How to tell your face shape
Most face-shape advice online runs on vibes. This gives you three ratios you can actually measure and thresholds to read them against. If you would rather not measure, the face shape tool does exactly the same thing.
Measure three numbers
- Face length ÷ face width: length runs from the top of your forehead to the tip of your chin, width across the widest point of your cheekbones.
- Jaw width ÷ cheekbone width: measure jaw width between the two jaw angles, the corners below your earlobes.
- Forehead width ÷ cheekbone width: measure forehead width between your temples.
Take one front-facing phone photo. Any image viewer with a ruler works. As long as all three come from the same image, the units do not matter.
The lookup table
Each of the six shapes has a prototype set of ratios. Whichever set your three numbers sit closest to is your shape. When two are nearly equidistant, the result card says you are leaning toward the second.
- Oval: length/width 1.45, jaw/cheek 0.80, forehead/cheek 0.88. This set is the canonical face.
- Round: 1.35, 0.82, 0.87. Shorter than oval with a slightly wider lower face.
- Square: 1.42, 0.85, 0.90. Distinctly wide jaw.
- Oblong: 1.62, 0.80, 0.88. Simply longer than oval.
- Heart: 1.50, 0.76, 0.96. Wide forehead, narrow jaw.
- Diamond: 1.50, 0.76, 0.80. Forehead and jaw both narrower than the cheekbones.
The tool also measures mid-jaw width to separate round from heart, which is awkward to measure by hand, so it is left out here. Differences between shapes on the mesh are only a few percent, which is why sitting between two shapes is extremely common. Read the "leaning" line on the result card.
Styling direction for each shape
One principle: add volume where your face lacks it, and stop adding it where your face already has plenty.
Oval
Barely restricted. Try a centre or side part that leaves the face open; slightly angular square frames add structure.
Round
Lacks vertical. Build height on top, keep a long side-swept fringe or soft mid-length layers so vertical lines appear at the sides. Avoid a jaw-length bob and round frames.
Square
Lacks softness. Waves, a side-swept fringe and ends that curve inward; round or oval frames rather than heavy square ones.
Oblong
Lacks horizontal. A brow-length or wispy fringe shortens the face visually, with volume at the sides. Avoid long flat hair hugging the face and narrow frames.
Heart
Lacks lower face. Layers or flicks around the jawline balance a pointed chin; frames wider or rimless at the bottom. Avoid too much height on top.
Diamond
Lacks forehead and jaw. A fringe covering part of the temples plus volume near the jawline; cat-eye or top-heavy frames soften the cheekbones.
Common mistakes
- Measuring from a three-quarter or upward-tilted photo: jaw and forehead widths distort badly. Face straight on with the lens level with your eyes.
- Treating your hairline as the top of your forehead: hairlines vary enormously between people. Measure to the top edge of the skin.
- Judging by how pointed your chin is: pointed chins occur on heart, diamond and some oval faces, so it tells you nothing on its own.