding long brow-skimming bangs or go with chin length bobs and extra layers, essentially adding as much width near their ears and their chin as they can to create that oblong look at that really softens rectangular and oblong shaped faces.
Short haircuts are probably ill-advised (as they will make the top of your head look unbalanced in the lower area of your head and your face look a lot longer and thinner than necessary). Some women are going to be able to pull some mid-length level haircuts off, but even those are really risky if you don’t have the kind of confidence to play them off successfully.
Perfect Hairstyles for Square-Shaped Faces
The idea here is to pull off on the kind of hairstyles that Sandra Bullock would fall in love with, as she is probably the perfect example of a beautiful woman with a square face.
Long layers, wispy bangs, and pretty much anything that eliminates extra height at the crown of your head will help you to a look fantastic, all while adding a lot of roundness and fullness to your face. This is going to successfully soft and faces that could otherwise come off as very severe, very straight-faced, and almost masculine – not exactly the kind of attributes that a lot of women are looking for when they get complimented.
Closing Thoughts
At the end of the day, finding the perfect hairstyle for your specific needs and your specific face shape is going to be a lot easier than most people find the general process to be – if you pay attention to all the tips and tricks we can offer you above.
Sure, you’re going to have to make sure that you are brutally honest with the type of face that you have (especially if you have been sticking to convictions of enjoying a face shape that you might not really have), but once you leap over that hurdle you’re going to be off to the races.
If you are finding it to be a bit of an uphill battle trying to pick and choose the right hairstyles for your face to shape all on your own, don’t be shy about hitting up your local stylist and asking them for help. At the very least they’ll be able to tell you exactly what kind of face shape you are dealing with, and at best they’ll be able to help work with you to find the perfect new hairstyles that bring out everything you must offer.
