Know Your Face Shape(Wafrica Guest Post)

Knowledge of basic facial shapes is something that every individual ought to know, but it is a valuable aid in making a quicker and more accurate decision about a specific frame. The average fitter can tell how appropriate a frame looks after it has been placed on the face. The accomplished fitter who has an understanding of facial shapes will know how a frame will look before placing it on the face. The awareness of the considerable influence that spectacle frames can have on the basic facial shape, either positively or negatively, is essential to competent selection of the ultimate frame for each specific face. Generally, there are seven basic facial shapes:

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Oval—considered to be the ideal type
Oblong—thinner and longer than usual, with the sides of the head being more parallel to one
another than in the oval type
Round—more circular than the oval
Square—again, the sides of the face are more parallel than in the oval, with the face being
wider and shorter than usual
Triangular—the lower part of the face is wider than the upper part
Inverted triangular—the upper part of the face, the temple area, is wider than the lower jaw
area
Diamond—the central section of the face is wider, with the upper and lower extremities of the face arrowing down considerably.

To simplify the face shapes to help choose frame width and depth, the seven shapes can be condensed to the following five shapes. The oval face is considered normal and can wear almost any frame, so only the general rules apply. The oblong face is simply referred to as long. Both the round and the square face fall into the category of the wide face. The erect or base-down triangular face is a category that does not lend itself to condensation. For fitting purposes, the diamond face is included in the inverted or base-up triangular classification, since these shapes are all fit in basically the same manner. Using this simplified system, a face may deviate from the normal in four essential ways: it may be either too long, too wide, or too triangular, with the base of the triangle up or down.