Field guide · No. 06
The diamond face shape
Widest at the cheekbones, narrower at the forehead and narrower again at the chin. The diamond face is the rarest of the classic shapes, and styling for it adds a little width at both ends.
Reported by the test as heart or oval, whichever is closer
- 01Cheekbones clearly the widest point
- 02Forehead narrower than the cheekbones
- 03Jaw narrow, chin often pointed
- 04Face longer than wide, hairline often narrow
What a diamond face shape is
A diamond face is defined by its cheekbones. They are the widest point of the face by a clear margin, and both the forehead above them and the jaw below them are narrower. The outline widens from a narrow hairline to the cheekbones, then tapers again to a chin that is often pointed.
The face is usually longer than it is wide, in the same range as an oval, and the hairline is often narrow, sometimes with a rounded or slightly uneven edge rather than a wide straight one.
In numbers, a diamond face has a forehead-to-cheekbone ratio under about 0.88, a jaw-to-cheekbone ratio under about 0.86, and a chin angle under about 112°, which reads as pointed rather than broad. Length-to-width sits around 1.3 to 1.5.
It is the least common of the classic shapes. Most faces that feel diamond-like turn out on measurement to be heart, with a forehead that matches the cheekbones, or oval, with a forehead only a little narrower.
Why the test reports it as heart or oval
The face shape test runs a five-class model trained on a labelled photo set that has no diamond class. So the headline result is always one of oval, round, square, heart or oblong, and a diamond face lands on whichever of heart and oval its ratios sit closest to.
The same test also runs a set of width rules across seven shapes, and those rules do compute a diamond score. When diamond leads that set, the result card adds a line, "Your widths lean diamond", with a link to this page, while the headline stays heart or oval.
Read both. The headline tells you which of the five standard guides to start with; the lean line tells you the cheekbones are the feature to style around, which is what this page and its sub-pages are about.
How to tell if you have a diamond face
Photograph your face straight on with hair pulled back, or take the four standard measurements:
- Forehead width, across the widest part of the forehead.
- Cheekbone width, across the most prominent points, just below the outer corners of the eyes.
- Jaw width, straight across at the level of the mouth.
- Face length, hairline to chin.
You have a diamond face if the cheekbones are clearly the widest of the three widths, the forehead is at most about nine-tenths of the cheekbone width, the jaw is narrower still, and the chin comes to a point.
If the forehead is as wide as the cheekbones, you are heart. If the forehead is only a touch narrower and the chin is rounded, you are oval. The test reports all three ratios and the chin angle, which settles it faster than a tape measure.
Diamond vs heart vs oval
| Diamond | Heart | Oval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Widest point | Cheekbones, by a clear margin | Forehead, or tied with cheekbones | Cheekbones, by a little |
| Forehead vs cheekbones | Clearly narrower | As wide or wider | Slightly narrower |
| Jaw vs cheekbones | Clearly narrower | Clearly narrower | Somewhat narrower |
| Chin | Pointed | Narrow, often pointed | Rounded |
| Hairline | Often narrow, rounded | Often a widow's peak | Rounded |
The heart and the diamond share the narrow chin and are told apart at the forehead. The oval and the diamond share the cheekbone lead and are told apart by how much the forehead and jaw fall away, and by the chin.
What styling a diamond face is trying to do
The diamond face is middle-heavy: the cheekbones dominate, and the forehead and chin are both small by comparison. Styling aims to add a little width at the top and the bottom and to keep the cheekbones from being the only thing the eye lands on.
Concretely:
- Hair with width or softness at the forehead and at the jaw
- Fringes and side sweeps that widen a narrow hairline
- Glasses a touch wider than the cheekbones, with some weight at the brow
- Beards that fill out the chin and jaw
- Contour that keeps the cheekbones soft rather than sharpened
The mirror-image mistakes: hair slicked back off a narrow forehead, volume at the cheekbones, narrow angular frames, and a thin pointed goatee, all of which exaggerate the diamond.
Best hairstyles for a diamond face
- Side-swept fringes soften a narrow forehead and add width at the hairline.
- Chin-length layers put movement and volume exactly where the jaw is narrow.
- Hair tucked behind one ear shows the jaw and breaks the width at the cheekbones.
- Texture at the jaw, waves or curls that start at the cheekbone and sit around the chin, does the same.
- Avoid volume at the cheekbones, slicked-back styles that bare the forehead, and very short cuts with tight sides.
The hairstyles for a diamond face page has cuts by length, plus men's styles, and the men's haircut page goes deeper on fades and fringes.
Best glasses for a diamond face
Frames that soften the cheekbones and add a little width above them suit a diamond face: oval and round frames, rimless and semi-rimless styles, cat-eye and browline frames whose upper line widens the top of the face.
Choose a frame a touch wider than the cheekbones, and avoid narrow, sharply angular frames that sit inside the cheekbone width and make it look wider still. More on the glasses for a diamond face page.
Best beard styles for a diamond face
A beard grows on the narrow part of a diamond face, so it is the most direct balancing tool a man with this shape has. A full beard kept even along the jaw and squared or rounded at the chin adds the width the lower third lacks.
Avoid a thin goatee and pointed chin beards, which narrow the point under wide cheekbones. See the beard styles for a diamond face page.
Makeup for a diamond face
Contour under the cheekbones lightly, if at all; the cheekbones do not need help. Highlight on the centre of the forehead and on the chin brings both narrow ends forward. Blush on the apples of the cheeks rather than along the cheekbone keeps the colour from widening the middle.
Brows with a soft arch, spread slightly wider apart, widen the forehead a little. Details on the makeup for a diamond face page.
Celebrities with a diamond face
Faces often described as diamond-shaped include Rihanna, Halle Berry, Vanessa Hudgens, Robert Pattinson and Ryan Gosling. The cheekbones lead on all of them, and their most repeated looks feature either a side-swept front or width at the jaw, which is the diamond-face playbook.
Several of the same names appear on heart-face lists, which is the point: the two shapes overlap, and the label shifts with the hairline and the photo.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the test never say diamond?
The five-class model behind the headline result was trained on a photo set with no diamond label, so it reports the nearest of oval, round, square, heart or oblong. The test's width rules do score diamond, and when that score leads, the result card says "Your widths lean diamond" under the headline.
Is a diamond face the same as a heart face?
No, though they overlap. A heart face is widest at the forehead, or the forehead ties with the cheekbones. A diamond face has a forehead clearly narrower than the cheekbones. The two share the narrow chin, so much of the styling is the same at the bottom of the face and different at the top.
Is a diamond face rare?
Yes. It is the least common of the classic shapes, because it needs both the forehead and the jaw to fall away from the cheekbones. Most faces with strong cheekbones keep a wide enough forehead to read as heart, or a rounded enough chin to read as oval.
Are high cheekbones the same as a diamond face?
No. High cheekbones describe where the cheekbones sit; a diamond face describes how wide they are compared with the forehead and jaw. Many oval and heart faces have high cheekbones. The golden ratio test reports the face length-to-width ratio, which is the same for all three shapes.
Do diamond faces suit short hair?
Yes, with a fringe. A pixie with a side-swept front covers part of the narrow forehead and keeps the cheekbones framed. A very short crop with tight sides and no fringe leaves the cheekbones on their own. The eye shape guides cover the eyes a short cut brings forward.