Perfecting your parting is an art and finding the right style for YOU can really change your appearance. The answer lies in knowing what suits your face shape.
Before you get to grips with the various hair partings on offer, you need to establish your face shape. Take a look at the various face shapes – round, oval, square, heart, diamond or oblong.
Decide which one is most like yours (you won’t always fall neatly into one category, but decide which shape is closest to your own). If you are confused, ask your friends and family for their advice and research online by reading articles, viewing various images and even checking out famous faces and seeing which is the closest to your own. Or check out our hairgraphic and see which celeb has the same face shape like you.
Why is it important to know how to part your hair based on your face shape?
The wrong hair parting can exaggerate certain facial features you may not want to draw attention to, while choosing the right hair parting can accentuate your best features and even give you a whole new look and style. Do not underestimate the difference that a change in parting can make to your whole image.
So many of us stick to the same hair parting for years—sometimes even the one we had as a child or teenager. As we grow older, our face shape and features change as should our hair parting.
Start experimenting with what suits you best and mix up your look. The best way to do this is to use a parting comb. Create a new parting and see if it suits you. For examples of which hair parting suits which face shape, read on….
Round Faces
If your face shape is round, opt for a deep side parting to show off your best side. If you are not sure which side is your best side, grab a piece of paper and cover one side of your face at a time while looking in the mirror. Both sides of your face are not asymmetrical and many people have a ‘favourite side’ – think about the side you show to a camera when you have your photo taken.
Round faces suit a ‘curtain’ of hair to give the face shape and balance. Play around with how deep your side parting needs to be and work out what slims down and lengthens the shape of your face so that it does not appear overly round.
The key to a parting for a round face is to create symmetry but don’t feel the need to add lots of layers to your look; you only need enough to slim the face slightly.
Oval-shaped Faces
Lucky you! If you have an oval face shape, you have the easiest time in choosing a hair parting that suits your face.
Pretty much any parting suits this face shape, so feel free to experiment and have some fun. Take a look in the mirror and figure out which suits you best and work to enhance your specific face angles. You can try a centre parting, a side parting or even a zigzag parting if you are feeling creative.
The best bit is, you can change your hair parting whenever you like and the chances are that each new parting will create a whole new look and all will suit you just fine.
Heart-shaped Faces
A heart-shaped face is widest at the cheeks. This means that a centre parting or middle parting usually complements this face shape best, especially if your hair is long.
However, if your hair is very short or layered around the face, a middle parting might not be quite as flattering, especially if your fringe or hair length finishes at the widest part of your face (cheeks). In this case, a side parting should help to balance it out and make the overall face shape look thinner, while covering the forehead.
People with heart-shaped faces also sometimes have pointy chins. The way to soften the chin and cheekbones is to use a deep side parting to detract from the sharpness of your chin angle.
Square-shaped Faces
Square-shaped faces are defined by an angular jaw and squared forehead. Some of the angles of the face can appear quite harsh at times, so you need to opt for a parting that will soften the forehead and jaw line areas of your face.
Your hair is key to softening your features. A fairly deep-set side parting is the best way to do this (similar to round faces) as they help to disguise the harshness of the angles with soft layers falling across the face. Be sure not to make the parting too deep though, as this can actually exaggerate the squareness of the face.
The best place to start the deep parting is above the arch of your eyebrow (either left or right, whichever you prefer or whichever side your hair falls to more naturally). Square-shaped faces also suit a fringe to add extra softness.
Diamond-shaped Faces
Diamond face shapes do not suit short fringes. Instead, grow out your fringe and wear a side parting.
This complements your cheekbones. Short hair suits diamond-shaped faces perfectly, as people with this face shape usually have small foreheads.
People with small faces and features look great with a trendy short bob or textured short cut. Use your bone structure to your advantage and don’t be tempted to hide your face away with long hair, which can overshadow you and your look.
Maintenance Like a Boss
So, what can you do if your hair is stubborn and just won’t take to its new parting? If your hair naturally falls in a centre parting, but your face shape suits a side part, simply wet the hair, use a comb to get the new line and secure it in place.
Use gel or spray to ‘set’ the hair as you blow dry it in the new direction. Doing this a few times, will help it fall more easily into place.
If your stylist has helped you to work out which parting works best for you, ask them for some tips on how to maintain the shape based on your hair type.
They may suggest a wide barrel brush when drying the hair, or drying it in a particular direction to get the best shape and volume for your new hair parting.
Don’t forget that while you might fall into one of the above ‘face shape’ categories, the exact same parting does not suit everybody in that category.
Take some time to play around with your hair and parting and ask your friends and family what suits you best.
How do you part your hair? Does it fit with the suggestions above about your face shape and which parting to opt for? We’d love to read your experiences in the comment box below.
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