How to Choose a Flattering Hairstyle for Your Face Shape: 7 Simple Steps

1. What's Your Shape?

Firstly, you will need to determine what your face shape actually is. You can do this by pulling your hair back securely and examining your outline directly in front of a mirror. Are you an oval, long, heart, square, or round face shape? Figuring out how to choose a haircut female beauty guides recommend starts right here with this fundamental assessment.

2. Oval

An oval face is naturally egg-shaped and evenly balanced at both the top and the bottom. Professional hair guides on Allure often highlight oval proportions because almost any cut looks balanced on this shape. Celebrities with this face shape include Megan Fox, Halle Berry, and Beyoncé. Beyoncé has shown over the years how effortlessly she can pull off pixie cuts, cascading waves, or blunt bobs. If you have this face shape, you can experiment away with an array of styles!

3. Heart

Reese Witherspoon is the screen beauty who is often credited with this face shape. If you have a wide forehead that angles down to a small chin, then you have a heart-shaped face. Shoulder length hair with layers from the chin down will look great on you. You can curl these layers or flip them out to create a fuller bottom, which will balance out your small chin. You can also go for a chin-length bob as this will work well on your face shape. Don't go for any look which is too full on the top and tapers down to wisps at the bottom as this won't suit your shape.

4. Round

The gorgeous Drew Barrymore has this face type. A round face is full with wide cheeks, small cheekbones and a small chin. You can elongate this face with longer hair which extends below the chin. Layers at the top will add volume and height. If you want to narrow your face then layers around the cheeks will do just that but avoid a fringe and chin-length styles as they won't suit your face shape.

5. Square

The stunning Angelina Jolie has a square face shape. An angelina jolie square face is characterized by a wide forehead, wide cheeks, and a more angular chin, so you will want to go for curly or wavy styles which will soften your face shape. You will need to avoid sharp and straight lines as this will be too severe. Go for soft layers around your jawline which will frame your face and disguise the strong, angled chin.

6. Long

Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler both have long faces and there are some simple ways to make a long face look shorter with your hair cut. Simply choose a cut which enables your hair to sit above the shoulders. You can also go for long layers and a fringe works well on this face type. Go for a side parting instead of a centre parting which will only elongate your face even more. You can browse style ideas on Byrdie to see how side partings soften facial length.

7. Texture

As well as your face shape, you will need to consider the texture of your hair. If your hair is fine then a longer hairstyle might make it flat and difficult to manage so a shorter cut will add more body and volume. Thick hair will be more suited to soft and textured layers whilst wavy hair can get away with some bouncy and chunky layers. Explore texture tips on L'Oréal Paris USA for customized product recommendations.

There are many apps and websites which can help you choose hairstyles by enabling you to upload a photo of yourself and then 'trying out' hairstyles on your face shape. These can sometimes work but it's also worth speaking to your hair stylist. Does anyone else have any hints and tips for choosing the perfect flattering hairstyle?