What's Your Facial Shape?

Facial shapes affect everything from the glass frames we choose to the hairstyles we wear.  Knowing what style will compliment your facial structure is so very important.  Believe it or not, one of the easiest ways on how to determine your face shape is by simply pulling your hair back away from your face and outlining it on your bathroom mirror with a dry erase marker ... even a lipstick liner and compare it to the illustrations to the left.

Listed below are helpful hints on hairstyles for your face shape.

Oval 

Considered the most ideal and versatile facial shape by hair experts, many haircuts and styles suit an oval face. However, the best styles to go for are the ones that have layers at the height of you best features such as cheekbones, lips or chin. Short layers at the top of the head should be avoided as they make the face look longer, while ladies with an oval face and thick and curly hair should avoid blunt cut as it looks like a pyramid.

Rectangular 

Hair cut for rectangular face should add width to its sides, play down on its length by adding a fringe on the forehead and a style that has a side part to soften the squareness of the face. Extremely long or short haircuts make the face look longer while chin-length bobs and haircuts add width to the face. Another way to add the width is to add the curls & waves in your hair. However, short layers lend volume to the top further elongating the face then balancing it.

Round

Hairstyles should add height on top of the head. You have to cut the bulk from the sides of your face to give it an oval look. So, one length haircut or blunt cuts on short hair should be avoided. Hair width needs to be minimized on the sides and around the ears by keeping them flat at those points. Wispy tapered ends take away the attention from the roundness of the face. Hair styles that fall right below the chin and have layers from the top down, elongate the face and look good.

Square

Need a hairstyle that lends length and roundness to it. Layered hair around the jaw line soften it a bit while wispy hair take the attention away from the squareness of the face. Layered haircuts that frame the face are best for square faces. Best options are the short, spiky cuts or long, sleek styles with top down layers starting at the jaw line. Blunt cut bangs or chin-length bobs make the face look squarer.

Heart 

Hairstyles for this shape needs to add width at the jaw line. Eyes and cheekbones are generally strong points of the heart shaped face. Women with short hair can keep the top layers soft and long or side-swept bangs while the women with longer hair can try long, wavy layers that come across to your cheekbones that lend certain rounded look to the pointed chin. Harsh choppy layers or blunt cut bangs do not suit a heart-shaped face.

Diamond 

You need to add width to the forehead and soften or disguise the cheekbones to give an illusion of the oval face. Add more fringe and volume to the forehead and the chin while smooth hair compliment the cheekbones better. A low side parting and a sweep of hair brushed across the forehead add width to the face and make it look shorter. Asymmetric haircuts look good too along with adding to the hair volume with curly or wavy styles.

Triangular

It has been discovered that hairstyles that widen the area around the forehead are generally more productive when it comes to faces that are shaped like a triangle. This helps to reduce the visibility of the dominant jaw line. It is the goal of the hairstyle for this shaped face to distract the chin area by opening up the forehead area. Many hairstylists agree that it is better to have a hairstyle that is short in length and open at the top of the face rather than closing up the forehead area and opening up the bottom of the face.

Bangs that are teased in an upright position are much more effective than bangs that are combed down over the forehead. Hair that is cut and layered around the facial area and kept open at the top are much more appropriate hairstyles than straight cuts with bangs that wisp down over the face.