How To Find Your Face Shape

Chances are, you've never given much thought to your face shape when choosing sunglasses; you just pick the ones that you think look the best. But why do some sunglasses look better on you than others? The answer is almost always your face shape, and knowing what face shape you have can make a world of difference in selecting sunglasses. Here's how you can figure out yours.

Measure To Find Your Shape

While you can get a general sense of the face shape you have by just looking at it, taking measurements will give you a much greater degree of accuracy. So, grab a measuring tape, get in front of a mirror, and take the basic measurements:

• Forehead. To get the width of your forehead, find the widest point, which is usually halfway between your eyebrows and your upper hairline. Measure from your two side hairlines and jot that number down. Make sure to keep the tape straight; following the curve of your forehead will give you an inflated number.
• Cheekbones. Measure between the high points of your two cheekbones, the bumps under the outer corners of your eyes. Also, with the tape flat rather than curved.
• Jawline. Starting just under your ear, follow the contour of your face down to the center of your chin. Multiply that number by two to get the measurement of your jawline.
• Face length. Measure from the center of your hairline to the end of your chin.

What Do Your Face Measurements Mean?

They serve as fairly accurate ways to determine your face shape, which are traditionally divided into these main categories: heart, oval, diamond, square, and round.

Heart

Heart-shaped faces are often apparent at a glance—the v-shaped widow's peak at the hairline is a dead giveaway. Using your measurements, you can verify if you have a heart shape if your face length, forehead, and cheekbones have similar measurements, while the jawline is narrower, often with the chin coming to a prominent point. Heart-shaped faces go well with trendy eyewear; cat-eye flair looks simply stunning with this face shape. People with heart-shaped faces can look at complementary sunglasses like Paso Robles, Deja Views, Mile Highs, Mount Evans, Cloud Catchers, and Flight Paths.

Oval

If your face length is about fifty percent more than the width of your cheekbones, while your forehead measurement is larger than that of the jawline, you've got an oval face. Somewhere between square and round, oval faces are usually longer than they are wide, with rounded jaws. And oval faces are usually quite versatile when it comes to matching them to sunglasses. If your face is oval-shaped, you might want to check out Seventy Nines, Premiums, Songbirds, Cloud Catchers, Afters, Brightsides, Mount Evans, and Mile Highs. Aviator styles, which offer squared structure to contrast rounded features, are particularly fitting.

Diamond

If your longest measurement is face length, with measurements that decrease in order from cheekbones to forehead and jawline, you've got a diamond-shaped face. In essence, from your cheekbones, your face tapers up to your forehead and tapers down to a chin that's likely pointed. Think of it as an angular take on an oval-shaped face. Diamond-shaped faces often pair well with Torrey Pines, Pacific Palisades, Classics, Love & Haights, Songbirds, Panoramas, Cloud Catchers, Brooklines, and Brightsides.

Square

As squares are defined by four equal sides, square-shaped faces have nearly equal face length, cheekbone, forehead, and jawline measurements. People with square faces often have strong, sharp jawlines, with some similarity to the measurements of round faces but with more angularity. Oftentimes, rounded sunglasses do a nice job of softening the bold features of square faces. For some amazing sunglasses that go well with square-shaped faces, look to Mai Tais, Mary Janes, Deja Views, Brooklines, Love & Haights, Flight Paths, Campeones, and Mount Evans.

Round

You have a round face if your cheekbone and face length measurements are about the same, the jawline and forehead measurements are smaller than those, and you have a rounded chin rather than an angular one. Your hairline will probably be rounded as well. All of this roundness makes a perfect canvas for adding definition with angular sunglasses and square styles. Those with round faces often look awesome in Torrey Pines, Seventy Nines, Fast Lanes, Fort Knocks, Campeones, Cloud Catchers, and Flight Paths.

Long/Rectangular

Oblong face shapes are typically longer than they are wider, with a relatively narrow width. In addition, your forehead and jawline are similar widths and you may have a pointed chin. For this type of face shape, you’ll want to offset that length a bit with boxy, well-structured frames like Fast Lanes, Torrey Pines, Premiums, Fort Knocks, Panoramas, Afters, Brooklines, Love & Haights, and Brightsides, or Mile Highs, Mount Evans.

You Can Also Turn To High Tech

While the old-school way of measuring can give you a true hands-on sense of the shape of your face, you can also figure out your face's shape with a few taps on an app. If you have an iPhone, you might check out Find Your Face Shape, a free app that identifies face shapes with a focus on finding the perfect hairstyle. Android users might turn to My Face Shape Meter, which offers guidance on pairing face shapes with sunglasses.

So, what kind of face shape do you have? Are you ready to break out the measuring tape to find out? After you do, you’ll find that Knockaround has some stunning shades to match your face shape.

Written by William McCleary for Knockaround.

Updated May 29, 2024