We all have different face shapes, and it is fair to mention that no face shape is better than others. It is not the shape of our face that defines our personality or beauty, though it can impact how we have our hair styled and how we use make-up. Different face shapes offer different opportunities, so we want to accentuate some parts over others, and make-up is our tool. Here we offer some tips for using make-up with different face shapes.
What is your face shape?
It is unlikely that you can clearly define one shape of your face, and your face will change over time. However, you will have characteristics of one of these face shapes, which is often determined by the width and height of your face and the proportions.
A round face has identical measurements across the cheekbones and from the hairline to the chin. You will notice that your face is curved, similar to an oval face, except your chin will be narrower than your forehead. A square face is like a round face, but you will have a more angular forehead and jaw. If your face is rectangular, you will find little difference from a square face shape other than the measurement from hairline to chin is longer than your cheekbone.
Then, diamond, heart, and oval shapes require you to look closely at certain features. For instance, with a diamond-shaped face, you will have a narrow forehead and pointed chin, and with a heart-shaped one, your hairline will come down to a point commonly known as a widow’s peak.
Make-up for a heart-shaped face
Your hope with a heart-shaped face would be to use make-up to soften the forehead, which can appear quite prominent. At the same time, you want to accentuate your cheekbones to offer even more balance.
To do this, add some highlighter to the highest point of the cheekbones, over the nose bridge and beneath the brow bone. Then, apply bronzer to the top of your forehead and blend it towards the temples and beneath the cheekbone. Add to the cheekbones with some blush and draw attention to your lips with a bright-coloured gloss. Using soft pinks or nudes on the eye will keep the attention on the lower face and the sensual mouth.
Make-up for a round face
When your face is round, you will maintain a youthful look for longer. Your features will be gently contoured, so your job with make-up is to add some structure. To do this, apply bronzer to the outer edges of the face and under the cheekbones. Add powder to the centre of the forehead and high on the cheekbones and the bridge of your nose. Make sure you spend time shaping your eyebrows and then exaggerating this shape with make-up. A strong straight brow with an angular arch works best.
Make-up for a square face
With your angular symmetry, your make-up needs to soften the harder angles. You can use contour around the temples and jaw, using a soft brush to push upwards. Apply some blush to the hollows of the cheeks and again blend upwards. A bold lip and eye colour will draw attention away from the harder edges of a square face.
Make-up for an oval face
Most people believe the oval face is the best shape as it offers a more balanced appearance. As such, when applying make-up, you work with your face rather than trying to emphasise parts and play others down. Therefore, everything about your make-up needs to be done lightly, whether applying blush to your hairline, jawline and around the ears or adding a bronzer to your forehead, bottoms of cheekbones and cheeks.
Make-up for a diamond shape
While being the rarest face shape, it is also the most common amongst our most beautiful stars. Look to Scarlet Johansson, Tyra Banks, and Jennifer Lopez as examples of this shape of a face.
As with rectangle and square shapes, you want to use make-up to soften the angular edges and bring attention to the softer features. Therefore, applying a light shade of foundation to the forehead and jaw and contouring the bottom of the chin helps here. Make sure you focus on accentuating the apples of the cheeks with blush and styling brows so there is an upwards, wide gap in the middle.
Summary
Make-up has always been about creating shapes and shadows that make the most of what you have. Therefore, any advice about make-up for face shapes boils down to drawing attention to the best bits and taking emphasis off the more dominating features.
