How to Know Your Face Shape: A Simple Guide

From the way you style your hair to the outfits you fill your wardrobe with, everything hinges on your face shape. As people focus on styling themselves according to their unique features, face shape analysis grows ever popular, and higher demand means higher charges for a professional consultation. If you, too, are curious about what category you fit in but don’t want to spend a pretty penny, here is how to know your face shape using a few key measurements and free online tools.

Your face shape can reveal a great deal about your personal style, but more particularly, it tells you how to style your hair to accentuate your best features and distract from the less desirable ones. Here is a breakdown of the 5 most common face types and how that translates into your preferred hairdos. 

Round

Characteristics

If you have a face shape that has a soft, rounded jawline, full cheeks, and the length of your face is pretty much equal to the width, then you fall under the round face category. 

Best Hairstyles

With a round face shape, you want to avoid any hairstyle that accentuates the roundness because that leaves your facial features with little dimension, so short hair, especially those cropped too close to your scalp, like buzz cuts, is a big no. Go for longer layers, face-framing cuts like side-swept bangs, and voluminous tops that give your face the illusion of length.

Celebrities With This Face Shape

• Selena Gomez
• Chrissy Teigen
• Mila Kunis. 

Oval

Characteristics

The oval face is characterized by balanced proportions, a slightly narrower jaw than forehead, and a gently rounded hairline. If your face shape checks all three boxes, then chances are you have an oval-shaped face. 

Best Hairstyles

almost all hairstyles work extremely well with an oval face because it’s just *that* versatile. If you really want to turn heads, go for long waves for a fun beach vibe or straight sleek hair to look more mysterious 

Celebrities With This Face Shape

• Beyonce
• Jessica Alba
• Charlize Theron

Square

Characteristics

Probably the most runway worthy face shape of all, the square face shape features a strong angular jawline, minimal curves on the sides and you would notice that the forehead, cheekbones, and jawline, all have similar widths. If you have those characteristics, you have a chiseled square face (lucky you)

Best Hairstyles

As far as features go, you’ve won the lottery and to complement those features the best hairstyles would be in contrast to the sharpness such as soft curls or waves, side parts, or long layered cuts.

Celebrities With This Face Shape

• Angelina Jolie
• Olivia Wilde
• Keira Knightley 

Heart

Characteristics

The most romantic of all face shapes has to be the heart shape, not because it’s a literal heart, but because the signature prominent cheekbones, narrow, soft chin, and wide forehead have a story-book romantic look to them.

Best Hairstyles

Many hairstyles go well with the heart shape but the most stylish out of the bunch are short chin-length bobs, side-swept fringes, and loose waves to really enhance the romantic nature of the shape.

Celebrities With This Face Shape

• Reese Witherspoon
• Scarlett Johansson 
• Jennifer Love Hewitt 

Rectangle

Characteristics

This face shape is not as commonly known and can sound intimidating at first, but the main character’s presence it carries is iconic. If your face is longer than it is wide, has a straight cheek line, and a strong jawline, you have the signature rectangle face.

Best Hairstyles

This shape says, “You should play around with texture” when it comes to your hairstyle. Try shoulder-length waves, maybe soft layers to add width, and you can never go wrong with curtain bangs

Celebrities With This Face Shape

• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Meryl Streep 
• Gisele Bündchen

Let’s say you can’t get a consultation in your area, or the specialists are charging way above your budget. You can always follow these few simple steps to figure out your face shape, or at least get a rough estimate of what category you fall under, to help you decide on your next haircut before your trip to the salon. All you need is a flexible tape measure and a mirror, and here is how you check your facial proportions to guess your face shape.

• Measure your forehead width
• Measure your cheekbone width.
• Measure your jaw width.
• Measure face length

You have the measurements, now all you have to do is compare those results with the following rules, and you will have the answer to the question “what is my face shape”.

• If your face is about as long as it is wide, you likely have a round face.
• If it’s longer than it is wide with a gently curved jawline, it’s oval.
• If your jawline is strong and similar in width to your forehead, it’s square.
• If your forehead is wider than your jawline, your face is heart-shaped.
• If your face length is the greatest measurement, it’s a rectangle.

Unless you’re a professional who’s seen thousands upon thousands of different face shapes, the process of figuring out your face shape manually with a flexible measuring tape and eyeballing the numbers has a very real chance of error. Maybe you want more accurate results, or maybe measuring just isn’t your thing. If that’s the case, you can try out the following free online tools that can give you the answer straight away.

BeautyPlus

BeautyPlus is your all-in-one beauty editor and styling guide tool that makes face shape detection a walk in the park. A simple photo upload is all it takes to instantly give you a thorough analysis of your face shape, along with hairstyle suggestions. There are no extra steps, no fussing with a measuring tape, and no learning curve when using the tool. It’s just a simple software doing what it’s meant to do.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Open your browser and visit the BeautyPlus Face Shape Detector.

2. Click” Upload Image” to upload a selfie or a portrait photo.

3. Once your photo is processed, you’ll have a complete breakdown of your overall face shape as well as individual features.

4. A scoreboard will tell you exactly what percentage of a certain shape your face is.

Pros 

• Quick and accurate
• Free to use
• Suggests hairstyle tips
• Comes with a scoring feature.

Cons

• Requires photo upload
• Needs internet connection

Youcam Online Editor

Another great option for anyone wondering how to determine face shape is YouCam Online Editor. An online editor made with functionality and simplicity in mind. It is user-friendly with a ton of hairstyle options to try out.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Open your browser and visit the YouCam Face Shape Detector.

2. You can either choose an image from the traditional file navigator window or simply drag it and drop it onto the tool.

3. Give the tool a couple of seconds to process the image. It’ll tell you your face shape, along with hair style options to virtually try on a few styles before committing to one.

Pros 

• User-friendly
• Offers virtual try-on for hairstyles

Cons

• Limited free features
• Works best with high-resolution photos

Knowing your style is only possible through knowing yourself. You need to know what you’re working with so you can make better choices to enhance the gifts you have, and the first step in that direction should be knowing your face shape. So if you’ve ever found yourself wondering “What face shape do I have?”, you can figure it out using the right methods or make your life easier with the right online tools like BeautyPlus.