Know Your Face Shape Before You Get the Shades

There are no doubts that trends considerably affect consumers’ behaviors and shopping decisions, especially in matters of fashion. When looking for eyewear, shoppers have a tendency to look for shades they’ve seen in magazines, in offline or online advertisements, on a social influencer, or even on their favorite celebrity.

Of course, these are quite catchy and consumers develop an urge to purchase them, often overlooking a basic requirement when shopping for eyewear: their face shape. The cat-eyes you’ve been coveting for months now might look good on that model, but not necessarily on you. Don’t get us wrong, this has nothing to do with beauty. You are as gorgeous or handsome as a magazine model. It’s just that your face shape might differ and the shades – which were carefully picked to flatter the model’s face – might just not be the perfect fit for you.

So, as you see, picking glasses is not about trends and aesthetics only, but first and foremost about geometry, harmony, and balance. Pick any shades that match your face shape and we guarantee you’d look ravishing in them.

In this article, we have one mission: to help you find out your face shape so that the next time you go eyewear shopping, you’d nail the right pair from the first purchase.

YOUR GUIDE TO FACE SHAPES

If you look up face shapes online, you will surely get lost as sources disagree about the exact number of face groups. So we’ve done our research and come back with a comprehensive guide of face shapes which – hopefully – includes every possible type; at least till date.

The four most common face shapes are oval, round, heart and square. However, as facial technologies evolved, scientists were able to identify more face shapes. In fact, an article published in 2014 in UK’s renowned newspaper the Daily Mail reported that five more face shapes were identified, namely: kite, rectangular, teardrop, heptagon and oblong. Building on this finding, and conducting some more in-depth research online, we’ve come to the staggering conclusion that face shapes could be as many as 12. To help you understand the characteristics of each face shape, we’ve crafted the following table:

HOW TO DETERMINE YOUR FACE SHAPE?

Method A: THE PROFESSIONAL

• STEP 1 – Stand in front of a mirror and get a ruler or a measuring tape.
• STEP 2 – Tie your hair to make all your facial features clearly visible, including your forehead and jaw line.
• STEP 3 – Start observing. Many face shapes are recognizable immediately, especially when you know the different shapes beforehand. And then, compare your features to the face shapes we’ve listed in the above table.
• STEP 4 – If the shape is not that visible, take some measurements and note them down:
  • Measure your face length from the hairline to the bottom point of your chin
  • Measure across your forehead from one extremity to another
  • Measure your cheekbones from the pointiest point under your eye’s corner to the other
  • Measure your jaw line from each side (middle of chin to under your ear)
• STEP 5 – Now that you have these measurements, use them to sketch your face shape on a piece of paper as shown below.  

• STEP 6 – With a pen, connect all the extremities to reveal your face outline.
• STEP 7 – Compare the final outline you have with the 12 face shapes, and voila! You now know you’re face shape or at least you have an idea about it.

Method B: THE TECH GEEK

If you know your way about editing software, you can find out your face shape through drawing tools and Photoshop using your mobile phone or computer. Simply snap a frontal picture of yourself with your hair tied back to reveal all your facial features. Using the drawing tools you have available, draw the face length, forehead line, cheekbones line, and jaw lines, and then connect the dots using a colour that contrasts well with the background. Once you have the outline, compare it to the face shapes in the table above, and you’ll get your hit! You can also print out a frontal picture of your face in A4 format and do the same exercise with the lines.

Method C: THE CRAFTY

Now if you really want to have fun with this, you can print out all 12 face shapes on A4 papers, cut out the inside to create clear face outlines and place the different shapes on your face successively to see which shape fits most.

WHAT GLASSES MATCH MY FACE SHAPE BEST?

As we’ve mentioned before, choosing the right eyewear is about symmetry and harmony to balance out your facial features. Round glasses can make a round face looks fuller, while square shades on a square or rectangular face would toughen up your features. So here are the best eyewear fits based on face shapes:

1. Oval Faces: Most styles go well with this face shape, so take your pick!
2. Round Faces: Squares or rectangular designs with dark frames
3. Oblong/Heptagon Faces: Oversized square designs with dark frames
4. Square/Rectangular Faces: Round or oval designs like Aviators, some cat-eye models, dark frames with wider tops
5. Diamond/Kite/V Faces: Round and oval glasses, Clubmasters with strong browlines
6. Pear/Teardrop Faces: Clubmasters
7. A/Triangle Faces: Cat-eye glasses
8. Heart-shaped Faces: Aviators, round and oval with thin frames and wider tops

ASK MAGRABI! You can always drop by your nearest Magrabi store and ask our eyewear experts for assistance with your face shape. They will help you pick the best shades, whether you’re looking for sunnies or eyeglasses, from our wide selection of designer and branded models.