How To Determine Your Face Shape

981 Shares

There are some things about your body that are crucial to know: your blood type, whether you have food sensitivities, and your face shape, to name a few. That last one may seem like no big deal, but knowing if your face is oval, square, or round can make your life a lot easier.

Whether it’s selecting the best makeup looks, choosing the best hairstyles, or even the best glasses, your face shape can be an effective tool to use as a guide. But so many women I meet with aren’t quite sure how to determine their face shape. I’ve got you covered! By the time you are done reading this article, you will know what face shape you have after all!

6 Main Face Shapes

First things first! There are really 6 main face shapes that you most likely fall into. With that being said, we are all unique and have our own sets of traits, so when trying to determine your face shape, try to look at your silhouette.

Here are the characteristics of each:

Oval:

The oval face shape is considered ideal. A shape that is perfectly symmetric with broader cheeks that taper in at the forehead and chin describes the oval face. This face shape can support most makeup trends and needs no contouring.

Round:

The round face shape is fuller and more youthful. The distance from the forehead to the chin tends to be short, while being wider from cheek to cheek. A round face has full cheeks and a rounded chin.

Square:

The main difference between a round face and a square is usually seen at the jawline. The corners are sharper rather than round. A square face has the same width from the edges of the forehead, across the cheeks, and from jaw to jaw.

Heart:

The heart shaped face is wide at the forehead, but then curves down to a point at the chin, like an inverted triangle.

Rectangle:

The rectangle, aka a long face shape is characterized by high cheek bones, a high, deep forehead and a strong, sharp, chiseled jawline.

Diamond:

Those that have a diamond face shape have a narrow jawline and forehead that are about the same width. This is what sets a diamond face apart from an oval face. The hairline is narrower and tapers just like your jawline. (The significant difference between a diamond face and a heart-shaped face is the hairline.) Your cheekbones are high and pointed.

Find out once and for all!

I know, I know! I hope that the above helped you, but I know some of you are still unsure of which face shape they have. Here’s some steps that you can use to determine your face shape once and for all!

1. Pull Your Hair Back

You will need to see your entire face, so I recommend pulling back all of your hair, including your bangs. Most of determining face shape comes from being able to see the top of your hairline and all of your jawline, so grab your clips and hair bands.

2. Grab Your Measuring Tape

On some people, it’s easy to determine their face shape at first glance, but if you want to know once and for all, you’re going to need to measure with measuring tape.

Measure the width of your forehead:
Measure across your forehead from hairline to hairline, making sure the measuring tape is placed at the widest point. Jot down this number.
Measure the width of your cheekbones:
Starting at just past the outer corner of one eye, extend your measuring tape across the bridge of your nose to slightly past the outer corner of your other eye. The tape should be even and sit just above the cheekbones in the same spot on each side of your head. Record this number, you’ll need it later.
Measure your jawline:
Locate the base of your jaw, which can be found underneath your ear. Run your tape measurer along the edge of your jaw until you reach the middle of your chin. Continue to measure the other side or simply multiply that number by two. Jot down this number in your notes.
Measure the length of your face:
Start at the middle of your hairline and stretch the measuring tape downward until it reaches the tip of your chin. When done properly, the measuring tape should run directly over your nose down to your chin. Write down the measurement.

3. Determine the widest part of your face

Forehead: A wider forehead is most likely in the oval category, especially if its width tapers in toward the chin.
Cheekbones: Face shapes that are widest at the cheekbones are a typically a round face shape, but the length of your face also comes into play. With a round face shape, the measurement of width and length are probably pretty equal.
Jaw: If your jaw is the widest part of your face, you have a square face shape. In this case, the forehead, cheeks, and jawline are almost equal in width, but before you make that determination, you might have a heart- or triangle-shaped face.

4. Determine the shape of your jaw

Round: Do you have a rounder jaw? They are often associated with a round face shape. If the length of your face is similar to the width, you can feel confident that you’re working with a round face. If the length is noticeably longer than your face is wide, it may be oval.
Square: A strong jawline usually means a square face shape. If yours is angular, but your chin isn’t particularly pointy, this is very likely your shape.
Pointy: Consider your face heart shaped. This face shape strongly tapers toward the chin,” Rowe adds about faces that noticeably narrow toward the bottom.

5. What is the length of your face?

Short: All signs point toward the round face shape, as long as you’re not particularly angular at the jawline.
Long: If you haven’t already figured it out from the hints in steps two and three, you probably have an oval face.

Celebrity Face Shapes

Ok, so maybe you’re a visual learner like me, so I thought I’d include some real life examples. Here are 6 celebrities that have the 6 most common face shapes. Do you dee it now?