How to Choose a Hairstyle that Compliments Your Face Shape

Have you ever borrowed your best pal's jeans, only to find out that they don't look as fabulous on you as they do her? Even though you are the same weight and height, they still just don't flatter your body as well as they do hers? The reason for this is because of your different body types and you must find jeans that flatter your body. The same rule applies to hair.

Your hair must flatter your face shape the way jeans flatter your body shape. I recently took the plunge to visit a hair salon. The last time I visited a hair salon was 4 years ago and I ended up crying on the way home from the salon. The hairstylist did an excellent job at cutting my hair the way I had asked, but I wish she would have told me that the look I wanted would not compliment my face shape. I asked for the Jennifer Aniston look, but if I knew then what I know now, I would've known that look doesn't go well with my round face shape.

Many people never take their face shape into consideration when choosing a hair style. The easiest thing to do is to find a good hairstylist who knows the face shape rule and who can offer hairstyles that will flatter your face shape. If you are like me, however, you're still on that search. The best thing to do is do your own research on what hairstyles will look good on you and print pictures of styles to take with you to give your hairdresser an idea of what you would like.

Most people may already know their face shape. If not, you can find out your face shape by measuring it with a tape measure or ruler by using these steps and be sure to write down each measurement:

1. Measure your face across the top of your cheekbones.
2. Measure across your jawline from the widest point to the widest point.
3. Measure across your forehead at the widest point. Generally the widest point will be somewhere about halfway between your eyebrows and your hairline.
4. Measure from the tip of your hairline to the bottom of your chin.

Oval Face - Length equal to one and a half times width
Round - Your face is as wide as it is long. This may vary a little but generally the measurement is close
Square - Your face is about as wide as it is long with strong angular jawlines
Heart - Narrow at jaw line, wide at cheekbones and/or forehead

Now that you know your face shape, below are some hair styles that will flatter and hair styles to avoid.

Oval- Oval shaped faces are considered the most perfectly shaped face. The oval face is mathematically 1.5 times as long as its width, with the forehead slightly wider than the jaw. They are evenly proportioned and loved by hairstylist. If you are lucky enough to have this face shape, you can pull off almost any look.

Round- Round shaped faces are just that. They are widest at the cheekbones, with a rounded chin and rounded forehead. The objective with this shape is to add length to the face. This can be done by adding volume to the top of the head and minimising hair width by keeping the sides flat. Hair styles that are just below chin length and have layers from the top down will help elongate the roundness. Avoid short, one-length, blunt cuts.

Square- Square face shaped faces have strong, angular jawlines and hairlines. Finding a hair style that will soften those angles and reduce the squareness is the goal with this shape. Short, spikey cuts are a great choice, as well as hair that is layered around the face, softening the jawline. Avoid blunt-cut bangs and chin length bobs.

Heart- Heart shaped faces are widest at the temples and narrowest at the chin. The narrow chin tends to be the focal point and the best thing to do is draw attention to your eyes and cheekbones. This can be done with side-swept bangs, a strong part, and hair that is below chin length. If you have short hair, keep the layers soft and long. For long hair, try wavy locks that will graze your cheekbones. Avoid blunt-cut bangs and choppy layers.

If you're still unsure of which hairstyle to choose, there are quite a few online virtual hairstyle makeover tools that may help. You can upload your picture and select different hairstyles to try on before visiting a hair salon. Makeoversolutions.com and Hairfinder.com are a couple of sites that offer this. You can do a search for 'virtual hairstyle makeover' and choose which you would like to use. Some offer free demos and most of the sites charge fees, but it may be money well worth spent to find a hairdo that will make you feel like a million bucks.