The oval face shape

What an oval face shape is

An oval face is defined by three proportions, not by a feeling. First, the face is longer than it is wide: measured from the hairline to the bottom of the chin, the length is roughly one and a half times the width across the cheekbones. Second, the forehead is a little wider than the jaw, so the outline tapers gently from the cheekbones down to the chin without a sharp corner. Third, the chin is rounded rather than pointed or flat, and the jaw turns the corner in a soft curve instead of an angle.

Put those together and you get the silhouette of an egg standing on its narrow end: the widest point sits just below the eyes at the cheekbones, the top and bottom are both narrower, and there are no straight sides or hard angles anywhere on the outline.

When our test measures a face, an oval result usually comes with a length-to-width ratio between 1.35 and 1.5, a forehead-to-cheekbone ratio around 0.9 to 1.0, a jaw-to-cheekbone ratio around 0.7 to 0.85, and a jaw angle that is open rather than square. Those numbers are the whole definition; everything else on this page follows from them.

How to tell if you have an oval face

You can do this with a mirror and a tape measure, or let the face shape test do it from a photo. If you measure by hand, take four numbers with your hair pulled back:

1. Forehead width, across the widest part of the forehead, usually halfway between the eyebrows and the hairline.
2. Cheekbone width, from the most prominent point of one cheekbone to the other, just below the outer corners of the eyes.
3. Jaw width, from the corner of the jaw below one ear, around the chin, to the other corner. Halve that curve to compare it with the straight-line widths above, or simply measure straight across at the level of your mouth.
4. Face length, from the centre of the hairline straight down to the tip of the chin.

You have an oval face if the length is clearly greater than the cheekbone width, the cheekbones are the widest of the three widths, the forehead is a touch wider than the jaw, and your chin is rounded. If the length is more than about 1.6 times the width, look at the oblong face shape instead. If the widths are all nearly equal and the length is close to the width, you are probably round. If your forehead is much wider than your jaw and the chin comes to a point, read the heart face shape page.

The photo test measures the same widths from 478 facial landmarks, corrects for head tilt, and gives you the ratios directly. It also shows the runner-up shape, because a good share of oval faces sit close to the oblong or heart boundary.

Oval vs oblong vs round vs heart

Most confusion is between oval and its three neighbours. The table below is how the classifier separates them, expressed in plain language.

Two practical tells. An oblong face has straight sides and looks noticeably tall in a photo taken at eye level; an oval has a visible curve at the temples and at the jaw. A heart face has a chin that narrows to a point and often a widow's peak at the hairline; an oval chin stays rounded.

Why oval is called the "ideal" shape, and why that is unhelpful

Beauty writing has treated the oval as the reference shape for a century, and most hairstyle and glasses advice is written as "how to make your face look more oval". The reason is mechanical: the oval has no single dominant feature to balance, so almost any style sits comfortably on it.

The unhelpful part is that "anything works" is not advice. What is actually true is narrower and more useful: an oval face is easy to over-lengthen. Because the face already reads as longer than wide, styles that add height at the crown, very long straight hair with no width at the sides, or tall narrow glasses push an oval toward looking oblong. The guiding rule for an oval face is therefore not "do anything", it is keep the width and do not stack height.

Best hairstyles for an oval face

The oval face can carry most cuts, so the decision comes down to what you want to emphasise. A few reliable directions:

• Long layers and a lob (long bob) keep width around the cheekbones and let the jaw show, which is the oval's best feature.
• A side part or a soft, side-swept fringe breaks the vertical line and stops the face from reading tall. A blunt, straight-across fringe also works on an oval because it shortens the forehead without adding width, and it is one of the few shapes where that is safe.
• Slicked-back and short cuts for men expose the whole outline, which flatters an oval because there is nothing to hide. Keep some length or texture on top rather than a tall quiff.
• Avoid heavy volume stacked on the crown and very long, flat hair with no layers. Both stretch the face.

The full guide, with cuts by hair length and texture, is on the hairstyles for an oval face page.

Best glasses for an oval face

Glasses are where an oval face can afford a little structure. Frames with angles, such as rectangular, square or geometric shapes, add definition that the soft outline lacks. Frames that are slightly wider than the widest part of the face keep the proportions balanced. Wayfarers, aviators and cat-eye shapes all sit well.

The one thing to avoid is a frame that is much taller than it is wide, which lengthens the face. Oversized frames are fine as long as they are wide rather than tall. Details by frame material and lens shape are on the glasses for an oval face page.

Best beard styles for an oval face

Because the jaw already has a soft, balanced curve, beards on an oval face are about texture rather than correction. A short boxed beard, a classic full beard kept to a moderate length, or well-kept stubble all work. Let the cheek line follow its natural edge rather than carving a sharp line, and keep the length under the chin moderate so the face does not lengthen.

The one style to be careful with is a long, pointed goatee or a very long chin beard, which draws the face down. More on the beard styles for an oval face page.

Makeup for an oval face

Contouring an oval face is light-touch work. There is no wide jaw to slim and no narrow chin to widen, so contour is used along the hairline and very lightly under the cheekbones only to add dimension, not to reshape. Blush on the apples of the cheeks blended slightly upward keeps the width where it belongs. Brows can follow a natural soft arch; a very high, dramatic arch elongates the face. The makeup for an oval face page covers contour placement, blush and brow shapes in detail.

Celebrities with an oval face

Faces commonly described as oval include Bella Hadid, Jessica Alba, Beyoncé, Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Jake Gyllenhaal. Looking at them side by side is instructive: the hairline and jaw are both narrower than the cheekbones, the chin is rounded, and the styles they wear range from very short to very long without any of them looking wrong. That range is the practical meaning of an oval face.

Frequently asked questions

Is oval the same as oblong?

No. Both are longer than wide, but an oblong face is longer still, with straight sides and a longer chin. If your length is more than about 1.6 times your cheekbone width, you are oblong. Our test reports the exact ratio.

Can an oval face have a strong jaw?

Yes. The oval is defined by the outline tapering from the cheekbones to a rounded chin, not by a weak jaw. A strong jaw that still turns the corner in a curve keeps a face in the oval category; a jaw that is as wide as the cheekbones with a square corner moves it toward square.

What is the difference between oval and egg-shaped?

They are the same thing. "Egg-shaped" is the older description, with the narrow end of the egg at the chin.

Does an oval face change with weight or age?

The bone proportions do not, but the outline can. Weight gain adds width at the jaw and cheeks and can make an oval read as round; age softens the jawline and can make it read longer. Re-testing with a current photo is the simplest way to see where you are now.