Just like when we go and get our hair cut and styled, different face shapes will suit certain brow styles better than others. When styling our brows we can create the balance in our faces to create the illusion of a more proportionate and symmetrical face.The right style will help to enhance your facial features to their full potential. Opening up your eyes, and giving you a natural yet more youthful appearance (no botox required)! However, on the flip side, we’ve all been there and experimented unwittingly with different hairstyles and left the hair salon feeling like a walking disaster! Well the same philosophy applies to your brows. For example a long flat brow is just going to do nothing for a round face. But the solution is not necessarily as simple as just lifting the tails of your brows.

So, what how do I determine my face shape and what does this mean for my ideal brow shape?

There are seven basic face shapes which we all fall into (or across, I’ll get to that bit later).

OVAL

Scientifically considered the ideal face shape. An oval face is characterised by equally proportionate features and akin to facial symmetry – the holy grail of beauty as attested by science.

The width of an oval face gradually reduces from the forehead with a sloping jawline.

Softly angled brows are usually what works best for an oval face shape, but as with hairstyles, most brow shapes will suit due to the facial symmetry.

Natalie Portman – oval faced beauty. 

DIAMOND

With this type of face shape, the forehead and jawline are similar in width and the face is widest at the cheekbones. A diamond face shape is also characterised with a narrow chin and forehead.

The goal of the brow shape here is to widen the forehead and the jaw and to make the eyes appear closer together, and in some cases to make the cheekbones less prominent.

A wide brow with a nice high arch and lifted tails will help to change these facial proportions and create the illusion of a more ‘ideal’ oval shape.

Megan Fox – Diamond faced beauty.

ROUND

A round face can often look short and have rounded aspects of the facial features such as the chin and the top of the forehead. It will typically be most wide at around the cheeks and the ears.

The intention of the brow shape here is to create the illusion of a longer slightly more narrow face. As such, a narrow, angled brow shape is the perfect solution.

SQUARE

A square face shape will have very similar length and width proportions to a round face but will instead be dominated by more angular features such as a square hairline and jawline. The forehead and jawline will be roughly the same width.

The most flattering brow shape for those of us with a square face shape is a soft curved brow with a high arch and tail. The aim is to make the face look longer but with a soft arch in order to soften the square features.

Michelle Pfeiffer – Square faced beauty.

HEART

A heart face shape will have either wide cheekbones and/or a wide forehead which leads down to a narrow and slight chin. Heart shape faces also often feature eyes which are set wide apart. Think big beautiful wide eyes!

The goal of the brow shape is to create the illusion of a slightly wider chin and to add more height to the brows and in some cases to bring the eyes closer together. This is achieved by creating a brow shape with a slightly curved high, narrow arch.

Reese Witherspoon – Heart shaped beauty.

PEAR (also described as inverted triangle)

The proportions of a pear shape face are the direct opposite to the heart shaped face. The face is its widest at the chin which will often have a rounded appearance and most narrow at the cheekbones or forehead.

Balance is brought back to the pear shape by making the forehead look wider and the chin more narrow. This can be achieved by lifting the brow and eyes, with a wide, high arch and lifted tails.

Kelly Osbourne. Pear face shaped beauty.

RECTANGLE 

If your face is long and slender and pretty much the same width at the forehead, cheekbones and jawline then your face is considered to be a rectangle.

The most flattering brow shape for this face shape is a nice wide and flat brow. This type of brow shape will shorten the look of the face and bring it more into the ideal oval proportions. A soft arch will also soften the angles of the features.