I talk about eyewear styling frequently, but it’s been a while since I wrote about how to choose glasses to suit face shape and eyewear to suit colouring. It is by no means an exact science, but here are a few tips to help.
How To Choose Glasses To Suit Face Shape
There are about five different face shapes. This is by no means definitive and many of us will have some overlap and will fit into two categories, but it acts as a useful guide.
- Triangle (often described as diamond or heart-shaped too). Triangular faces typically have a delicate, narrow chin, like the point of a heart, and high cheekbones.
- Oval: Oval faces are proportionally balanced and are longer than they are wide. People with oval faces typically have a round jawline and chin.
- Round: Round faces are short with soft features and a wide hairline. The cheekbones are usually the widest part of a round face, and the forehead and jawline are about the same width.
- Square: Square faces have a wide hairline and a strong, angular jawline. The forehead, cheekbones, and jawline are about the same width.
- Rectangle: The rectangle face shape is a variation of the square face shape. This oblong face shape is longer than it is wide—the forehead, cheeks, and jawline are generally around the same width.
In general, a spectacle frame should balance out the face.
A curved frame will soften an angular face, (triangle, square and rectangle). Conversely, an angular style will highlight and emphasise facial angles.
A square or more angular spectacle frame will add definition to round and oval faces whereas a curved frame emphasises the face shape.
This image might help.
How To Choose Glasses To Suit Skin Tone
Skin tone is the surface skin colour which is determined by the amount of melanin present in the uppermost layers of the skin. Pantone a leading authority on colour has identified 110 different skin tones. These 110 can be (very broadly) categorised as light, fair, medium and deep/dark. This surface skin colour can change, for example, with a sun tan.
It is the undertones of the skin though that are important in determining which colours best suit. Undertones are the natural colours beneath the skin surface. These do not change even with a deep suntan. The undertones will be warm, cool or neutral.
Two simple ways of finding out what colour undertones your skin has.
Look at the veins on the underside of your wrists. If they are blue or purple, you are likely to have cool undertones, whereas if they are greenish, you have warm undertones. If it isn’t immediately obvious, you are likely to have neutral undertones in your skin.
Another useful way is looking at what metals best suit you. If silver flatters your skin, you have cool undertones, whereas gold and copper flatter skin with warm undertones. If both are equally flattering, then you have neutral undertones.
Skins with cool undertones best suit cool metallics like silver, pewter and gunmetal and cooler colours like ice-blue, fresh green and pure white.
Skins with warm undertones best suit warm metallics such as gold, rose gold, bronze and warm colours such as reddish-browns, corals, orange-reds and creamy neutrals.
Those with neutral undertones will suit every metal and colour.
These are guidelines rather than hard and fast rules but they are helpful when choosing clothing and makeup too.
I advise patients to try on as many styles as time allows and to try a selection of different shapes and colours. If you are willing, try something outside of your comfort zone too. It is often these choices that make for the most head turning outcomes.
For inspo, take a look at my eyewear styling posts here.
