4 Face Shapes. What's The Right Sunglass Style?
In a recent blog, we noted that no two faces are ever the same. While it’s universally true, there are similarities – particularly in the shape of people’s faces – that will help determine what style of sunglasses best suits yours.
It’s common for retailers like us to break down face shapes to these four: round, oval, heart and square. Before we go into details on each one, let’s first focus on how you can quickly and easily determine the shape of your face.
DETERMINE YOUR SHAPE
First, make sure you have a mirror, bar of soap and dry erase marker. Next, pull back any hair around your face. Using the marker, trace the outline of your face on the mirror. Looking at the outline, determine whether your face is: round, oval, heart or square.
When done, use water and soap to remove the market outline on the mirror.
ROUND
A round face is denoted by its width across the cheek area. People with these faces can be identified by their lack of lines and angles. We recommend customers purchase sunglasses that contrast the round shape of your face – so rectangular, square and curved sunglasses are ideal options as they can make a round face appear thinner. The Wayfarer, first made popular by Ray-Ban (see their line here), are ideal for those with round faces.
To add even more contrast, consider sunglasses with bright colors or those that feature prints.
Options for Men: Bolle Anaconda, Randolph Intruder, Maui Jim Ikaika
Options for Women: Suncloud Blossom, Maui Jim Cloud Break, Coach Pamela
OVAL
Oval-shaped faces are the lucky ones, at least when it comes to sunglasses. These people can wear nearly everything – aviators, wayfarers, cat-eyes and round glasses – and look good doing it.
Options for Men: Revo Crawler, Maui Jim Mavericks, Smith Clark
Options for Women: Coach Annette, Burberry BE4160, Celine CL41093S
HEART
What’s not to love about these faces which are wider at the forehead and taper down in the chin and jaw? Puns aside, these faces don’t follow the rules of opposites that square and round faces do. Instead, your sunglasses should mirror the shape of your face.
Aviators, for both men and women are ideal who have heart-shaped faces. A number of brands make this style for both men and women. Ray-Ban (click here) is best known for creating the popular style, but many other companies are not far behind, including Randolph (click here), Persol (click here) and Maui Jim (click here).
SQUARE
While square, rectangular frames are ideal for those with round faces, the opposite is true for those with square faces: round frames provide the ideal contrast for those with square faces. These faces are defined by their angular lines around the jawline while still maintaining wide cheekbones, forehead and jaw.
One important note to remember: the larger your face, the larger your frames should be. Ideally, the width of the frames should extend past your cheekbone.
Options for Men: Maui Jim Hana Hou, Randolph P3, Ray-Ban RB3447
Options for Women: Celine 1E, Ray-Ban RB4203, Lilly Pulitzer Payton Black, Costa Goby