A main part of your beauty maintenance starts with your hair. Choosing a length, profile and style that flatters your face shape can be a trial-and-error process. Avoid some common hair “don’ts” by taking the trouble to match your face with its most flattering hairstyles before you even set foot in the salon.
Step 1
Classify your face shape. Some common face shapes are square, round, heart-shaped and oval. Study people whose face shape is similar to yours and decide what works and what doesn’t. Remember that what works for another may not work for you, since not every hair type accommodates every hair style or color.
Step 2
Dissect your face shape to determine which areas to emphasize and which to de-emphasize. For round and heart-shaped faces, note where the broadest part is, as the hairstyle should draw the eyes away from that area. If your face shape is long and thin, you’ll want to add horizontal breadth with your hairstyle. Square faces tend to look shorter than they are, so an emphasis point midway down your face may help.
Step 3
Watch your hair over time to determine your hair’s “temperament” as it grows. Thick hair that’s rich with body when short may become unmanageably heavy and stubborn as it lengthens. Wavy hair may straighten as it grows, while straight hair may curl up. If your hair is very fine, it may thin out as it lengthens. The shape of the curl may change. While an expert hairstylist can alter these qualities, that can get expensive. If you want a very natural look that’s easy to manage, don’t push the envelope. Stick to a hair length that’s not too much of a departure and doesn’t require touching-up maintenance every few weeks.
Test Out Promising Hairstyles
Step 1
Try a short, layered boyish cut with a sweeping, messy fringe of bangs to add a feminine touch to a square-shaped face. For a longer option for a square-shaped face, consider a shoulder-length smooth wave, trimmed to a bouncy curl to move the eye away from the square jaw.
Step 2
Try a hairstyle with lots of wave and body for an oval-shaped face. Bangs are great for shortening the forehead on an extremely oval face. Avoid jaw-length styles that elongate the chin or long, straight styles that can give your longer face a somewhat mournful look. Even a smooth buzz can look sharp on an oval-shaped face that’s not extremely long.
Step 3
Try a long, straight look or a long, curly, full-bodied style in a scooped trim for a round-shaped face. Avoid short, curly round styles that draw attention to the roundness of your face. Long bangs shorten your forehead and “squash” your face, while very short bangs can actually elongate your face.
Step 4
Try a jaw-length bob, a short, layered cap or a long, straight sweep if your face is heart-shaped. But don’t stop there. Try a voluminous, down-your-back, long and layered, or close-cropped style. Try bangs. You can go virtually wild if you have a heart-shaped face, which only really suffers from certain top-heavy looks.
Step 5
Take a photo of yourself to help you assess your new hairstyle. Why a photo? A photo is easier to examine objectively than your image in the mirror. Note what works and what doesn’t. Although face shape is important to choosing a hairstyle, individual variation in features can also play a part. In the end, getting the right style is still a trial-and-error process.
