What's my face shape? How to find your perfect style
Hair
Main Image Credit:
The Chapel, Tunbridge Wells
Here at The Chapel, we believe finding your perfect style is all about focusing on YOU - who you are, how you want to feel and what that looks like when it comes to your hair. Part of this process, of course, comes within but there is also a more literal ‘real life’ element to finding your perfect style - one which matches your face shape as well as the feeling you want to have. Alongside your lifestyle and hair type, it is one of the physical factors which we encourage all of our guests to consider from the outset. With that in mind, here is our guide to how to discover your own face shape, and be well on your way to finding the style which suits your personality as well as your features.
Which face shape do I have?
The most accurate way to identify your shape is by getting a ruler and measuring the widths between your brows, cheekbones and jawline, as well as the length from the top of your forehead to your chin. Another way is to tie your hair back and draw an outline of your face on a mirror with a non-permanent marker. This will give you a realistic picture of your shape and allow you to decipher which category your face fits most. We will not go to these lengths in the salon, as our expert stylists all have a professional eye - however, if you’d like to do this for your own piece of mind, feel free.
Image Credit:
http://michellephan.com/beauty-school-finding-your-face-shape/
What should I look out for?
Your face shape is determined by your bone structure, jawline, and symmetricality of your features. Of course, this means nothing when you are not aware of what features are most common for each category. With this in mind, here is a quick rundown of the key face shapes and the distinctive features you should be judging against. Remember, these are not hard and fast rules, as you may see you have features from more than one category but just guidelines that might help you to find a face-flattering cut.
Oval
An oval face typically has almost if not exact equal widths between brows, cheekbones and jaw. You can visually determine this shape since the forehead tends to be wider and gradually tapers towards the chin. This is the most versatile shape and most styles suit it. However, you should examine if you have any prominent features and whether it would be complimentary to highlight and frame them, or better to soften them.
Long
This is often confused with the oval face shape, but a long face shape tends to have more elongated features from the forehead to the chin. If you have a long face shape should avoid cuts that are longer than shoulder length. Having hair longer than this runs the risk of creating the illusion that the face is longer than it is, but this can be counterbalanced with curls. Since you have the room to create width, waves, curls and layers are great additions. If you have a narrow jawline, great styles are chin length bobs as they make the face look like it has more width.
Image Credit:
The Chapel, Tunbridge Wells
Round
Round face shapes tend to have the same width and length and the widest point tends to be between cheekbones. Think of styles that elongate the face. This doesn’t necessarily mean going for long hairstyles. For instance, if you want short hair, ask your stylist to add choppy layers at the crown of your head, similar to pixie haircuts. For longer styles, try and ensure that the length of the hair and layers is at least longer than your jawline. Soft waves can be a nice way of texturizing the hair, but be careful of curls that balloon at cheek level as sometimes this can widen the face which can be unflattering for a rounder shape.
Square
Square face shapes are defined by having almost equal widths between the forehead, cheekbones and jawline, with the jawline often being the most prominent feature. If your facial features match this then you’re pretty lucky: most don’t realise this but square face shapes offer a lot of variety when it comes to what hairstyles suit it. This is because square face shapes fit an overall square profile but tend to have different defining features. There are however a few things that help balance or soften the square-ness. Adding a centre parting is a great way to do this. This helps to align the typical square jaw although in some cases, a side parting can also work if you have a slightly longer square but not ‘long’ face shape. Styles longer than jaw length are helpful for those who do have a strong jaw and soft waves are a great way of softening harder features.
Heart
With heart-shaped faces, the forehead tends to be at least double the width of the chin. It is common for heart-shaped faces to have a pointy chin and a prominent forehead. Heart shaped faces lend themselves to a variety of cuts – short or long however with the longer heart face shapes, short hairstyles may be unflattering. Avoid straight fringes as they make the forehead area look wider – instead opt for a sweeping fringe. Also, styles that do not frame the face at all like, hair scraped back into a ponytail, can make heart-shaped faces look more round.
Finding your face shape is the first step in discovering a cut that makes you look and feel completely comfortable and happy. Of course, this should also be coupled with a chat with one of our experts about your hair and how you want to feel. Simply get in touch to book your free conversation or have a look through our advice section for more information.