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Style tips tailored for your oblong face shape
Think you might have an oblong face and want to know how to flatter it best? You're in the right place. An oblong face is typically long, narrow, and rectangular. To enhance it, opt for hairstyles and accessories that introduce width, volume, and dimension. This guide breaks down the key traits of an oblong face, shows you how to identify your face shape, and shares a wealth of style suggestions to elevate your look.
Quick Guide to the Oblong Face Shape
Oblong faces feature a balanced width across the forehead, cheekbones, and jaw, paired with a noticeably longer length. To soften and balance this shape, go for hairstyles that bring width—like bangs, tousled waves, or curly bobs. Square frames and cat-eye glasses also flatter this face shape beautifully.
How-To
Defining the Oblong Face Shape
Oblong faces are characterized by their long and narrow proportions. Also known as a “rectangular” face shape, it shares similarities with square faces but appears more elongated. The forehead, cheekbones, and jawline are typically aligned in width. Common features may include a prominent forehead, oval-shaped chin, high cheekbones, and a long nose.
- Female celebrities with oblong faces: Liv Tyler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bella Hadid, Joan Smalls, Alexa Chung, Riley Keough, and Meryl Streep
- Male celebrities with oblong faces: Kiefer Sutherland, Ben Affleck, Adam Sandler, Adam Levine, and Ricky Martin
Top Hairstyles for Oblong Faces
Feminine Hairstyles To flatter an oblong face, go for styles with texture and volume. Layers are your friend—especially when they frame your face. Avoid sleek, flat looks. Embrace curls and waves, side bangs, and off-center parts. Consider these ideas:
- Wide waves: Show off natural waves or create them using heat tools—aim for cheekbone-level width.
- Blowouts: Use a blow dryer to direct hair outward for volume, then secure with light hairspray.
- Bangs: From curtain to blunt, bangs help balance and shorten facial length.
- Loose curls: Let curls flow naturally to build volume on the sides—teasing them helps too!
- Lob (long bob): Shoulder-grazing lobs with layers or bangs are ideal; try asymmetric styles too.
- Messy bun: Keep a few strands loose to soften and frame your features.
- Choppy shag: A layered shag adds movement and works well on all hair textures.
- Curly bob: A chin-length curly bob with a soft part gives width and balance.
- Pixie cut: Go short with a rounded pixie and gentle bangs to reduce length visually.
- Mid-length or long hair: Add long layers starting around the eyes and cheeks to avoid flat sides.
Masculine Hairstyles Add width and balance with hairstyles that build volume on the sides. A well-groomed beard can help reduce the appearance of a longer face. Try these options:
- Side-swept: Part hair to the side for a flattering break in facial length.
- Shortened sides and back: Keep the sides short with more height on top; add a side part for interest.
- Messy and tousled: Use texturizing products on medium-length hair for a casual, full look.
- Fringe: A textured fringe softens the forehead and balances the face when paired with volume at the sides.
Best Glasses Styles for Oblong Faces
Glasses For oblong face shapes, choose frames that are bold, tall, and eye-catching. Look for thick, colorful styles that help visually widen your face and draw attention to your eyes. Aim for designs that balance facial length and enhance your features. Consider these great options:
- Square glasses. The structured lines and angles emphasize and flatter facial contours.
- Cat-eye glasses. Their upswept edges add width and highlight the upper part of your face.
- Aviator glasses. Wide, teardrop lenses provide contrast to your face shape and soften sharp lines.
- Decorative temple frames. Embellishments at the temples add horizontal interest and balance.
Makeup Tips for Oblong Face Shapes
Define your jawline and temples with contour. Makeup can help you sculpt and balance an oblong face by enhancing width and dimension. Contouring is especially useful here. Start by applying contour to the edges of your face to visually shorten and widen it.
- Blend a deeper shade into the hollows of your temples and pull it upward toward your hairline.
- Contour under your chin and along your jawline with a darker shade for a more rounded look.
- Need detailed help? Visit our oblong face contouring guide.
Enhance cheekbones with blush and highlighter. Oblong faces may lack dimension in the cheeks, so makeup can help bring them forward. Start by applying blush in a horizontal sweep across the apples of your cheeks—use just a bit! Then apply highlighter to the tops of your cheekbones for lift and glow.
- You can also dab highlighter on the center of your forehead to add more definition and balance.
Clothing & Accessories That Flatter an Oblong Face
Clothing To enhance an oblong face, choose tops with wide or high necklines that visually broaden your look. Great options include boat necks, scoop necks, Sabrinas, turtlenecks, mock necks, off-the-shoulder cuts, and square neck styles.
Jewelry Select wide or side-dangling earrings to balance out facial length and create a fuller look. Choose earring shades that match your skin tone—light gold for fair skin, bronzy hues for darker tones. Opt for chokers or short necklaces over long pendants.
- If you do wear a long necklace, wrap it around your neck a couple of times to give it a layered, more compact effect.
Hats Go for hats with longer or wider brims and lower crowns to complement your face shape. Styles like sun hats, wide-brimmed fedoras, cloches, crusher hats, bucket hats, newsboys, derby hats, beanies, and tilted berets work well.
- Steer clear of narrow or flat-brimmed hats with deep crowns, which can elongate your face further.
Are oblong face shapes uncommon?
Oblong faces are relatively rare—and undeniably stunning! While oval, round, square, and heart-shaped faces are the most widespread, diamond is the rarest of all. Oblong faces fall somewhere in the middle: less common, but not unheard of. Their balanced, sculpted features often give off a refined, regal appearance.
How to Identify Your Face Shape
Grab a ruler or measuring tape and map out your facial dimensions. Start by measuring the length of your face from the midpoint of your hairline down to the bottom of your chin. Then, measure the widths of your forehead, cheekbones, and jawline. Use these numbers to compare to standard face shape guidelines.
- If your face is longer than it is wide, and the widths of your forehead, cheekbones, and jaw are roughly the same, you likely have an oblong face.
- Generally, an oblong face is about 1.5 times longer than it is wide—but don’t worry if your proportions aren’t exact.
- If these measurements don’t quite match, check out the next section to explore other face shapes that might suit you better.
Exploring Other Face Shapes
Oval face shape Though it shares length with the oblong type, the oval face has a wider forehead that narrows to the chin—think of it like an upside-down egg. High cheekbones, a tall forehead, and proportional features define this face shape.
- Famous faces with oval shapes: Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Julia Roberts, Tyra Banks, Justin Bieber, Ryan Reynolds, and George Clooney.
Square face shape Square faces are defined by equally wide and long proportions, strong angles, and a bold jawline with minimal curves. If the width from your temples to your jawline mirrors the width across your jaw, you likely have a square face.
- Celebrities with a square face shape: Olivia Wilde, Keira Knightley, Emily Deschanel, Zendaya, Margot Robbie, Liev Schreiber, Daniel Dae Kim, and Kumail Nanjiani.
Round face shape A round face has soft curves, full cheeks, and a circular outline, with the forehead and jaw appearing similar in width. If your face's length and width are close in measurement and your cheekbones are the widest point, you’ve got a round face.
- Celebrities with a round face shape: Kelly Clarkson, Emma Stone, Selena Gomez, Gemma Chan, Elle Fanning, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ed Sheeran, and Zac Efron.
Heart-shaped face Heart-shaped faces have a broad forehead, defined cheekbones, and a sharp, narrow chin. The widest area is the top half of the face, tapering to a slender lower half. Some may also have a widow’s peak, enhancing the heart-like silhouette.
- Celebrities with a heart-shaped face: Sydney Sweeney, Scarlett Johansson, Alyson Hannigan, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, and Keanu Reeves.
Diamond face shape A diamond-shaped face showcases prominent cheekbones with narrower sections at the forehead and jawline, all leading to a pointed chin. If lines connecting your hairline, cheeks, and chin resemble a diamond, this is your face shape.
- Celebrities with a diamond face shape: Jennifer Lopez, Viola Davis, Vanessa Hudgens, Eiza Gonzalez, Kate Hudson, Matt Damon, and Robert Pattinson.
