Future Sooooo Bright…

One of my favorite readers, little miss Allison Bess, suggested I do a post on sunglasses for every face shape, and girlie you are right on!  Sunglasses are to me what a cape is to Superman—the necessary accessory to complete my superhero getup (or just to cover my makeup-free, tired face…erroneous).  I love sunglasses so much that I carry two pairs in my purse, (one black, one brown) and I have an emergency pair in my car at all times (except when a certain little sister that shall remain nameless rides with me, puts them on her face, and magically forgets where they went after our driving excursion.  Yep.  You know who you are.)

Anyway, let’s get to it!

Determing your face shape

Yes, I know we all learned our shapes back in preschool, but I swear sometimes I have a long face, sometimes I have an oval face, and sometimes my head grows 86 inches overnight and I have this huge, freakish hideous head.  It happens.  Anyway, it’s not like our faces come with easy to follow outlines, so let’s talk about what the  face shapes are, and get yours into a category.  Start with looking in a mirror and answering the following questions:

Following my hairline and jaw-line as the outer border of my face, what is the overall shape?

How wide is the widest point of my forehead when compared to my jaw-line?

Is the widest point of my jaw-line wider than my forehead?

How prominent and rounded are my cheekbones compared to my forehead and jawline?

Ok, have we got our answers?  Let’s apply them!

If:

Your face’s length equals one and a half times the width, you have an oval face.

Your face is almost as wide as it is long, you have a round face.

Your hairline width is almost exactly that of your jawline, you have a square face.  (not to be confused with a round face, a square face shape does not have that circular feel to it’s angles, but sharper ones)

Your jawline is wider than your forehead, you have a triangular face.

Your jawline is noticeably smaller than your forehead width, you have a diamond face.

Great!  Now we all have a face shape with a name!  So let’s pick out our shades ladies.

Round Faces

Obviously, the goal is to thin out and add some length to a round face. Go wider than your widest portion of the face and keep it square in the lens. The idea is to balance a round face shape with a more square set of sunglasses.

Round-face rock stars!

Square Faces:

You are the opposite of a round face so you want to minimize the sharpness of your widest portions and add some shape.  Cat-eye shapes look SO good on square faces that I get really mad I don’t have one!  Round and oval lenses are needed here, because you already have a square shape under them.  Much like the round face/square lens idea, to balance a square face, you want rounded corners on your lenses.

Square-face starlets!

Triangular Face:

You want to decrease the attention to your prominent jawline by balancing it with the eyewear.  Your width should be at least as wide as your jawline. The shape of the lenses aren’t as important here as the width and size in respect to your jawline.  Balance is the word we keep repeating…..

Triangular-faced tarts!

Diamond Faces:

Like the triangular face, but in opposite, you want to balance your wider forehead and not overwhelm your smaller jawline.  Rounded frames will work best and keep your width in control, not going further than your cheekbones. If your face is sharply pointed  at the chin line (like Reese Witherspoon) keep your lenses curved, not square.

Diamond-faced darlings

Oval Faces:

Brats.  I put you last because this face can wear anything! You’re really not going to go wrong with sunglasses, so I say jump on the trendiest, flashiest thing you find!  Whatever speaks to you, buy it, your face can handle it all.

Oval-faced Ophelias!

Oblong Faces:

Ok, I feel like I have a squarish-oval face—so I say that my face is oblong. My goal is to soften the square parts while shortening the length, so I don’t go wider than that widest part of my face. Round or square frames don’t really matter, I just like them big and covering half of my HUGE head.

No, the Olsens do not have oblong heads like me, but they do rock the HUGE glasses!

Universal Glasses:

The Jackie O style are pretty universal because they’re so big you’re barely seeing a face anyway!  Just pick between square and round lenses to compliment your shape (remember—opposites, round face=square lens, square face=round lens)

Inspired by Ms. O

Color:

Brown and black are obviously the safest bet for purchasing sunglasses, because you can wear them every single day, but colored glasses are super fun.  I think this is totally a trial and error operation, though, save a couple universal ones.  Red glasses are fun on everyone, I really don’t know anyone that can’t rock a big, red pair of shades.  Also, white can work on most people, but style is so key because you should always think of white as a highlighter.  Otherwise, go try out that purple pair before you buy them, might be the cutest thing you’ve ever bough!  Kim Jarman has an amazing turquoise, swirly, colored, big, square pair that rock-star her out in seconds!  Color can be super fun.

Tips:

Watch where the connection over your nose goes.  I don’t have a dainty little nose, and sometimes certain styles have a bridge that goes really high, on the very top of my nose, and I hate this because it adds like 67 inches to my already 67 inch nose!  Also, be careful with how tight the ear-bars (is this a word???) are, because I’ve had some raging headaches from too-tight sunglasses!

Allison, thanks for the tip!  If you are wondering about a certain fashion issue and want an article, totally drop me a line or comment!  I am here to serve you, my darlings.