Face shape guide
Square face shape
A square face has a jaw nearly as wide as the cheekbones, a length close to its width, and a jawline with a visible corner below the ear.
How to tell
- The jaw is almost as wide as the cheekbones. The sides of the face run nearly straight down.
- There is a clear corner where the jaw turns toward the chin.
- The chin is broad and fairly flat rather than pointed.
- The face is not much longer than it is wide.
- The forehead is wide too, so the outline reads as a box rather than a taper.
What the detector scores
- Jaw : face width
- Over 0.83 · half credit Over 0.80
- Jaw angle
- 118° – 128° · half credit Over 128°
- Length : width
- Under 1.45 · half credit Under 1.50
- Lower jaw : face width
- Over 0.72 · half credit Over 0.68
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 square? 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.
Round
Same width, no corner. Round scores on a jaw angle over 125° with a curved jaw and a jaw : face width over 0.78. Square needs over 0.83 and a corner in the 118° to 128° band.
Read the round guide →
Oblong
The rectangle question. Oblong is long and narrow-jawed: a length : width over 1.55 and a jaw angle under 108°. Square is under 1.45 with a jaw angle of 118° to 128°.
Read the oblong guide →
What fits
Glasses and hair for a square 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
- Round and oval frames soften the corners. Thin rims soften them further.
- Frames that sit a little wider than the cheekbones keep the jaw from reading as the widest line.
- Avoid narrow rectangular frames with sharp corners, which repeat the jaw and make the face read boxier.
- A lower-set bridge and a slightly curved brow line take some weight off the lower face.
Hair
- Soft layers around the jaw, or a length that ends below the chin, blur the corner.
- A side part or an off-centre fringe breaks the straight line of the forehead.
- Height at the crown adds length to a face that is close to as wide as it is long.
- Beards: keep a little length over the jaw corner and taper the sides. A sharply lined-up beard sharpens the corner.
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 corner is bone: the angle at the gonion is the shape of the mandible and does not change without surgery. What soft tissue does is exaggerate or blur it. The masseter sits directly over the jaw corner, so a bulky, tight masseter from clenching or gum chewing widens the jaw : face ratio further, while a relaxed one narrows it by a few points. Fluid does the opposite and rounds the corner off, which is why a square face can read round after a bad night.
FAQ
Is square the most attractive face shape?+
No shape is. Square gets called strong in men's styling guides and angular in women's, which are descriptions of the same jaw ratio with different adjectives attached. The detector reports the ratio; the adjective is yours.
Can my face shape change?+
The jaw corner is bone and stays. The jaw : face ratio moves a few points with masseter bulk and fluid, so a square face at 0.84 can read as a wide oval at 0.80 on a lean, low-salt day. It does not become round, because the corner is still there.
Why did the detector say I'm between square and another shape?+
Square borders round (same width, softer angle) and oval (a narrower jaw, 0.74 to 0.78). A jaw angle between 125° and 128° scores for both square and round; a jaw : face width between 0.80 and 0.83 earns partial credit for square while still inside oval's partial band. The overlay shows the jaw line: look for the corner.
Does hair or a beard change the result?+
A beard is the biggest single factor for a square reading. A full beard hides the jaw corner, and a beard that spreads below the jaw widens the lower-jaw reading. Hair over the temples narrows the forehead reading and can push the result toward diamond. Photograph with the jawline and temples 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.