As with any personal accessory, there is a right way and a wrong way to wear sunglasses. Either they will protect you and make you look suave and charming, or they’ll protect you (hopefully) and make you look like a first class imbecile. Sadly, there usually isn’t any in-between.
When it comes to buying sunglasses, most of us have a hard time picking something stylish, and eventually leave the store empty handed and frustrated. That’s why determining the shape of your face in advance is important because it will help you find the perfect pair of frames to suit your face shape.
To find out if your face is oblong, square, oval, round or heart shaped; take a picture of yourself looking straight at the camera and then draw along the edges of your face. An easier way to do this is to stand in front of a mirror and using an erasable marker or even lipstick, whichever you find first, draw along the edges of your face. This sounds weird, I know, but it works. Once you’ve figured out your shape, picking out the perfect pair of sunglasses will be a breeze.
Find your face shape and the sunglasses that will suit you with this guide.
Oval face: Soft angles that taper slightly from the forehead to the chin, often with prominent cheekbones. Oval faces are the lucky few who look good in any frame!
Frames: Wear sunglasses that cover you from the eyebrows to the cheekbones and avoid large frames.
Square face: Forehead, cheekbones and jawline of roughly the same width.
Frames: Round or oval frames, such as aviator or butterfly shapes, will help to soften the sharp edges.
Round face: The face with the same width and length with full cheeks and less defined angles.
Frames: Wear sharp and angular lines to help elongate the face and make it appear thinner and sharper. Rectangle, square, wrap and shield shapes are perfect for round faces.
Heart face: A face that distinctively tapers from the temples to the chin.
Frames: Wide lower edges shift attention downwards, thus elongating the face. Try round shapes like cat-eye, butterfly or aviators.
Oblong face: A long and narrow face with few angles.
Frames: Large, rectangular and thick frames to add width, whilst sharp angles and bold lines will sharpen the soft features.
Once you figured out your face shape and the frames that will suit you, go crazy! There’s a huge array of colours, shapes and sizes to choose from when it comes to sunglasses and finding the perfect pair means you have a great accessory for life.
Lake Argent is a senior writer and product specialist at wow.lk, Sri Lanka’s largest online shopping mall. A large selection of electronics, home and kitchen appliances, fashion accessories and much more are available on wow.lk with island-wide delivery. Find out more about buying fashion accessories in Sri Lanka