The Basics! Faceshapes - Know Yours in a Heartbeat!

 …Close enough. The steps I’ll be telling you will help you determine the shape of your face easily. Keep in mind that this post is only about the common face shapes and how to determine what shape you have.

Below are the most common Faceshapes:

Oval Face Shape
Round Face Shape
Oblong Face Shape
Square Face Shape
Triangular Face Shape
Heart/Inverted Triangle Face Shape
Diamond Face Shape

(Click here if you want to go straight ahead with the steps)

I remember when I used to weigh 207 lbs and I am sporting a barber’s cut that I let grow for a while and man, I look like a walking plate or a walking “shiopao”. I realized too late that my haircut’s NOT flattering when I already saw photos of me spreading in Facebook on my friends’ timelines. It was an awful experience. NOT flattering at all.

Since I was a lot fatter the shape of my face is round. I should have sported something to help me elongate my face or something that would hide a fraction of the sides of my face to help me look a bit thinner (but of course, loosing weight and exercising is the best solution for that) instead of a barber’s cut.

Now that I lose weight the shape of my face is more oval.

I think most often, people forget the importance of the shape of the face and go on buying stuff, having haircuts, and applying make-up and still wondering why you don’t look good as you expect it to be. How about some jewelry looks good on you and some don’t? The reason is that the make-up you apply or the hairstyle you have might not look good on a square face but looks really good on an oval face. It goes with jewelry too.

It is important to know the shape of your face (or your clients in case you’re a make-up artist or your friend if you’re doing make-up for a friend) because the shape will help you know how and where to apply the make-up. Is the make-up making your face thinner or wider? Is it making you look younger or older? Is it showing the better version of you?

The shape of the face will also help you determine how to frame the face with eyebrows. It will help you where to apply the bronzers or the blushes or if they are needed in the first place. The shape of your face will also help you know if you need contouring or highlighting.

Not only that, determining shape of your face will help you choose the right haircut and hairstyle that will compliment you. And it will even help you find the best sunglasses and jewelries that you’d like to sport.

In short…

Knowing the shape of your face helps you save time wasted on applying and erasing make-up and applying again.

Knowing the shape of your face helps you save money over unflattering hairstyle, haircuts and accessories.

Knowing the shape of your face helps you determine the best make-up, hairstyle, haircut and clothing.

Knowing the shape of your face helps you emphasize the best feature you have and downplay the rest.

Knowing the shape of your face helps you understand what does and doesn’t look good on you.

Knowing the shape of your face helps you know the best way to look your best and feel confident about yourself.

To determine the shape of your face you need:

     01. A mirror, large enough to see your face up to the chest area;
     02. A shirt with low necklines to show your neck;
     03. Hair clips or something to tie your hair into a bun if you have long hair;
     04. Ruler or tape measure (optional);
     05: Pen and paper to jot down your measurements (optional);
     06. Well lit room with enough lighting to show your entire face without shadows (it’s best to do these steps in daylight as artificial light creates shadows that makes your face looks thinner).

Here are the steps to determine your face shape:

     Step 01: Tie your hair back on a bun if you have a long hair or clip all the hair on the side and your bangs on the back. Make sure that your hair is neatly tied or clipped so that you can see your entire face and ears.

     Step 02: Face the mirror and look at yourself. You should be at least at arms length to avoid distortion from the sides of the mirror. Don’t tilt your head sideways or downwards, as it will alter the way you look at your face. Do not smile or make unnecessary facial expressions, as these too will alter the shape of your face.

     Step 03: (Optional) Using the ruler and tape measure and jot down on paper the measurements. Measure the following: a. The widest point of your forehead. b. The width of your face (the line from leftmost part of your left check towards the nose up to the end of your right cheek). c. The widest point of your jaw line. d. The length of your face (from the highest point of your forehead across the nose towards the end of the chin). See photo below:

     Step 04: Answer this questions while you look at your face:

          Q01: How wide is my forehead? Is it the same length with my jaw line? Is it wider or narrower than my jaw line?

          Q02: How wide is the width of my face? Is it the same length with my forehead/jaw? Is it wider or narrower than my forehead/jaw?

          Q03: How wide is my jaw line? Is it the same length with my forehead? Is it wider or narrower than my forehead?

          Q04: Is your hairline round, narrow, square or has a dip on it?

          Q05: Is your jaw line and chin square, pointed or rounded?

With the measurements and answers you got check the face shapes below to know what shape you’ve got:

Oval Face Shape:

You have an oval face shape if the width of your face is broader than forehead and jaw line.
Face is slightly longer than wide (meaning the length of your face is approximately equal to one and half times the width).
Jaw line is rounded, just right: not too narrow and not too wide.
Forehead is almost the same measurement with the jaw line.
May resemble inverted egg shape.

Some celebrities with oval face shape are Halle Berry, Megan Fox, Charlize Theron, Jessica Alba, and Beyonce.

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Round Face Shape:

You have a round face shape if the width of your face is almost the same with the length with your face.
The general shape of your face has continuing lines rather than hard angles.
Jaw line is full and round.
Forehead and hairline are round.

Some celebrities with oval face shape are Kirsten Dunst, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jaime King, Kate Bosworth and Isla Fisher.

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Oblong Face Shape:

You have a oblong face shape if the length of your face is longer (at least 60%) that the width of your face.
Looks like oval but oblong has more length (long vertical line) than width.
Forehead, cheeks and jawline are almost of the same width.
Jaw line is softly rounded.
Forehead and hairline maybe long.

Some celebrities with oblong face shape are Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank, Liv Tyler and Blake Lively.

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Square Face Shape:

You have a square face shape if your hairline, cheeks and jawline are of approximately the same width.
The general shape of your face appears strong, angular and sculpted.
Jaw line is square and angular.
Forehead, and jawline are almost of the same width.
Full cheeks and is almost as wide as it is long.

Some celebrities with square face shape are Demi Moore, Angelina Jolie, Katie Holmes, Olivia Wilde and Rosario Dawson.

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Triangular Face Shape:

You have a triangular face shape if you have narrow cheekbones and forehead with irregular hairline and wide jaw-line.
The width of the jawline is wider than cheekbones while cheekbones is wider than forehead.
Jaw line is the widest part of the face.
Facial structure narrows at cheekbones and forehead.

Some celebrities with triangular face shape are Ali Larter, Jennifer Aniston, Eva Mendes, Jodie Foster and Renee Zellweger.

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Heart/Inverted Triangle Face Shape:

You have a heart face shape if the width of the hairline and forehead are wider than the lower part of the face.
Hairline is almost the same width with the forehead.
May also have a dip in the hairline (widow's peak). If you have no dip then your face shape can be considered as inverted triangle face shape.
Chin is pointy and is prominent.
Jaw line is angular/narrow and has wide cheeks.
Forehead is the widest part of the face and chin is the narrowest.

Some celebrities with heart face shape are Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, Jenny Lopez, Christina Ricci and Alyssa Milano.

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Diamond Face Shape:

You have a diamond face shape if the cheekbones are prominent and the widest part of the face.
Cheeks are often high and pointed.
Forehead is narrower than cheekbones and is almost of the same width as the jaw line.
Forehead tappers at the hairline
Chin is pointy and is prominent.
Jaw line is angular/narrow and has wide cheeks.
Face is longer than wide.

Some celebrities with diamond face shape are Elizabeth Hurley, Ashley Greene, Meg Ryan, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Madonna,

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The face shapes mentioned above are the most common face shape. Of course, you may have a combination of these face shapes just keep in mind which part of your face is the widest and the narrowest so that you will have an idea of the general shape of your face.

P.S. Images courtesy of google images