There is no most attractive face shape. Research on facial attractiveness points to symmetry, closeness to the average face and healthy looking skin, not to any particular outline, and every shape appears among admired faces. Style guides call oval ideal only because it is easy to style. Find your own shape with our free face shape detector.
The seven face shapes
Face shape describes the outline of the face, mostly its length and the widths of the forehead, cheekbones and jaw.
| Shape | What defines it |
|---|---|
| Oval | Longer than wide, widest at the cheekbones, soft jaw |
| Round | About as wide as long, full cheeks, soft jaw |
| Square | Even widths, strong angular jaw |
| Heart | Widest at the forehead, slim jaw and chin |
| Diamond | Widest at the cheekbones, narrow forehead and chin |
| Oblong | Clearly longer than wide, straight sides |
| Triangle | Widest at the jaw, narrower forehead |
Why oval is called the ideal face shape
Almost every style guide calls oval the ideal shape. The reason is practical. An oval face sits close to the middle of every measure, a little longer than wide, with no width that stands out, so almost any haircut, frame or makeup look suits it. Stylists use it as the reference point and describe other shapes by how they differ from it.
That makes oval the easiest shape to dress, not the most attractive one. Plenty of admired faces are square, round, heart shaped or long.
What research says about attractive faces
Decades of research on facial attractiveness have found a few patterns that hold up across cultures.
- Averageness. Faces close to the average of many faces tend to be rated as attractive. When researchers blended photos together, the blends were rated more attractive than most of the faces that went into them.
- Symmetry. Faces with closer matches between the left and right sides are rated a little more attractive on average. Our guide to symmetrical faces explains how small that effect is.
- Skin. Even, healthy looking skin consistently raises ratings.
- Sex typical features. Some features that differ on average between women and men affect ratings, though the direction and size vary between studies.
None of these is a face shape. A round face, a square face and an oblong face can all be symmetrical and close to the average in their other features. Studies that adjusted the positions of features found people preferred proportions close to the average face, which again is not a single outline.
What our own measurements show
We measured 201 straight on faces from public photo sets with the same tool that powers our face shape detector. The shapes came out remarkably evenly. Triangle, heart, oval and round each made up close to a fifth of faces, diamond and square about a tenth each, and oblong was the least common at about 6 percent.
Our attractiveness test does not use face shape at all. It measures symmetry and how close proportions are to the typical face, and every face shape scores across the whole range.
Every face shape has its strengths
- Oval. Balanced and easy to style, it suits almost any cut.
- Round. Soft and youthful, round faces often keep their fullness with age.
- Square. A strong jaw catches light and holds its shape in photos.
- Heart. High cheekbones and a slim chin give natural definition.
- Diamond. Striking cheekbones make it one of the most photogenic outlines.
- Oblong. Long, elegant lines suit bold glasses and full hairstyles.
- Triangle. A wide, strong jaw gives a grounded, confident look.
How to find your face shape
You can find your face shape in a few minutes, with a mirror, a tape measure or a selfie.
- Pull your hair back. Tie it away from your forehead and the sides of your face, so you can see the whole outline.
- Trace or measure. Trace your outline on a mirror with a washable marker, or measure four things, your forehead at its widest, your cheekbones from edge to edge, your jaw from corner to corner and your face length from hairline to chin.
- Find the widest point. Is it the forehead, the cheekbones, the jaw, or are they all about the same.
- Compare length and width. Is your face clearly longer than it is wide, about one and a half times, or close to equal.
- Look at the jaw. Does it curve softly into the chin, or meet it at a clear corner.
Those answers point to one of the seven shapes. Our face shape detector does the measuring from a selfie, names your shape and shows the runner up, because many faces sit between two shapes.
Face shape in women and men
The same seven shapes apply to everyone. On average, men tend to have a slightly wider, more angular jaw and a longer lower face, which is why square and oblong come up a little more often for men, and heart and diamond a little more often for women. In our own measurements the overlap was large, and every shape appeared for both.
Facial hair changes how a shape reads. A full beard squares off a soft jaw, and a goatee lengthens a round face, so men can shift their apparent shape quite a lot with a trimmer.
Face shape across cultures and eras
Ideas about attractive faces shift over time and between places. Fashion photography in one decade favors strong jaws and sharp cheekbones, and in another softer, rounder faces. Studies that compare raters from different countries find broad agreement on symmetry and averageness, but much less agreement on specific features. That is another sign that face shape is a matter of taste rather than a ranking.
Glasses by face shape at a glance
| Face shape | Frames to try |
|---|---|
| Oval | Almost any frame as wide as the face |
| Round | Rectangular and angular frames |
| Square | Round, oval and thin metal frames |
| Heart | Frames wider at the bottom, rimless, round |
| Diamond | Oval, cat eye and browline frames |
| Oblong | Deep, wide and oversized frames |
| Triangle | Browline and cat eye frames |
These are starting points. Frame width, bridge fit and how a frame makes you feel matter more than any rule.
Using your face shape well
Face shape is most useful as a guide for haircuts, glasses and makeup. Our guide to haircuts for round faces shows how it works in practice, by adding length or height where you want it. Proportions such as facial thirds add more detail.
None of it is about turning one outline into another. It is about choosing what you enjoy, and every face shape gives you plenty of options.