First: Find Your Face Shape

To find out the shape of your face, measure it with a tape measure or ruler. You will take the following measurements.

1. Measure your face across the top of your cheekbones. Write down the measurement on a piece of paper.
2. Measure across your jaw line from the widest point to the widest point. Write down the measurement.
3. Measure across your forehead at the widest point. Generally the widest point will be somewhere about halfway between your eyebrows and your hairline. Write down the measurement.
4. Measure from the tip of your hairline to the bottom of your chin.

Results:

* Oval – Length equal to one and a half times width.
* Round – Your face is as wide as it is long. This may vary a little but generally the measurement is close.
* Square – your face is about as wide as it is long
* Heart – Narrow at jaw line, wide at cheekbones/and or forehead.
* Triangle – Narrow at cheekbones/and or forehead, wide at jaw line
* Oblong – Longer than it is wide.

Choosing the right style for you depends on many factors but the most important one is your face shape.

Oval

Try
A variety of styles . . . any hair shape looks good on you. Your “perfect” features allow you to wear more styles than any other face shape. Have you ever noticed the majority of models fall into this shape? Have you noticed how many different hair styles they can wear?

You can wear short, medium and long hair styles. Your face shape is well “balanced” or in even proportion. You will look best when styling your hair off your face. Most oval face shapes can wear slicked-backed looks as well.

Avoid
Covering up your “perfect” features with heavy bangs, or too forward-directed styles. In wearing your hair style on your face, you’ll lose your face shape behind the hair. It may appear to add weight to your face.

Round

Try
Hair styles with fullness and height at the crown. Off center parts. Short hair styles with a swept-back direction or hair styles that are longer than chin length. By layering the top to achieve fullness and keeping the rest of the cut relatively close to the face, your round face shape will appear longer and narrower.

Avoid
Chin length hair with a rounded line that mirrors face’s round shape. Center parts. Short-short crops, straight “chopped” bangs. Fullness at side of ears. A rounded haircut ending at the chin will certainly add weight to your already round face shape. Because the widest part of your face is at the cheeks and ears, you need to avoid having the fullness of the cut here as it will make your face appear wider.

Square

Try
Short-to-medium length hair, especially with wave or roundness around the face. Wispy bangs. Off-center parts, height at the crown. You want to soften the square look of your face with layers and wispy looks around the face. Height at the crown will elongate your symmetrical shape. If your hair is straight you may want to consider a body wave, as some curl or wave to the hair will achieve a nice balance to the straight features of your face shape.

Avoid
Long straight styles that accentuate square jawbone. “Linear” straight bangs or center parts. A straight bob ending at the jaw line is the wrong thing to do for your face shape. You can wear a layered bob, however it should end above or below the jaw line. Make sure in styling that you achieve some roundness to the shape and some height at the crown or bangs, and you will be on the right track.

Heart

Try
Chin-length or longer styles. Side-parted hair styles. Swept-forward layers around the upper face, gently wispy bangs. A chin length bob is great on your face shape! This creates a balanced look by giving fullness where you need it. You can wear shorter styles, however, if you are a dramatic heart shape you need to leave weight in the back nape area. This will achieve more balance between your dramatic cheekbones and more narrowing chin.

Avoid
Short, full styles that emphasize upper face. Height at the crown. Severe, slicked back looks. If you are a dramatic heart shape, the short full styles with tapered necklines which emphasize the upper face will make you look top heavy. Too much height at the crown will give the appearance of a longer and narrower chin. Just remember if you have a dramatic heart shape face, you have great cheekbones to emphasize! Don’t miss the boat by getting a cut which is to top heavy.

Triangular

Try
Shorter hair that balances prominent jaw line. Styles that are full at the temples, taper at the jaw. Off center parts. Wedges and shags look great on you. You need lots of layers to achieve fullness through the upper part of your face. By wearing styles which are full at the temples and taper at the jaw line, you achieve a balance which can be remarkable, in accenting features otherwise understated. Try tucking hair behind your ears as this will draw attention to your eyes and add width in this area.

Avoid
Long, full hair styles that draw attention to jaw line. Center parts—off-center is more flattering.Too much height at the crown. You want to stay away from putting most of the weight of a haircut at the jaw line and below. This will give the appearance of added weight to the face. If going with long hair, it should be kept tight at the nape.

Oblong

Try
Short to medium lengths. Fullness at the sides of your face. Soft wispy bangs. You’ll want to balance the look of a long and slender face. Soft wispy bangs will shorten the appearance of the length. Fullness at the sides of your face will add width to the look of your face shape.
By cutting the hair into a short or medium length, the outline of the cut will also shorten the look of the length of the face. Layers work great with your face shape, as they will add softness to the straight lines in your face. Try side parts, and you may be able to wear straight back styles.

Avoid
Too much hair length . . . your face will look even longer! Too much height lengthens your face. Center parts. When your hair gets past your shoulders there is a good chance it is doing you more harm than good. The models with rectangular face shapes and long hair, get by with it only because they have a “on call” hairdresser who is busy primping and teasing, setting and styling to add fullness to the hair. Since most of us don’t have this luxury, my suggestion is keep it above shoulder length.
The oblong shape face has a very long and narrow bone structure. Most clients with this shaped face also have a long thin neck. Use a fringe or half-bang across the forehead. Try to create the illusion of an oval by creating soft waves or curls at the crown or nape areas of the head.