Hairstyles to suit different face shapes Part 2- Round and Oval faces

Face The Facts: Styles for oval and round faces

The reason why a great haircut provides such a massive confidence boost is simply that it helps you look your very best by accentuating your best features and hiding or disguising your weaker ones. Knowing your face shape and which styles will and won't suit is a crucial step towards getting your cut right every time, whether you're subtly updating your style or going all-out for a dramatic new look.

In this section we're looking at cuts and styles to suit oval and round shaped faces. Oval face shapes are defined by a face length (measured centrally from the hairline to the bottom of the chin) that's roughly one-and-a half times longer than the width (measured from ear-to-ear beneath the eyes), the other two width measurement (across the jaw and forehead) should also be slightly smaller and equal to each other, tapering gently above and below the ears to create a pleasing ellipse. And if that's you then congratulations, when it comes to hair styling, you're sporting the most adaptable face shape of them all.

Oval faces can carry off pretty much any style or length of cut from long and wavy to super short, mid-length bobs and fringes of all varieties all work fantasticaly, so if you have an oval face you owe it to yourself to have fun and experiment. Take your inspiration from Hollywood goddess Charlize Theron. Blessed with a perfect ellipse, Charlize looks just as stunning when sporting a classic short pixie cut or chic blonde chop as she does when her tresses curl all the way to her cleavage. Jessica Alba is another oval A-lister who wears her long hair up on the red carpet just as often as she lets it flow, deliberately exposing that swan-like neck and flawless facial curves.

Charlize Theron uses her adaptable oval face shape to work long and short styles with equally dramatic effect.

If your forehead and jaw widths taper back from a wider ear-to ear width, but that measurement is roughly equal to your face length, then welcome to the world of the round face. Round faces often have rounded jaws and softer features, but the best news is they retain a fresh and youthful appearance longer than any other shape.

Successful cuts for round faces typically help them look a little leaner by creating less volume around the face. Long or side-swept fringes and wispy tapered ends all assist in making this face shape look less circular. One of the best on-trend cuts for round faces right now is the long bob, which creates an oval frame for the face with hair falling just below the chin and is equally striking with straight or wavy hair. However, shorter bobs and other blunt cuts should be avoided, as should leaving curly hair short, as these styles all accentuate width through the centre of the face - so grow your curls out to at least shoulder length or prepare to heat up the flat-iron!

Ginnifer Goodwin accentuates the childish roundness of her face an unflattering pixie cut - then comes good with this stunning long bob.