The Oblong Face Shape Guide

Oblong vs. the shapes it gets confused with

• Oblong vs Oval

  The first check is the length ratio: of the two bands printed in the figure above, the one carrying this page's shape name sits higher, and oval is the nearest boundary to this shape in the rule set. The second check is the three widths: on an oval they step down from cheekbones to forehead to jaw, while on an oblong they run close to parallel, which is what makes the sides of the face look straight.

  Read the Oval guide →

  This section is the summary. The order to run the five checks in, the side-line test that no source has revised since 2013, what each of the four published borders divides by, the same tape reading worked through in centimetres and inches, and what a mixed result should change are all on oblong and oval face shape.

• Oblong vs Square

  The comparison stylists make and the rule set does not. The three widths sit close to equal on both shapes and both jawlines turn at a corner rather than curving, so from the front the two read as the same arrangement carried at different lengths — which is exactly why every recommendation on this page is written against a square baseline. What the classifier sees is different: the length ratio that separates them sits at opposite ends of the published band, so these two prototypes are further apart than this shape is from oval, heart or diamond. Expect a borderline result to be reported against those rather than against square.

  Read the Square guide →

• Oblong vs Triangle

  The second-nearest row in the rule set and the one people least expect, because the jaw angle and the chin taper are the same for both shapes — the two prototypes carry identical values there, so the corner of the jaw and the flatness of the chin will not separate them at all. What does is the gradient of the three widths. A triangle's jaw is the widest point of the face and its forehead the narrowest, so the outline broadens steadily downward; here the three widths run close to equal and the sides look straight. Compare the forehead width against the jaw width directly and the two come apart at once.

  Read the Triangle guide →

• Oblong vs Diamond

  Both sit in the longer half of the table, so a face that measures long gets compared against both. The chin settles it: this shape ends flat and broad, a diamond narrows to a point, and the chin taper row sits at the bottom of the published band for a diamond and well above the middle for this shape. The widths disagree in the same direction — a diamond's cheekbones are the widest point with the forehead and the jaw both narrower, while here all three run close to equal.

  Read the Diamond guide →

Length is the first decision and it works against intuition, because the long hair most people want is the long hair this outline can least afford: a straight fall past the chest continues the face's own vertical line downward instead of ending it. A cut that stops at the chin or the shoulder ends the line, and waves or curls carrying width at the sides add the horizontal the outline has none of — which is why those two recommendations go together rather than being alternatives. The fringe is the second lever and the more surprising one. Face length is measured from the hairline, so covering part of the forehead takes length out of the visible outline without touching the bone structure underneath. A curtain fringe that parts in the middle does this while leaving some hairline showing, which is why the picks specify a fringe covering part of the forehead rather than all of it.

The styles that work against the outline are the ones that add height or remove width, and they are common defaults. Volume built at the crown and a tall updo both stack length above the hairline, which is the one direction this shape already has most of. Very long, straight, centre-parted hair does the same thing from the other end, running a single unbroken vertical from the part down past the chest. A slick centre part with no fringe is the combination to think about twice: it exposes the hairline at its full height and adds nothing at the sides, so the outline reads as long and narrow at once rather than long and even.

A deep frame divides the face. The line across the top of the lens and the line across the bottom of it are both horizontals, and they land at the brow and at the cheekbone, so the eye reads the face as a stack of bands rather than as one length. That is why oversized frames appear on this page and on very few others, and why a strong brow bar does more here than it does on any other outline: the browline shape puts the heaviest horizontal at the very top of the face, exactly where the length starts. Square frames work for a related reason, carrying a straight top edge and a straight bottom edge instead of a curve that follows the jaw back down.

The failures are all versions of one thing — a frame too small to interrupt anything. Shallow lenses sitting well inside the face width leave the full length unbroken, and narrow rectangles on thin temples are the clearest case, because a thin horizontal line does not cut a strong vertical one; the frame reads as a detail on the face rather than as a line across it. Width is the second variable and the easier one to check in a mirror: the frame should reach at least the cheekbone width. Fit sits behind both, since frames that slide down move their horizontals onto the jaw and lose the band they were creating.

Fuller growth at the sides with the chin kept short is the version that does the most: it puts weight beside the jaw, which is where the outline has none, without extending the face below it. The beard line is the second lever and the one nobody thinks to specify. A line trimmed high on the jaw stops the outline where the bone ends. The same growth with the line dropped onto the neck removes the jaw corner entirely and replaces it with a downward slope, so the face stops where the neck begins instead of where the jaw does — length added without a single hair growing at the chin. Because it is a trimming decision rather than a style decision, it can be corrected at the next appointment without growing anything out.

The two failures follow directly from those picks. Growth concentrated at the chin, and a pointed goatee above all, adds length below the jaw, which is the single direction this shape has least use for. A beard line dropped onto the neck reaches the same result by a different route. Even stubble works as long as it is kept slightly longer along the jaw than at the chin — a small adjustment most barbers will make if you ask for it in those words rather than naming a style, since the named styles are usually cut for a shorter face.

Contouring

Shade goes at the two ends. A small amount along the top of the forehead just under the hairline, blended downward, shortens the face from above; a little under the jaw and at the tip of the chin shortens it from below. Both need less product than the area suggests, and both are blended inward rather than drawn as a line. What not to shade is the hollows of the cheeks and the temples: those are habits carried over from round and square faces, where the job is to take width out, and here they remove the only width the outline has.

Highlighting

Highlight is where the width gets added, and it goes at the sides rather than down the middle — across the apples of the cheeks and outward toward the ears, on a horizontal rather than a diagonal. The usual column of light down the centre of the face is worth keeping modest here, because a bright vertical from forehead to chin traces the same line the outline already has. A touch at the centre of the brows and one at the top of the cheekbones reads as width; the same product drawn down the bridge of the nose reads as length.

Blush placement

Apply blush horizontally across the apples of the cheeks and blend outward toward the ears. The direction is the whole point: the default diagonal sweep up toward the hairline draws a line that follows the length of the face, while a horizontal sweep draws one that crosses it. Keeping the colour forward, no further back than the outer edge of the eye, also holds the width at the front of the face where it can actually be seen.

Hats

A wide brim worn low is the strongest single move available to this shape, because it puts the widest line on the head above the face altogether and lays a horizontal across the forehead — the silhouette stops reading as one length and starts reading as a stack of bands. Flat, low crowns work for the plainer reason that a bucket hat, a flat cap or a newsboy adds width at the sides without adding height above the hairline. Tall crowns are the thing to avoid and they are the default in a lot of headwear. A narrow brim sitting close to the head is the second, because it repeats the face's own narrowness instead of crossing it.

Earrings

Round hoops and clusters widening at the lobe put width beside the jaw, and short wide shapes ending above the jawline do the same with more surface area. Long narrow drops are the placement to think about twice: they hang a vertical line beside a face that already runs long, and because they sit at the side rather than the front they read as part of the outline rather than as decoration on it.

Necklines

A boat, off-the-shoulder or wide scoop neckline holds a horizontal under the chin, and cowls and wide folds do the same thing with fabric piled across the chest. A deep narrow V is the one to think about twice, since it draws the eye straight down and continues the face's own vertical line well below the jaw. A high tight turtleneck with no break at the collarbone is the less obvious version of the same problem: with nothing marking where the face ends, the outline runs into the body as one long line.