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blue_eyes
September 26th, 2014, 11:32 AM
Has anyone else looked into what haircut/style should suit their face shape?

I've done nothing to my hair (no dye, no cuts, nothing) in over a year, and was beginning to feel that my natural hair (very fine, perfectly straight, and not an ounce of volume) didn't suit my oblong face. I looked up face shapes & hairstyles, and apparently the #1 thing to avoid is the very hair that I have naturally (hahaha...ughhh). Basically, long, straight hair is horrible with oblong face shapes because it makes them look even longer. Great. So my face shape and natural hair are the absolute worst combination...it's almost funny...almost. :P

According to these sites my best option is either to cut it short (no), waves or curls to add width to my hair (practically impossible to do to my hair type), or get some bangs (which I never thought looked very good on me). I really have no idea what to do! XD

Any advice? Anyone in a similar situation? I don't even know if all the face shape/haircut info is totally accurate, but I do notice my natural hair does make my face look longer and isn't particularly attractive...I just don't know what I can actually do about it.

Larki
September 26th, 2014, 11:45 AM
Haha I've tried to look into this! But I have no idea what my face shape is. :p I've tried those little face shape guides and it just doesn't make sense to me, none of them seem like my face.

Zesty
September 26th, 2014, 11:52 AM
Well there are things you can do to flatter your face shape that aren't hair, I'd imagine. I don't know if you're planning to follow the traditional LHC practice of wearing your hair up all the time, but if you do then the hair/face shape thing is almost moot. You could use earrings or something along those lines to act as "hair" -- like wear wide ones to add width. I like to add long earrings to updos in order to have something going on around my face. Not everyone's style, but it makes me happy.

Personally I don't give a flying flip if my hair supposedly doesn't complement my face shape, but if you feel less than attractive with your hair the way it is (for whatever reason) and you're planning on wearing it down most of the time, maybe you could get layers (if you don't already have them)? I have little experience with hair as fine/thin as yours seems to be, so maybe layers would be a disaster, but it's an idea.

Sharysa
September 26th, 2014, 11:55 AM
Do you have any pictures that you're willing to show us? Also, how do you part it? A side part can help a lot of things.

I have a square face that looks really severe with the wrong cut/style, but a side part softens it up really nicely by drawing attention up and giving my hair some volume to balance out my jawline.

pixldust
September 26th, 2014, 12:01 PM
I don't know if I buy everything that this face-shape stuff tells us. I've looked up my face shape on a few different sites and some of them have had advice that has contradicted what another site has said. It's frustrating when you get stuck in a hair rut though, would layers work, like Zesty suggested? Maybe a few very light face-framing layers? To change it up a bit but not drastically? Though I know layers don't always work with fine hair so 'scuse me if I seem like I'm talking out of my behind :D

CoyoteSarah
September 26th, 2014, 12:55 PM
I literally have this exact same problem. Pin-straight hair that will not curl, long, narrow face shape, bangs look horrid. Here is what I do:

1. Side part is **mandatory**. lol ^_^

2. Eyebrowish, wispy bangs- I don't think these look awesome on me but if you wear your hair down a lot or like the look of bangs, they look alright. Don't wanna go longer or shorter though, keep the rest of your hair long and watch the bluntness.You should be able to see your eyebrows through your bangs a bit. I don't have a particularly large forehead so most of the length/emphasis is on my chin (looks like you have a similar jawline) which brings me to...

3. Face framing/chin length layers- better than bangs but a blessing and a curse. You want these somewhere just below your chin. You have to pin them back with bobby pins if you do an updo but they look nice overall. Use decorative boby pins to look even nicer. If they don't bug you ,leave them hanging out of an updo and it looks even better. Pinning them back a bit but still hanging out at the bottom looks pretty good too.
Incidentally, if you ever decide to chop your hair off, this is a good length for a bob and its not too painful to grow out either since its not too long before you hit shoulder length. Which is where I'm at now. Don't layer any of the rest of it. Seriously, it does absolutely nothing except make my hair look thinner and not fit into updos! Slides right out, pokes out everywhere and if anything it makes my hair look flatter, *unless* you use a TON of product and a blow dryer and thats not my cup of tea. lol

4. Seriously, updos with earrings. Zesty has it right. They don't have to be huge either, just some little sparkly danglies look very nice too. Especially if they're a color that contrasts, instead of a neutral. I find round, chandelier and hoop earrings also look good on me. You want an upside-down triangle/shield shape too if you're into big earrings. Personally, I like stuff like this for regular wear: https://www.etsy.com/listing/204827462/silvered-cranberry-lampwork-earrings?ref=shop_home_active_6
Just a simple, sparkly two-bead type earring and it makes all the difference. :)

Hope this helps! ^_^

Edit: And don't use my profile pic as an example. rofl Medical issues cause my face to puff up and that was a puffy day sadly. At some point I discovered it was so puffy I could part it down the middle and still look okay. Ugh. My face is now its usual long,narrow self though. I should do another profile pic. lol

Anje
September 26th, 2014, 01:06 PM
My wide face supposedly would benefit from framing layers.

They look terrible on me! They hide my high cheekbones and make my face look simply heavy. If anything, the curtains look actually widens my face because you can't tell how much is hiding back there. (Or it would, if I didn't tuck layers behind my ears so they wing out at the sides of my head.) Bad, bad look for me.

This round-faced lady looks better in tight updos!

CoyoteSarah
September 26th, 2014, 01:20 PM
My wide face supposedly would benefit from framing layers.

They look terrible on me! They hide my high cheekbones and make my face look simply heavy. If anything, the curtains look actually widens my face because you can't tell how much is hiding back there. (Or it would, if I didn't tuck layers behind my ears so they wing out at the sides of my head.) Bad, bad look for me.

This round-faced lady looks better in tight updos!

That makes absolutely no sense- whoever is spreading that misinformation could use a good bump on the noggin. The chin-length layers look nice on long faces precisely BECAUSE they make your face look wider! rofl

lapushka
September 26th, 2014, 01:44 PM
Face shapes and hair to me, the combination is absolute nonsense. I just don't listen to that kind of "advice". If you do, might as well get talked into having your hair cut into a pixie. :shrug:

Anje
September 26th, 2014, 01:48 PM
That makes absolutely no sense- whoever is spreading that misinformation could use a good bump on the noggin. The chin-length layers look nice on long faces precisely BECAUSE they make your face look wider! rofl

Right?!? That's how it looks to me at least.

(For the record, the chin+ layers I'm attempting not to sport right now are mainly from an ill-advised set of bangs that aren't growing out nearly fast enough. I REALLY should have ignored the hubby's insistence that they would be cute on me; I do NOT have a personality that's compatible with fussy bits of hair in my face! Also, making a round face with a slightly short forehead look shorter with bangs... not so good.)

CoyoteSarah
September 26th, 2014, 02:03 PM
Its not really about face 'shape' as much as it is proportions- you want everything in balance. The human eye likes symmetry and balance. So if your face is more vertical like mine, you add horizontal interest and if its wide like Anje's ,you add vertical interest. Same as with clothing and 'body type' (apple, pear,etc.) People get all caught up in the 'shapes' and types and it just confuses folks b/c no one looks just like anyone else.

Lapushka-No no no, pixies look HORRIBLE with a long face shape. :P :) lol At least on me. I tried it and it was unspeakably horrible. ^_^

Robot Ninja
September 26th, 2014, 02:51 PM
I have a square face, which the advice says looks good with long wavy hair. Great, I have long wavy hair! Oh wait, no, by "long" they mean APLish, BSL tops.

I actually did look good when I had APL layers. But they were a pain to deal with unless I was wearing my hair down, so I grew them out.

blue-eyes, have you thought about trying something like lace braids to add some interest to the sides of your face? Or if you're wearing your hair up, putting it in twin dutch braids and then bunning?

blue_eyes
September 26th, 2014, 02:51 PM
Thanks for all the replies! I'll try a side part first (as you suggested CoyoteSarah! Your reply was really helpful) and see how it looks before actually getting some bangs cut. I've had side swept bangs in the past but can't remember what they looked like. My hair naturally likes to part in the middle, which I know doesn't help making my face look even longer. I was planning to have some short, face-framing sections of hair cut in anyway, so I might just add some side-swept bangs in as well. :)

I only went searching for advice because what I have right now is awful, and what I read only confirmed that. I definitely need some horizontal interest, and curls or waves just won't hold unless my hair is damaged. Anyway, point is I won't be getting a pixie, haha.

Oh & layers...that's one of those things stylists are always saying I "NEED" because my hair is so thin, the layers are going to give it body/volume. No. I've tried that and it only made my hair look thinner :P I don't understand how that makes sense to begin with. "I'll make it look like there's more volume by removing half your hair"...huh? :S

nerdymomma
September 26th, 2014, 02:58 PM
Experiment and find what makes YOU happy. Forget what the experts say. On the rare occasions I wear my hair down, I am told I should have it like that always. Well, frankly, it drives me batty and I can't think straight. I wear it up, typically with a gorgeous Flexi clip, because doggone it, I like it that way.

Lady Mary
September 26th, 2014, 03:36 PM
While I really don't keep up with what I "should" have, I do acknowledge that my long face and straight hair don't look amazing together. I have remedied it with blunt bangs. This comment doesn't really help you of course, but just chiming in to say I have the same issue. When I didn't have fringe, a side part really did help, glasses too. It distracts from the "longness" of my face.

Merlin
September 26th, 2014, 03:50 PM
Mrs M just says to her stylist "What's going to look good on me" and lets her get on with it....

kitana97
September 27th, 2014, 01:40 AM
I have an oval face shape which I guess can take on most hair styles so....yay?

Johannah
September 27th, 2014, 05:52 AM
I still haven't figured out what face shape I got. Guess it's oval. I've tried to understand such sort of advice but... I don't know.

hannabiss
September 27th, 2014, 06:27 AM
This is one of the things that always trips me up. I love having long hair. However it's so limp and my face is so long I look strange. I have to have bangs and some face layers when my hair gets long again I'll keep it up a lot. I actually get the most compliments when my hair is short. But it's about what I like in the end.

Phexlyn
September 27th, 2014, 06:38 AM
Well, my natural face shape and natural hair don't go together as well (same situation as the OP), but since I wear it up anyway that's not much of a concern.

If you're not willing to change your haircut and style, why not look into gently changing/optimising your face shape with make-up? I'm sure there's plenty of tutorials out there and if you practice a bit, it looks very natural.

curlylocks85
September 27th, 2014, 07:49 AM
Frankly, I do not care about what hairstyle or cut suits my face. I wear my hair the way I like it and that is all there is to the matter.

FrozenBritannia
September 27th, 2014, 09:07 AM
I agree that it is mostly proportion one needs to worry about, rather than actual shape/hair advice.

Having had extremely thin hair (when I first joined) I'm going to second the PP who suggested braids. Double dutch braids that loop around into an updo will add visual width and substance to your hair. The side part will break up the line from your chin to the top of your head, and longer earrings will make any distance between your ears and your chin less noticable. Even just inch long earrings will do this.

eadwine
September 27th, 2014, 09:13 AM
I have bangs because my face shape makes me get a reaaaally long face if I don't have something of a fringe :)

Gertrude
September 28th, 2014, 10:46 AM
Alexandre de Paris (-: A lot of these face shape and hair do recommendations date to the fifties,when hair was dried on rollers and poofed out and sort of sculpted. Hair dos even had small hair pieces you could add in strategic locations to help your hair flatter your face shape. With the coming of the blow dry era the advice stuck around, but makes less sense. Yes, you can add bangs and face framing layers, and have wavy hair around your jaw and what not, but with thin, fine hair any layering you do, or bangs you cut in, reduces your volume of hair overall. The layering advice so your fine hair " moves" is taught in hair dressing schools although it is utterly illogical.

I have a narrow face and what I have found to be important is eyebrows. Mine are blonde and rather sparse, but I draw them on with pencil and powder. I don't wear much make-up but since I have done this the effect has been more flattering than anything I have tried to do with my hair. Earrings help with that too, breaking up the oblong effect.

Sofialu
October 16th, 2014, 06:40 AM
Has anyone else looked into what haircut/style should suit their face shape?

I've done nothing to my hair (no dye, no cuts, nothing) in over a year, and was beginning to feel that my natural hair (very fine, perfectly straight, and not an ounce of volume) didn't suit my oblong face. I looked up face shapes & hairstyles, and apparently the #1 thing to avoid is the very hair that I have naturally (hahaha...ughhh). Basically, long, straight hair is horrible with oblong face shapes because it makes them look even longer. Great. So my face shape and natural hair are the absolute worst combination...it's almost funny...almost. :P

According to these sites my best option is either to cut it short (no), waves or curls to add width to my hair (practically impossible to do to my hair type), or get some bangs (which I never thought looked very good on me). I really have no idea what to do! XD

Any advice? Anyone in a similar situation? I don't even know if all the face shape/haircut info is totally accurate, but I do notice my natural hair does make my face look longer and isn't particularly attractive...I just don't know what I can actually do about it.

I haven't read all the posts yet so I'm sorry if im repeating what others have said but my own face shape is square but also slightly long. I've found wearing my parting in the middle and having the hair hanging straight accentuates the length so I tend to wear the front quite far over to the side with it sweeping slightly over my forehead or some times clipped to the side and some shorter layers at the front to give the illusion of width to my face which seems to balance the length.

hufflepug
October 16th, 2014, 10:25 AM
I say do what you like and what you think looks best. I've been told so many times that I shouldn't have short hair because I'm fat, but I think I looked really good with a pixie cut.

RachelRose
January 5th, 2015, 12:40 PM
I have a roundish face and look better with a side part , bit that could just be my facial proportions and not specifically because I have a round face . I think it's all trial and error and finding what your best look is . Mine usually isn't the ones recommended for my face shape ,but sometimes there are good guidelines for ex: for my face shape don't start layers above my chin .