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Know Your Face Shape
To Find Your Most Flattering Looks

We are hard-wired, for survival, to recognize faces from the moment we can see. When we're older, even if we don't remember a name we may recognize the face of someone we've met before.

Since others spend so much time looking at our face it makes sense to present it in the best light possible!

When you know your face shape you can choose your most flattering hairstyles, hats, eyeglasses, sunglasses and earrings.


Determining Your Face Shape

There are a few approaches to this. You will need...

  • A mirror large enough to see your whole face

  • It may help to have a photo of your face. Pull your hair back away from your face and make sure the photo is taken square-on to your face, so you can see both sides. If you're taking the photo yourself, for example with a cell phone camera, make sure the camera is far enough away that you don't get a distorted, fish-eye effect!

  • Or, it may help to draw the outline of your face, with your hair held away from your face, on the mirror (make sure whatever you use -- for example, whiteboard marker, eye-liner pencil, lipstick -- will wipe off later!)

Ok, now you're ready to find the shape of your face by answering the questions below...

determine your face shape

I hope I've structured this questionnaire to make it as easy as possible for you to find your face shape. If you have any difficulty using this format please contact me and let me know what is confusing.

You may discover it's not as easy as you'd think to categorize the shape ofyour face. Each of us has a unique face length-width ratio, jaw, jaw-line and front-on outline. So it's not always a cut-and-dry decision as to which face shape category to choose.

For example, if your face length is definitely longer than wide and you have a broad, square jaw-line then, using the questionnaire above, you will come out as a rectangle. However, if, when looking at your front-on outline (the sides of your face), your jaw is the widest part of your face the triangle category may be a better choice for you. It will depend how definitely your face is longer than wide, do you see your face length first? Or is your jaw more obvious than your face length? Another approach is to combine the recommendations for both shapes.

If, after doing the questionnaire above and looking at the pictures below you're still having trouble determining your face shape ask me to tell you your face shape here.

Descriptions and Pictures of the Face Shapes

Use the descriptions below to verify your selected face shape or adjust your choice if needed.

Select the link on your face type to see recommendations for your most flattering hairstyles, eyeglasses, hats, makeup and earrings.


Rectangle

male rectangle face shapefemale rectangle face shape

Main characteristics...

  • Your face is definitely longer than wide

  • Your jaw is broad and your jaw-line is square

  • The sides of your face are straight -- your forehead, cheekbones and jaw-line are the same width

  • Your hairline is most likely straight


Oblong

male oblong face shapefemale oblong face shape

Main characteristics...

  • Your face is definitely longer than wide

  • Your jaw-line is softly rounded

  • The sides of your face are straight -- your forehead, cheekbones and jaw-line are the same width

  • Your hairline may be rounded


Oval

male oval face shapefemale oval face shape

Main characteristics...

  • Your face is slightly longer than wide

  • Your jaw-line is slightly rounded

  • The outline of your face is an inverted egg-shape -- your face is widest at the cheekbones. Your forehead is fairly broad (broader than you jaw)

  • Your face can be divided into 3 equal horizontal sections between the hairline, eyebrows, end of nose and chin

  • Your eyes are evenly spaced, with one eye width distance between them

  • Your face has no extreme characteristics. For example you do not have very small or very large eyes, mouth or nose.


Diamond

male diamond face shapefemale diamond face shape

Main characteristics...

  • Your face is slightly longer than wide

  • Your jaw-line is long and pointed

  • Your cheekbones are the widest part of your face. They are often high and pointed

  • Your forehead and jaw-line are tapered

  • Your eyes, nose and mouth are well balanced vertically


Triangle

male triangle face shapefemale triangle face shape

Main characteristics...

  • Your face is slightly longer than wide

  • Your jaw is broad

  • The side of your face tapers from your jaw to your forehead

  • Your jaw is the widest part of your face and your forehead is narrow


Inverted Triangle and Heart

male inverted triangle face shapefemale inverted triangle face shapeheart shape face

The only difference between the inverted triangle and the heart shaped faces are that the heart has a widows peak.

Main characteristics...

  • Your face is slightly longer than wide

  • Your jaw-line is long and pointed

  • The sides of your face taper from your forehead to your jaw

  • Your forehead is the widest part of your face, or the same width as your cheekbones

  • Your jaw is the narrowest part of your face


Square

male square face shapefemale square face shape

Main characteristics...

  • Your face is almost as wide as it is long

  • Your jaw is broad and your jaw-line is square

  • The sides of your face are straight -- your forehead, cheekbones and jaw are the same width

  • Your hairline is most probably straight


Round

male round face shape female round face shape

Main characteristics...

  • Your face is almost as wide as it is long

  • Your jaw-line is round and full

  • Your cheekbones are the widest part of your face and round

  • Your hairline is most probably round



>> Still having trouble determing your face shape? Ask me here

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About Me

jane liddelow

"Your style makeover may require a few tweaks or a total re-think. Using a mix of science and art I show you how to discover your style and look great every day.

Hi, I'm Jane Liddelow, the Personal Image Consultant and Stylist responsible for this site. Find out more about me here."

Virtual Hair Styles

Trying on virtual hairstyles on your face is a great way to choose your next haircut

I've reviewed several online virtual hair styler programs to save you time selecting the one that's right for you. See my virtual hairstyles article and the reviews here.

thehairstyler.com

thehairstyler.com

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