Round face shape: hairstyles, glasses and beard guide

How to tell if you have a round face

• Your face length and width are close to the same.
• Your cheeks are the fullest and widest part of your face.
• Your jaw is soft and rounded, without clear corners.
• Your hairline is often rounded too.

Want to be sure? Check your face shape with a photo.

Best hairstyles for a round face

For women

• Long layers below the chin. Length pulls the eye downward and makes the face look longer.
• Deep side part. Breaks up the symmetry of a round face.
• Side-swept bangs. An angled fringe adds a diagonal line that slims the face.
• High ponytail or top knot. Volume at the crown adds height.
• Long bob that falls past the jaw. Avoid bobs that end right at the widest point of the cheeks.

For men

• Pompadour. Height on top makes the face look longer.
• Quiff with a fade. Short sides reduce width while the top adds length.
• Faux hawk. Draws the eye upward.
• Angular fringe. A sharp, uneven fringe adds definition.
• Undercut. Keeps the sides tight and the focus on top.

Best glasses for a round face

Frames that suit you

• Rectangular and square frames, which add angles
• Cat-eye and browline frames, which lift the face
• Frames slightly wider than your face

Frames to skip

• Small round frames, which repeat the roundness
• Frames narrower than your cheeks

Beard styles

Keep the sides short and let the chin grow a little longer. A goatee, a tapered full beard or a short boxed beard with a longer chin all add length.

Makeup tips

Contour down the sides of your face and just under the cheekbones, and add highlight down the centre of the forehead and chin. Place blush slightly higher and angle it toward the temples.

Compare with all seven face shapes.