I was once asked to teach
on a topic to a class of girls in a youth group and while agonizing on what to speak about, I decided to discuss face shapes and hair styles. It was well received and with the feedback from the moderator, the girls got what I was trying to say. What was surprising was the parents’ reactions. Long before becoming a hairstylist, I figured out this life skill: your face shape and hairstyles must compliment each other.
Many clients will bring in a picture of some celebrity with a hairstyle and hope to look the same. Sometimes, there will be a challenge like they do not have enough hair but stuff like this is not difficult to correct. What is harder to fix is facial features. When I say fix, I mean the face shape may be different so the hairdo has to be slightly different. Too many times the person has say a round face and the person they are copying has a heart-shaped face. To compliment their face, the parting has to be adjusted or placement of a bun has to change etc. Again, not difficult but you get the odd one who refuses to budge on the placement and you know the customer is always right.
The types of face shapes are:
- Oval : This is the ideal shape and can be copied on other face shapes by adjusting the hair placement. It is about 1 1/2 times longer than the width across the brow.
- Square: This shape will have a square hairline and jawline on a wide face.
- Round: This has a wide face with a round hairline and round chin. I have seen a lot of barbers who just give males square haircuts because they did not take the time to observe the client’s features.
- Heart-Shaped or Diamond: These tend to have wide foreheads with a narrow chin line. I find they also tend to have lots of hair so the face can be overwhelmed if they have tiny features.
By Paula Barker, Silkie Locks Hair Design
Buy my e-book: Dreadlocks: A Hairstylist’s Manifest (Silkielocks.com/Amazon.com)