Finding Your Perfect Hairstyle Is Surprisingly Easy

You've probably done this before,

looking for a new hairstyle, you come

across a guide and it tells you to

identify your face shape. You follow the

recommendation exactly, but it still

doesn't look how you wanted. The

problem, against common belief, your

face shape is almost irrelevant and way

too unspecific. What actually matters

are your individual facial features. And

once you understand the four that matter

most, choosing the perfect hairstyle

becomes surprisingly easy. The first and

most important feature are your facial

thirds. Research shows that facial

thirds determine perceived

attractiveness more than almost any

other proportional feature. This is the

exact principle professional hair

stylists use to correct imbalances. For

example, if you have a small, narrow

upper third, expose it, don't cover it.

Bad Bunny demonstrates this perfectly

where he consistently wears his

hairstyled upward and away from his

forehead, making his compact upper third

appear larger and more balanced. But

here's where it gets interesting. Look

at actor Omar Aayus. He also has a

narrow upper third, but when he wears

downward styles that cover his forehead,

his face looks compressed and bottom

heavy. Now look at this morph where we

expose his forehead. The proportions

immediately improve because we're no

longer hiding an already small feature.

Now, if you have a large, wide upper

third, the opposite applies. Chris Briny

is the perfect example. He has a

prominent forehead, so when he wears

forward styled hair or bangs, it

visually reduces that area and creates

balance. Paul Mscal's case is even more

specific. His slightly receding hairline

makes his upper third wider than his

midface, which is why forward styled

hair with textured bangs work so well in

him. It's not just about covering

height. It's also about reducing

perceived width. And if your upper,

middle, and lower thirds are already

balanced and proportional, you have the

most flexibility. You can pull off slick

backs, medium length flows, and mid

parts equally well. Okay, so another

crucial feature you need to understand

is your facial symmetry. And this one is

counterintuitive. The more asymmetrical

your face is, the more asymmetrical your

hairstyle needs to be. Most men assume

symmetrical hairstyles, clean middle

parts, perfectly balanced buzz cuts,

always look better. But that only works

if your face is already symmetrical.

Look at this comparison of Andrew

Garfield. On the left, a relatively

balanced face. On the right, the same

face with a clean middle part. Notice

how the slight unevenness around the

eyes and jaw suddenly becomes more

visible. A symmetrical hairstyle creates

a visual reference point. And when your

face deviates from that symmetry, it

stands out. Timothy Charm's face, like

most, has subtle asymmetry. If you

mirror his face, the structural

unevenness becomes clear. But he

consistently wears messy textured hair

with irregular volume because it

prevents your eye from locking onto his

structural asymmetry. Now compare that

to someone like Brad Pitt where during

his career he pulled off nearly every

single hairstyle out there just because

of his highly balanced facial structure.

Clean symmetrical hairstyles emphasized

his natural balance rather than exposing

any deviations. The third feature is

your vertical face length. And the

principle here is quite simple. Your

hairstyles vertical silhouette should

counterbalance your face length. If you

have a long face, you need horizontal

emphasis. Flat styles, sides swept hair,

anything that reduces vertical height.

Adding volume on top will only make your

face look even longer. Look at Adam

Driver. He has an elongated face, which

is why he almost exclusively wears his

hair flat or sides swept. You never see

him with a quiff or high volume on top.

It would exaggerate his facial

proportions because it makes the face

immediately look stretched and

unbalanced. But if you have a short,

more compressed face, the opposite would

apply. You need vertical emphasis to add

height. Bruno Mars is famous for his

long afro, but it doesn't just look

cool, it also adds volume and height,

elongating his facial proportions. And

even when he's not wearing the afro,

like here, he usually goes for upward

styled hairstyles because short styles

like a buzzcut would draw focus to a

slightly compressed face. On the other

hand, if your face is balanced

vertically like Robert Patterson, you

have complete flexibility. High volume

styles, flat styles, slick back looks,

all of them generally work because there

is no vertical imbalance to correct. The

fourth and final feature will determine

if you can pull off a buzz cut, which is

your jaw projection. Short hair,

especially buzz cuts, remove all

distraction from the lower third.

There's nothing to soften and redirect

attention making your jaw the focal

point. Streamer Marlon Ludrin Garcia

became known for his buzzcut. His jaw is

angular, well projected and defined. So

removing hair draws more attention to

that particular feature. Another famous

example is Jeremy Meeks. His short hair

emphasized his facial structure, eyes,

and especially his jawline so

dramatically that his mug shot went

viral, launching his career as a

professional model. On the other hand,

if your joy is softer like Austin

Butler's, short hair also exposes that.

In those cases, messy textured styles

work better because they create visual

distraction. Take a look at this morph.

A buzz cut would shift all focus to his

lower third, which isn't his strongest

feature. Once you understand these four

features, you realize why someone like

Brad Pitt was able to pull off

practically any hairstyle throughout his

career, while another individual with

the exact same face shape could not. So,

forget what the face shape chart says.

And if you want us to analyze your face,

head over to goo.com.