Some people have angled facial features while others have more rounded, contoured features. Learning your face shape can help you select your most flattering clothing patterns, necklines, glasses, hairstyles and jewelry. It can also save you money as you will become more discerning about what you purchase so you will buy less.
While it’s best to have your face professionally analyzed, you can get a good sense of what face shape you are by learning about the 10 face shapes below. The top row shows the five Angled faces and the bottom row shows the five Contoured faces. Each Angled face is placed above its Contoured counterpart.
ANGLED FACES
CONTOURED FACES
STEP 1: Determine if you are Angled or Contoured
Stand in front of a mirror and look at your face. You have an Angled face you have a distinctive jaw line and chin. You have a Contoured face if you have a soft, rounded jawline and chin. You can see the difference in the angles of the face in the two photos of Minnie Driver and Selena Gomez. Minnie has strong angular lines from her jaw to her chin, and her chin is distinctive. Selena has softer, rounded features overall, so she is Contoured.
Minnie Driver, Actress – Angled, A-Triangle face Selena Gomez, Actress – Contoured, Round face
STEP 2: Identify the length of your face
The Square and Round faces are the shorter face shapes because their width and length are roughly the same. The opposite is true with the Rectangle and Oblong faces, which are long faces because their length is much longer than their width. The remaining six face shapes are balanced in terms of width to length – they are not overly long or short. Look at the photos of Minnie and Selena. Minnie’s face is neither long nor short whereas Selena’s face visibly appears shorter because her width and length are about the same.
STEP 3: Determine the widest part of your face
The next thing is to determine the widest part of your face. Are you widest at the forehead, cheekbones or jawline? Once again, look at the photos of Minnie and Selena. The widest part of Minnie’s face is her jawline. The widest part of Selena’s face is her cheekbones.
FINAL STEP: Face Determination
Now you just need to put all three together to determine your face shape. It’s a process of elimination. In the two cases of the actresses, we know that Minnie’s face is Angled, average in length (not visibly long or short), and widest at the jawline. The only face that fits that visual description is the A-Triangle. Selena, by contrast, is a Contoured face that is shorter in appearance and widest at the cheekbones. The only face that fits this description is the Round.
HOW TO USE YOUR FACE SHAPE TO MAKE BETTER PURCHASING DECISIONS
Now that you have a better idea what kind of face shape you have, you can use the information to buy clothing and accessories that flatter your features. In this last section, I’ll briefly cover clothing patterns, then we’ll get into necklines in my next blog.
Clothing Patterns
The most flattering clothing patterns are those that are in harmony with your face shape. If you have an Angled face, you want patterns that are geometric or angled lines, as seen below next to Minnie. If you have a Contoured face like Selena, you want patterns that are circular in nature, like a paisley or a soft floral print.
Interested in Learning More?
In addition to face shape, Radiant Image can help you identify your best necklines, jewelry, glasses and other accessories that work with your face shape. Our Perfect Clothing Fit service includes this, along with identifying the right clothing lengths and styles for your body shape and proportions. Our Color Analysis service identifies the best colors for your skin, hair and eye coloring, giving you a palette of 40 colors to take shopping. Contact us today to learn more!