Haircuts for Face Shape: The Best Cut for All 6 Face Shapes

The best haircut for your face shape puts volume where your face is narrow and keeps it off the spot where your face is widest. That one rule explains every chart you have ever seen: round faces want height, long faces want width at the sides, square faces want softness at the jaw, heart faces want fullness at the chin, diamond faces want width at the forehead.

This guide shows you how to tell your face shape in two minutes, gives you the best and worst cuts for all six shapes in one table, then walks through each shape for women and men with the cuts to ask for and the ones to skip.

One warning before the charts: face shape matters less than they pretend. Hair texture, density and your hairline can overrule it, and most people are a blend of two shapes. Use your shape to rule out the two or three cuts that will fight you, not to find the one cut you are allowed to wear.

How to tell your face shape

Pull your hair back, stand square to a mirror or take a straight-on photo, and compare three widths (forehead, cheekbones, jaw) with the length of your face. Which width is biggest, and whether your jaw is angular or rounded, decides your shape.

If you would rather not do the arithmetic, enter your measurements here:

Photos are the other route, and they lie in one direction. A phone held at arm's length widens the middle of the face and shrinks the jaw, which is why so many people decide they are round when they are oval. Prop the phone at eye level about three feet away and use the 2x lens. Or skip the tape measure: find your face shape from a selfie and get a shortlist of cuts that suit it in the same step.

The 6 face shapes at a glance

The best cut for each face shape, women and men

Every photo below is framed the same way, straight on in the same salon light, so the only thing that changes is the face shape and the cut chosen for it. Look at where each cut adds width or length and you will see the rule from the top of this page working fourteen times.

Gallery14 photos · tap to enlarge

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Try this on me

Best haircuts for an oval face

An oval face can wear nearly any cut, so the real question is what you want to show off. Choose by hair type and upkeep, not by shape, and only watch out for cuts that add length if your oval runs long.

Try this on me

For women

Long layers, a blunt shoulder-length cut, a chin-length bob and a pixie all work. If you want one pick, go for layers that start at the collarbone: they keep the balance you already have and move well. Our guide to layered bob haircuts covers the shorter end.

For men

A textured quiff, a side part, a crop or a medium-length cut with movement all suit you. You can go short on the sides without the face looking long, and you can grow the top without it looking round.

What to avoid

Not much. A very heavy, blunt fringe hides the proportion you have, and a tall pompadour can tip an oval face toward long. That is the whole list.

Best haircuts for a round face

A round face needs length and lift, not width. Cuts that end below the chin or build height on top draw the eye up and down, while anything that ends at the cheeks or adds bulk at the sides makes the face look wider.

Try this on me

For women

Long face-framing layers with the shortest piece at or below the chin, a deep side part, and a long pixie with height at the crown. A pixie sounds wrong for a round face, but a short cut with lift on top and close sides lengthens it better than a chin bob does. See the long pixie cut guide if you are tempted.

For men

Height on top with tight sides: a quiff, a pompadour, a faux hawk, or a textured top over a fade. The shorter the sides, the longer the face reads. A mid taper fade with 3 to 4 inches on top is the safe version.

What to avoid

Chin-length rounded bobs, blunt full bangs, center parts on flat hair, and a buzz cut all over. Each one either draws a horizontal line across the widest part of the face or takes away the height that was doing the work.

Best haircuts for a square face

The best haircuts for a square face soften the jaw corners instead of framing them. Waves, layers and texture that fall past the jaw work; hard lines that end right at it make it look heavier.

Try this on me

For women

Soft waves at shoulder length or longer, curtain bangs, side-swept bangs, and long layers that start below the jaw. A side part breaks up the symmetry that makes a square face read boxy. Shoulder-length haircuts are the sweet spot: long enough to fall past the jaw, short enough to keep movement.

For men

Men usually want to keep the jaw, not hide it, so short classic cuts are the move: a crew cut, a textured crop, a slick back or a side part. A little texture at the fringe stops the whole head from looking like a block.

What to avoid

A blunt bob that stops exactly at the jawline, heavy straight bangs, and a flat center part with no layers. For men, a rounded bowl shape on top fights the jaw instead of matching it.

Best haircuts for a long face

The best haircuts for a long face add width at the sides and break up the length with bangs. Chin-length cuts, side volume and a fringe all shorten the face; long straight hair and height on top stretch it.

Try this on me

For women

A chin-length bob with full bangs is the single best cut for a long face: the bangs cut the forehead down and the bob adds width exactly where the face is narrow. Shoulder-length waves and curtain bangs work too. If you love long hair, keep it with layers and waves at cheek level, as in our guide to hairstyles for long hair.

For men

A side part with a fringe that falls onto the forehead, a textured crop with a forward fringe, or a medium cut with fullness over the ears. Keep the sides at an inch or more rather than faded to skin.

What to avoid

Long straight hair with no layers, tall quiffs and pompadours, slicked-back tops that show the whole forehead, and skin fades. Anything that adds height or strips the sides makes a long face longer.

Best haircuts for a heart-shaped face

A haircut for a heart-shaped face balances a wide forehead with a narrow chin. Side-swept bangs shrink the forehead, and cuts with fullness at chin level fill in the lower half of the face.

Try this on me

For women

A collarbone-length lob with ends that flick out, long side bangs, a chin-length bob with a side part, and layers that start at the chin. The flick at the ends is the detail that matters: it puts width where the chin is narrow.

For men

A textured fringe brushed forward, a medium-length cut with fullness over the ears, or a side part with some length at the sides. A beard is a real option here because it adds width at the chin; our beard styles for face shape tool shows which shapes work.

What to avoid

Volume at the crown, slicked-back tops, very short sides with a tall top, and pixie cuts with no bangs. They all widen the forehead and leave the chin looking smaller.

Best haircuts for a diamond face

A diamond face is widest at the cheekbones, so the best haircuts add width at the forehead and the chin and keep the sides soft. Bangs and chin-length cuts do both.

Try this on me

For women

Side-swept bangs, a chin-length bob, a lob with layers at the jaw, and deep side parts. Tucking one side behind the ear shows off the cheekbones, which are the best feature of a diamond face.

For men

A fringe crop, a textured fringe, or a messy top pushed forward. Keep some length on the sides so the cheekbones do not stick out past the hair.

What to avoid

A sleek center part, tight sides with height on top, and hair scraped back off the forehead. Each one narrows the forehead and makes the cheekbones look even wider.

Mistakes that cost people a good haircut

Most bad cuts are not the stylist's fault. They come from one of these:

• Measuring from a close-up selfie. The phone's wide lens makes almost everyone look rounder than they are, so you pick cuts built for a face you do not have.
• Treating the chart as a rule and ignoring texture. A chin-length bob on thick, curly hair adds width a long face needs; the same bob on fine, straight hair can fall flat and add nothing. Texture decides how much volume a cut really builds.
• Forgetting the hairline. A high or receding hairline makes any face read longer. That changes the advice more than the jaw does.
• Choosing the cut on the model, not on you. A cut that suits your shape on someone else's face can still look wrong with your features, which is why seeing it on your own face first saves the most regret.
• Skipping glasses. Frames draw a horizontal line across the face. If you wear them every day, check the cut and the frames together with our glasses for face shape tool.

Take this to the chair, with your own shape and target filled in:

See the cut on your own face before you commit

The charts get you to two or three good options. The wall they hit is that you still cannot picture those cuts on your own face, with your own hairline, texture and features, and a haircut is not something you can undo on the way home.

That is the gap the try-on closes. Upload one front-facing photo and see the cuts that suit your face shape rendered on you, then take the one you like to your stylist.

If you only want the answer to what shape you are, the face shape detector reads it from one photo.

If you remember one thing, make it this: add volume where your face is narrow and take it away where your face is widest. Round and diamond faces need height or fringe, long faces need width at the sides, square and heart faces need softness at the jaw and fullness at the chin. Oval faces can ignore most of it.

Measure once, at eye level, with your hair off your face. Then use your shape to cross off the two or three cuts that fight it, and pick from what is left by texture and upkeep. When you are down to two, find your face shape from a selfie and see both before anyone picks up the scissors.