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Flattering Hairstyle for Every Face Shape

Find Your Shape!

Some stylists recommend doing actual measurements to find your shape, but we think it’s easiest to eyeball it. One good way to do this is to stand in front of a mirror and outline your face with lipstick or a dry erase marker. The shape that’s left when you step away will be a good indicator of the shape of your face.

Choosing a hairstyle that works for you can be tricky. Most of us start with the basics – asking ourselves “Is my hair too curly for that cut? Too fine? Too thick?” These are all good questions, but did you know that determining your face shape plays a big role in choosing the perfect haircut?

Faces come in six main shapes – square, round, long, oval, diamond, and heart-shaped. Once you’ve determined what your face shape is, you’re well on your way to choosing a face-flattering hairstyle. Read on to learn how to find your face shape and the styling dos and don’ts for each.

Square

If your forehead, cheekbones, and jaw are all the same width, along with sharp angular features (think defined jaw), then you have a square-shaped face.

If your hair has natural curls and your face shape is square, you’re in luck. Texture, like curls or choppy layers, works well with square faces, as do long, angled bobs, long layers, and soft side-swept bangs.

Square-Faced Celeb

Square-Faced Celeb

Angelina Jolie

Round

If you have soft features, it’s a good indicator that your face shape is round. Similar to a square shape, round faces have an equally wide forehead, cheekbones, and jaw, but with softer angles.

Short hairstyles, like a grown-out pixie, work well with round faces. Other styles that look great are the long bob, side-swept bangs, and soft, barely-there layers on shoulder-length styles.

Round-Faced Celeb

Round-Faced Celeb

Cameron Diaz

Long

Long faces are easy to determine. Just check to see if the width of your face is less than the length.

If you have a long face, opt for a curly or wavy style, which can visually add width. Beware of long hairstyles with no short layers, which can make the face appear longer. Instead, go with nose, chin, and collarbone-length layers when rocking longer dos.

Long-Faced Celeb

Long-Faced Celeb

Sarah Jessica Parker

Oval

You may think you have a long-shaped face if the length is greater than the width, but you might really be more of an oval. How to tell the difference? See if the length of your face is one and a half times the width.

Oval faces are the most versatile when it comes to hairstyles, so choose a style that will play up your best feature. Have great cheekbones? Go for voluminous waves. Pretty eyes? Draw attention to them by framing them with blunt or wispy bangs.

Oval-Faced Celeb

Oval-Faced Celeb

Kate Hudson

Diamond

If your jaw line and forehead are same length and your widest point is at your cheekbones, then you have a diamond-shaped face.

The key to perfect hair for diamond-shaped faces is lots of layers. Layers will keep diamond-shaped faces from becoming too narrow. Styles that pull hair behind the ears or that can be pulled up are great for showing off wide, defined cheekbones.

Diamond-Faced Celeb

Diamond-Faced Celeb

Rihanna

Heart

Is your face wide at the forehead, gradually narrowing down the jaw line? If so, you have a heart-shaped face.

Heart-shaped faces tend to have a prominently pointy chin, so creating brow-grazing or side-swept bangs will draw attention to the eyes and cheekbones instead. When it comes to hairstyles, heart-shaped faces should keep it super short (think pixie) or super long with long cheekbone-grazing layers.

Heart-Faced Celeb

Heart-Faced Celeb

Reese Witherspoon

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