First, find your shape
Pull your hair back and look straight at a mirror or a photo taken from about arm’s length or further (close selfies widen the middle of the face). Compare four things: how long the face is from hairline to chin, and how wide it is at the forehead, the cheekbones and the jaw.
| Shape | Length | Widest part | Jaw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oval | A little longer than wide | Cheekbones, gently | Narrower than the cheekbones, rounded |
| Round | About as long as wide | Cheeks | Soft, little angle |
| Square | About as long as wide | Even from forehead to jaw | Wide and angular |
| Oblong | Clearly longer than wide | Even all the way down | Similar width to the forehead |
| Heart | Medium | Forehead | Narrow, tapering to the chin |
| Diamond | Medium to long | Cheekbones, clearly | Narrow, with a narrow forehead too |
Most faces sit between two shapes. That’s normal: read the advice for both and keep what they agree on. If you have a rectangle face (long, with a square jaw), use the oblong advice for length and the square advice for the corners.
Round face
Goal: add height and some angles, keep volume off the cheeks.
Try
- A quiff or a short pompadour with tapered sides
- A textured crop with a high or mid fade
- A side part with short, tight sides
- An angular fringe swept to one side
Skip
- A buzz cut all one length (it traces the round outline)
- A bowl cut or a heavy straight fringe
- Full, puffy sides
Square face
Goal: you already have strong corners. Either keep them crisp or soften them; avoid making the head look boxier.
Try
- A textured crop with a soft, slightly messy fringe
- A side part with a scissor-cut top
- A short, layered cut with some movement on top
- A classic crew cut, if you like the angular look
Skip
- A flat-top
- Very boxy outlines with hard square corners
- Sharp, squared-off sideburns
Oval face
Goal: keep the balance you have. Oval isn’t "best": it simply needs the fewest corrections, so you can choose by texture and how much styling time you want.
Try
- A side part with a taper
- A French crop
- A moderate quiff
- A crew cut
- Longer, layered styles if your hair suits them
Skip
- A long, flat centre part that hides the forehead and narrows the face
- Extreme height that makes the face read long
Heart face
Goal: the forehead is the widest part, so move visual weight down and keep height off the crown.
Try
- A forward French crop
- A textured fringe brushed forward
- Medium-length sides (not skin-tight)
- Some length kept at the back
Skip
- Slicked-back styles that open the whole forehead
- Big crown volume or a tall pompadour
- Very tight high fades that make the top look wider
Facial hair is the biggest lever for this shape: stubble or a short full beard adds width at the jaw (see the beard guide).
Diamond face
Goal: the cheekbones are the widest point, so add width at the forehead and the chin instead.
Try
- A forward crop or a fringe that covers part of the forehead
- A low taper that keeps some fullness at the sides
- A textured top with medium length
Skip
- Slicked-back styles
- A high, tight fade that narrows the temples further
- Lots of height on top
Oblong face
Goal: the face is long already, so shorten it visually and add width at the sides.
Try
- A crew cut with a low fade
- A French crop or a Caesar cut with a fringe
- A side part with fuller sides
Skip
- Long, straight hair hanging past the jaw
- Crown height: pompadours and tall quiffs
- Tight high-and-tight sides
Your hair type changes the advice
- Straight or fine hair lies flat, so a cut that needs height (a quiff for a round face) needs texture or a matte product to hold.
- Wavy hair gives you movement for free: a textured crop or a mid-length layered cut works for most shapes.
- Curly or coily hair: shape the outline. A rounded or tapered shape, a high-top, a twist-out or a sponge texture all work; the face-shape logic still applies to where you keep volume.
- Locs, braids, a shaved head or a covered head: no cut needed. Keep the edges and the neckline tidy if you like.
- A thinning crown or receding hairline: shorter usually reads better than long hair combed over. Don’t try to hide it with length on top. If it’s changing quickly, see the Norwood guide.
What to ask your barber for
- Bring two or three photos of the cut on someone with your hair type, not just your face shape.
- Say how much time you spend styling it each morning, honestly.
- Say "taper" (gradual, keeps some length at the sides) or "fade" (goes down to skin), and how high.
- Ask for the top to be scissor-cut and texturised if you want movement rather than a blunt line.
- Book the next cut before you leave: most short cuts lose their shape in a few weeks.
How strong is the evidence?
Limited. Hair changes how a face reads: in a well-known illusion, the same inner face looked like two different people under two different hairstyles (Sinha and Poggio, 1996). But no study tests which cut suits which face shape. The advice above is stylists’ convention: start there, then trust the mirror and the people around you.
How the app handles this
The app measures face shape on the 478-point mesh: the jaw contour, the face width at the cheekbones, the top of the mesh and the forehead width. It reports one of seven shapes (these six plus rectangle: long like oblong with a square jaw) and says "close to" a second shape when a measurement sits near a boundary. It leaves the shape out when a beard covers the jaw line, a head covering frames the face, hair covers the forehead or the mouth is open, rather than guess. Your shape picks the haircut card in your plan; it never changes a score.