Face Shapes

To look your best you have to know what hairstyles will suit your face shape. I'm going to give you a list of different face shapes and tell you which styles work with each shape. But before you read up on what hairstyles you should have, you have to know what shape your face is. Believe me it's very hard to be objective. I thought I was Rectangular/Oblong but I'm a square. So take this quick online quiz and see what your face shape is.

http://www.dailymakeover.com/faceShape/quiz.jsp

I've been researching for days and have realized that there is a lot of information out there on the subject. But how accurate is it all when different sites contradict each other. I ended up leaving out a bunch of information and am only including the info that was consistent. This research project took a lot longer then planned. Hence the long gap between blog posts. So lets get started.





OVAL- You are only slightly narrower at the jaw line then the temples with a rounded hairline.


Green Light: Short, Medium, Long. You've got a great face that most everything works with. But try to keep your hair styled off your face.

Red Light: Bangs or too forward directed styles. Wearing your hair on your face adds weight to your face.

Celebs with an Oval face: Ashley Judd, Jennifer Aniston Elle MacPherson, Courtney Cox-Arquette.





RECTANGULAR/OBLONG-You are the same width at forehead and below cheekbones. Long and slender.


Green Light: Short, Medium. Keep the fullness to the sides and bangs will soften your angular face. Side part, layers and straight back styles work best.

Red Light: Long hair makes your face look longer than it is. Try not to add to much height.

Celebs with Oblong/Rectangular faces: Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirstie Alley, Niki Taylor.





ROUND-You have a full face with a round chin and hairline. The widest point on your face is your cheekbones.


Green Light: Hairstyles with fullness at the height and crown. Side parts and side swept bangs help to offset the roundness of your face. Short or styles longer then chin that are swept away from your face. Keep it close to your face to appear longer and leaner.

Red Light: Chin Length hair. Avoid anything that rounds along the chin line, it does nothing but accentuate the roundness of your face. Center parts, short crop bangs, Straight chopped bangs and fullness at the sides of your face should all also be avoided.

Celebs with a round face: Rosanne Barr, Kate Winslet, Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci.






SQUARE- Strong, square jaw and square hairline.



Green Light: Short to medium length with wave or roundness. Off center parts, wispy bangs and layers around the face will soften the appearance of your face. Height at the crown of your head and layered bob cut above or below the chin is always good too.

Red Light: Long straight hair, linear bangs,straight bobs and center parts.

Celebs with square faces: Sandra Bullock, Demi Moore, Isabella Rosellini, Kristen Scott Thomas.




HEART- Wide at temples, narrow and delicate chin.




Green Light: Chin length or longer. Side parts or swept forward layers, wispy bangs, chin length bob.

Red Light: Short full styles, Don't add much height at the crown. Severe slicked back hair is too harsh.

Celebs with Heart face shapes: Ashley Judd, Jeniffer Love Hewitt, Lisa Kudrow, Naomi Campbell




TRIANGULAR- Reverse of heart. Dominant jaw narrowing at cheeks and temples.




Green Light: Short hair. Styles that are full at temples and taper off at jaw. Wedges and shags.Lots of layers on the top half of your head. Try tucking your head behind your ears to draw attention to your eyes.

Red Light: Long full hair that draws attention to your jaw. Center parts and height at crown. Putting the weight of a cut at the jaw or below will give appearance of adding weight to the face. If you wear your hair long, wear it tight to the neck.

Celebs with Triangular faces: Kathy Ireland, Elizabeth Reaser.





DIAMOND- Widest at the cheekbones, equally narrow at jaw and hairline.



Green Light: Almost anything works for you if you are a true diamond. Short but leave weight at the back of the neck like someone with a heart shaped face.

Red Light: You have a very balanced face and can really do anything but try not to wear too much on your face. You don't want to hide your great features.

Celebrities with Diamond faces: Katherine Hepburn, Linda Evangelista, Sophia Loren.



I hope that you find this guide helpful. As I said above there is lots of contradicting theories out there. I tried to find the most accurate answers. But there is truly no better way then finding the right look for you without trying. Nothing can make you feel beautiful then a great new haircut (Except of course getting your eye brows waxed). Treat yourself and take a chance. Hope this helps you to find exactly what you are looking for.

Know Your Shapes

A very important part of looking your best is knowing what looks best on you. What hairstyle looks good on you is based on the shape of your face. What clothing is flattering on you is based on the shape of your body. How to do your eye makeup depends on the shape of your eyes.
I'm going to do a series of blogs posts over the next week about different shapes and how to work with them. I hope this is helpful to you. Be sure to check back.

Bangs

So first off let me start with the fact that when I got my bangs cut months ago, I had no idea how to style them. I just figured that their bangs and how hard can it be. Well it's not hard... once you know what you are doing and us late bloomers always need a little extra help. Through a lot of trial and error (and very crunchy bangs) I found a way of keeping them in place without the crunchy look. So to avoid what my friends and I call the "comb over" look (where your side bangsget splits in themand hang in chunks rather than in one solid unit) simply follow these directions:
1. Using your flat iron or a curling iron, curl the tips of your bangs under (Not too much)
2. Tilt your head to the side ans let your bangs fall naturally off the side of your head.
3. Spray the under side of your bangs with your hairspray of choice.
4. Run the back of your fingers along the tips of your bangs that you just sprayed. This will help set it. And Voila! you're done.
I actually made up a video tutorial of this technique but I hate being onfilm... even just here where probably no one will want to see it anyway. So if you are having trouble with it I can always upload the video for you. Remember that no matter the look you are trying to achieve, it always takes practice. Don't attempt anything before some big gala. You should always practice any new technique at home when you don't have anything going on. You'll be much less stressed. The Mona Lisa was not painted in one single sitting. So take your time and play around with it.