Oblong face shape

Haircuts for an oblong face

Your face is clearly longer than it is wide and the three widths are fairly similar. This is the one shape where the usual advice inverts: you want horizontal weight, not vertical line.

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How to tell

Face length is more than about one and a half times your cheekbone width, and forehead, cheekbones and jaw all measure close to each other. Nothing tapers dramatically. If the length is the standout number and the widths are unremarkable, you are oblong rather than oval.

What actually works, and why

Everything that helps a round face hurts here, and the reverse. Blunt bangs are genuinely useful because they cut the visible face length in half. Waves and curls add width exactly where the face has none. Cuts that land between the chin and the collarbone put a horizontal line across the middle of the shape. Volume at the sides rather than the crown widens rather than lengthens. Chin length bobs work well for the same reason they can fight a round face.

What tends to fight it

Very long straight one length hair adds more vertical line to a face that already has plenty, and the eye runs from hairline to ends without interruption. Height at the crown does the same. Centre parts with flat sides extend the vertical read. Tight slicked back styles remove the width entirely. None of these are unwearable, they just work against the shape rather than with it.

Questions about an oblong face

Which hairstyles add width to an oblong face?

Anything that puts weight at the sides rather than the top: blunt or curtain bangs that shorten the visible length, waves and curls that build width at the cheekbones, chin length bobs, and cuts that end between the chin and the collarbone. Volume at the sides widens the shape; volume at the crown only makes it longer.

What haircuts should I avoid with an oblong face?

Very long, straight one length hair, height at the crown, center parts with flat sides and tight slicked back styles all add vertical line to a face that already has plenty. They are wearable, but they work against the shape rather than with it.

Do bangs suit an oblong face?

Yes, this is the face shape bangs help most. Blunt bangs cut the visible face length roughly in half, and curtain bangs do a softer version of the same thing while adding width at the cheekbones.