Are You Someone Who Chooses A New Hairstyle Without First Considering Geometry. Switch Things Up, And Help Yourself By Determining Your Face Shape—And Finding The Most Flattering Ways To Pair With It.
Finding the most flatteringhaircut for yourself depends on the texture and density of your hair, sure. But it also hinges on your face shape. That’s why, guys are so often disappointed when they bring a photo of their favourite celebrity’s hairstyle — those celebs likely have a completely different facial structure to their own.
We have outlined the “ideal” hairstyles for all basic face shapes. Read on for all the insights, which includes all hairstyle deets for each shape.
OVAL FACE SHAPE
A$AP Rocky
If you’ve got an oval face, then you won the genetic lottery—at least when it comes to having the widest range of flattering haircut options. The oval face shape is the perfect balance between width and height. Many of the other facial shapes try to use their hair and facial hair to create a more oval effect, so count yourself lucky that you’ve already got that as a baseline. Still, certain styles will flatter you more than others.
Tip: Keep the sides closely cropped, and wear hair swept up and back, or parted to the sides. You can even slick back hair for an edgy effect.
RECTANGULAR FACE SHAPE
Joe Alwyn
Rectangular faces are one degree away from a few different shapes. Like oval shapes, they have a defined jaw and wide brow; so many things will flatter them. Like square faces, they’ve also got sharp angles and a prominent forehead; and like oblong faces, rectangular faced guys need to pull focus from anything that adds too much height and emphasizes facial length.
Tip: Try a textured or volumized look, emphasizing mass on the sides. Cropping the sides too close on an otherwise textured top will elongate the face too much, so aim for more fullness and definition all around. Sweeping hair parts and business haircuts are a terrific option for these guys. You can also consider close-crop buzzcut hairstyles if you like. The rounder, more natural shape will soften the look of the extreme angles [on the jaw].
ROUND FACE SHAPE
Michael Cera
With softer structure and low-set facial features, guys with round face shapes need to work on their angles. Choose styles that add length and sharpness, as well as textural movement to de-emphasize the roundness.
Tip: Keep a leaner cut on the sides with a textured top, like a high and tight. Go for texture and movement up top, and perhaps even sharp corners rather than a soft scissor-cut blend, that will only further accentuate the roundness.
SQUARE FACE SHAPE
Robert Pattinson
It might sound like a LEGO head, but having a square face doesn’t make you a square. With width throughout the face and a high forehead, the aim is to add slightly more length and precipitate roundness—which means you don’t want to just add to the top or bottom.
Tip: Always emphasize height, but with nearly-matched length on the sides, too. Think of how Robert Pattinson often wears his hair tousled and almost poofed out—this creates roundness up top to contrast the squareness of his face. The most classic swept styles will work really well here.
HAIRCUTS FOR TRIANGLE FACE SHAPE
Timothée Chalamet
The key feature of triangular face shapes is that carved-out chin, which graduates upwards and outwards towards the brow. It’s one of the more elusive face shapes, and an eye-catching one too. Some celebs, like Tom Holland, is categorized here because his chin is so defined and pulled forward away from the jaw.
Tip: Try to narrow the forehead—perhaps with a sweeping or parted style in long hair or medium-long hair (Mr. Timothée Chalamet does this often.) Some fringe styles will work well, since they will help de-emphasize that width and pull focus to the angular jaw.
HEART FACE SHAPE
Harry Styles
Is it a coincidence that so many pop-music heartthrobs have heart-shaped faces? Perhaps. Also, if you have a natural widow’s peak hairline or recessed temples, then you could be heart-shaped by default—even if that wouldn’t be your natural face shape otherwise. All of the elements work together.
Tip: Embrace texture, softness, movement, and natural curls. Harry Styles is a good case study in that he often wears hair swept up and to the sides—and loosely—but never straight back. If you choose to wear something high and tight, then make sure to emphasize texture and prioritize soft movement, which will soften the sharp jawline.
DIAMOND FACE SHAPE
Tye Sheridan
If you wear your hair high and facial hair grown out and long. That’s a complete no-no, since it turns the diamond shape into a very thin, long diamond. Remember: The aim is to make things more oval, so that it flatters better.
Tip: Aim for a little bit of height—but only a little. You don’t want to elongate the diamond shape too much. Clean, cropped sides are pair really well with that volume. Rounder styles work nicely, too, with a balance of scissor-cut sides and texturized or swept top (with width on the top and corners). This will deemphasize the narrowness of the forehead. Getting a closer cropped high-and-tight with stubbled scruff; flattering slight roundness up top, with nothing drastic on the bottom—et voila, more oval.
Oblong Face Shape
Jake Gyllenhaal
“Oblong” is a funny word for someone’s face, since it’s a word we might use to describe a curiously large sweet potato, or maybe a football. But in reality, it’s not as odd as it looks on paper. Oblong faced guys actually have pretty symmetrical faces, it’s just that their jaws are characteristically stronger than most, and their faces stay defined from top to bottom.
Tip : Go for an ultra-close buzzcut, or even embrace a bald shave. A high fade haircut with a not-too-high top works well too, with soft sides to promote roundness and pull focus away from the face length. Also, you can get away with wide, flowy sides in medium-length haircuts because they balance the length with added width; try to match the length on the sides with the height in this case, for that softer, rounder finish.
Pear Face Shape
Anthony Anderson
Here’s a face shape that hasn’t been given its rightful attention in most of these types of haircut styles. While this isn’t the case for all guys with pear faces. As, weight gain around the jawline will often transform one face shape into that of a pear-like shape. This is because the pear-shaped face is characterized by a wide jaw and chin.
Tip : Aim for softer, rounder, and (especially) wider hairstyles that de-emphasize the width of the jaw and adds roundness and width to the brow and top. Secondly, any hairstyle that has texture, movement, and flow is going to work really well since it creates more width at the top.
