A round face shape can rock several different styles of glasses. From colorful cat-eye frames to bold square ones, your options are pretty much limitless. However, if you’re looking for guidelines on how to pick glasses that will suit your face shape in particular, we’ll share a few insights that might help you narrow down your top contenders.
So, which eyeglasses are best for a round face? We’ll get there, but first, let’s make sure you’re in the right place.
Do You Have a Round Face Shape?
If you don’t know your face shape, there’s an easy way to identify it: look in the mirror to find the widest and narrowest part(s) of your face.
If your forehead and jaw give you about the same measurements, and the length of your face from top to bottom is roughly the same as its width from side to side, then congrats: you probably have a round face shape!
People with round faces also typically have soft, rounded features rather than sharp or severe ones. Ask yourself: Is your chin squared-off, pointed, or bowl-shaped? Do you have a strong jaw, or does your face curve smoothly from cheek to chin? Do you have prominent cheekbones or fuller cheeks? A round face, perhaps intuitively, is built from many smaller round shapes.
But remember: No one’s face will map onto a single face shape perfectly. Finding your face shape is really just making an educated guess, and going with what feels right.
Best Glasses Shapes for a Round Face
Okay, so you’re pretty positive that your face is round (or at least round-ish). How do you pick out a pair of glasses?
The best glasses frames for a round face—female, male, or any other gender—play off of the face’s gentle curves with strong lines and defined angles. It can be fun to try and identify complementary opposites: slopes vs. corners, softness vs. boldness. Think of it as the ultimate in power clashing.
Rectangle Glasses
Rectangle glasses are a popular choice for round faces. Angles that offset your face’s curves? Check. A bit of width to the lenses that will add length to your face? Check. A huge amount of options when it comes to colors and accents? That’s a check.
Square Glasses
Square glasses on a round face create a pleasing amount of both contrast and harmony. The straight lines and corners of the frames provide that key element of definition, and the square-shaped lenses mirror the proportional balance of the round face.
Geometric Glasses
Round-faced trendsetters can get experimental with geometric glasses, which incorporate nontraditional shapes like hexagons and octagons. It’s all about adding even more lines and angles, here—they up the striking juxtaposition of bold lines on soft features.
Cat-Eye Glasses
Cat-eye glasses gel well with round faces because they shape and give lift to fuller cheeks, all while highlighting the browline and eyes. Their signature upswept corners convey a captivating boldness, especially if those corners are thick and dramatic.
Browline Glasses
Like cat-eye glasses, browline glasses are all about emphasizing the upper portion of the face with some added contours. Their thicker brow balances out the rounded bottoms of the lenses and creates an eye-catching contrast.
Colorful, Full-Rimmed Glasses
Ignoring the shape of the lenses for a moment, a colorful full-rimmed frame in almost any style will pop on a round face. The frame’s stark, continuous lines stand out to make a memorable impression.
Glasses that Might Not Work as Well For Round Faces
We’d never tell you to steer clear of frames you love, so take this section with a grain of salt. That being said, there are some glasses styles that don’t mesh as seamlessly with round faces.
Round and Oval Frames
Round glasses on a round face can be a little redundant in some cases. When you compound curvy shapes on top of one another, it’s easy for your face to seem even rounder than it really is. If that’s not what you want, then perhaps avoid fully circular or oval frames.
Small Frames
The same thinking applies here—if the frames are too small, then the fullness of a round face can overwhelm them, making the face itself look bigger.
Totally Transparent or Skin-Colored Frames
Finally, wearing frames that blend easily with your skin means that your glasses won’t stand out, negating the chic contrast between your round face and your frames.
If you have a round face and you’re still tempted by some of the glasses types above, then why not try on frames virtually? It’s an easy way to see how any pair of glasses will suit you.
The Number One Rule for Wearing Glasses with a Round Face
Don’t let anyone tell you what to do or wear! If you have a round face and fall in love with a pair of glasses that goes against these guidelines, you have our blessings. The best frames for a round face are the ones that make it smile. 😉