Over the last month, Google searches for the ‘best haircuts for round faces’ have surged by 4,250 per cent, suggesting that some of you out there are on the hunt for a new hairstyle to help flatter your face shape. Those with round faces (where width at cheekbone level is about the same as the face’s length) will know that getting your hairstyle right is key to balancing out and slimming the proportions of the face.
“With round face shapes, you need to create interest and angles in the haircut to elongate the face,” says Dom Seeley Color Wow’s international creative director. “Longer lengths are more suited to this face shape for that reason too, and it’s always better to style it in soft waves, adding body and volume. This can help open up the cheekbone and jawline area and add width and angles to help offset roundness.”
Hairstylist Frederic Fekkai is also a fan of creating sharpness and angles to soften a rounder face shape, suggesting “longer layers and choppy pixie cuts” as great options. “I love bangs and longer hair to help minimise roundness,” he says. “And a good styling tip is to wear hair swept to the side.” When it comes to bangs, keep them long and loose, rather than ultra short and bluntly cut, as it’s more forgiving on the face.
Meanwhile clever colour placement is also a great way to slim a round face and add dimension to a haircut, while also making layers appear more prominent. “I love to place colour around the face—we do it a lot at the salon,” says colourist to the stars, Nicola Clarke, who works from John Frieda in London. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be dramatic, just a subtle difference to the overall colour will add contrast and give the illusion of texture without layers.” Like turning a light on over your face, it also makes skin look more youthful and luminous.
Take cues from Blackpink’s Jennie Kim, Mila Kunis, Gemma Chan, Kirsten Dunst and Selena Gomez, all of whom have their ultimate round face hairstyles well and truly nailed, below.
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Jennie Kim
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Kirsten Dunst
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Kate Bosworth
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Gemma Chan
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Gfriend's Eunha
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Emma Stone
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Cameron Diaz
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Mindy Kaling
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Mila Kunis
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Drew Barrymore
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Michelle Williams
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Selena Gomez
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Miranda Kerr
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