Face shape guide
Round face shape
A round face is nearly as wide as it is long, widest at the cheeks, with a wide, softly angled jaw and a rounded chin: curves rather than corners.
How to tell
- Length and width are close. The face looks about as wide as it is tall.
- The cheeks are the widest and fullest part, and the outline is one continuous curve.
- The jaw is wide but has no corner. It sweeps from the ear into the chin.
- The chin is short and rounded, not pointed.
- The forehead and the jaw are both fairly wide, with little tapering at either end.
What the detector scores
- Length : width
- Under 1.38 · half credit Under 1.42
- Jaw : face width
- Over 0.78 · half credit Over 0.76
- Jaw angle
- Over 125° · half credit Over 120°
- Lower jaw : face width
- Over 0.68 (small bonus)
Bands are the ones the Face Shape Detector uses on uploaded photos; width is measured at the cheekbones, forehead at the temples, length from an estimated hairline to the chin.
Measure yours
Are you round? Measure it.
Upload a straight-on photo. 478 landmarks, five readings, a score against all six shapes. Runs in your browser, nothing uploaded.
Often confused with
The two nearest shapes, and the number that separates them.
Oval
Longer, with a tighter jaw. Oval scores at a length : width of 1.38 to 1.52 and a jaw angle of 108° to 116°. Round needs under 1.38 and over 125°.
Read the oval guide →
Square
Same width, different corners. Square needs a jaw : face width over 0.83 and a jaw angle of 118° to 128° with a visible corner. Round is over 0.78 with a soft angle over 125°.
Read the square guide →
What fits
Glasses and hair for a round face.
Conventional advice, stated in terms of the ratios above: frames and volume either add width where the face is narrow or add length where it is wide.
Glasses
- Angular frames (rectangular, square, geometric) add the corners the face does not have.
- Frames slightly wider than the face draw a horizontal line that makes the face read longer.
- A higher, straighter brow line on the frame lifts the eye and adds length.
- Round and small oval frames repeat the curves and are the least flattering choice on most round faces.
Hair
- Put the volume on top, not at the sides. Height at the crown lengthens the face.
- A side part with hair falling past the cheekbone breaks the width. A centre part with a curtain of hair does the same.
- Avoid chin-length bobs that end at the widest point, and rounded, full fringes.
- Beards: keep the cheeks clean and grow length at the chin. A short, full beard widens the jaw further.
Bone vs soft tissue
What changes and what doesn't.
Face shape is mostly bone. The distance from the hairline to the chin, the width across the cheekbones and the width at the temples are set by the skull and do not move. The jaw readings, the jaw : face width and the jaw angle, sit under soft tissue: fluid, fat and the masseter all change them by a few points, which is enough to move a face across a shape border.
The width across the cheekbones is bone and stays. The two readings that make a face score round, the jaw : face ratio and the open jaw angle, are the two most affected by soft tissue: fluid, fat over the masseter and a low-toned jaw all widen the lower face and push the angle open. A round reading is therefore the one most likely to move with weight and with the jawline routine the app tracks.
FAQ
Is round the most attractive face shape?+
No shape is. Round reads as youthful because a full cheek and a short chin are features of young faces, which is why styling guides talk about adding definition. That is a preference, not a measurement. The detector reports ratios, not a rank.
Can my face shape change?+
The cheekbone width does not. The jaw readings can: a round face that loses fluid or fat over the masseter can drift to oval as the jaw : face ratio drops below 0.78 and the jaw angle closes toward 116°. It will not become square, because square needs a corner the bone does not have.
Why did the detector say I'm between round and another shape?+
Round borders oval (a little longer, a tighter jaw angle) and square (same width, an angular jaw). A length : width near 1.38 scores for both round and oval; a jaw angle between 120° and 128° scores for both round and square. Look at the jaw line in the overlay: a visible corner means square, a sweep means round.
Does hair or a beard change the result?+
Hair over the cheeks narrows the measured face width and can make a round face score oval, so pull it back. A full beard hides the jaw corner and the true jaw width, and usually makes the jaw angle read more open. Photograph with the jaw visible.
Other face shapes
Shape is one reading.
The app measures nineteen.
Canthal tilt, jaw width, midface ratio, symmetry, skin, and a 3D model of your face, each against its ideal band, bone vs trainable, and a plan.