How to Measure Your Face Shape
Your face's shape plays a big role in determining the beauty choices that best suit you naturally. Facial shape, which comes down to the relative proportions of your face's height, width and jaw line, determines the proper eyebrow arch, hairstyle and makeup placement. A woman with a heart-shaped face, for example, would place blush on the lower part of her cheek to achieve facial balance, according to "InStyle Magazine: Makeover Edition." Once you've measured your features' proportions, you will be able to make informed beauty decisions. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
-
-
1
Stand in front of a mirror, surrounded by a bright lamp or natural sunlight.
-
2
Measure the width of your cheekbones with a ruler. Place the ruler on top of your cheekbones, across your nose, to the corner of both eyes. Write down the dimension on a sheet of paper.
-
-
3
Measure the width of your jaw line. Place the ruler along your left jawbone, starting from your neck to the end of your chin. Take the number of inches and multiply it by two. Write down the measurement.
-
4
Measure the width of your forehead. Place the edge of the ruler at one end of your forehead, near the edge of your natural hairline (parallel to the space in between your ear and eye), and extend to the other side. Write down the measurement.
-
5
Measure the length of your face. Place the ruler along the front of your face, starting at the top of your forehead and ending at the bottom of your chin. Write the measurement down.
-
6
Use the written measurements to confirm your face shape.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
You have a round face if the length of your face is equal to the width of your cheekbones, while your forehead and jawline dimensions are a bit smaller.
If your forehead and cheekbone measurements are similar to each other yet larger than your jawline width, you have a heart-shaped face.
You have an oblong or rectangular face if your face's length is larger than the width of your forehead, cheekbones and jawline.
If your forehead's width is smaller than your cheekbones and jawline, you have a pear-shaped face.
If the length of your face is approximately one and a half times longer than the width of your cheekbones, forehead and jawline, you have an oval face (which is considered to be a perfectly proportioned face shape).
You have a diamond face shape if the width of your cheekbones is larger than the width of your forehead and jawline.
If the width of your forehead, cheekbones and jawline are similar to the length of your face, you have a square-shaped face.
If your jawline is slightly larger than your cheekbones, which in turn are larger than your forehead's width, you have a triangle face shape.
References
- Photo Credit Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images
