Short Hair & Wide Faces

Short hairstyle for a wide square face — Photo: Sergey Zapotylok/Shutterstock

Q: Does short, straight, and slightly layered hair look good on women with wide (square/rectangular) faces?

A: Generally speaking, I don't think so. If the goal in cutting and styling the hair is to create the illusion of an oval face, you will fail to achieve it using a short, straight slightly layered style on a woman with a wide (square/rectangular) face.

Usually, a wide face needs height to balance the shape of the head and soft curves to balance the corners of the face. A short hairstyle can work, but should be long enough to extend just past the jaw line and should curve inward to counter the squared effect of the jaw. Avoid spiky looks or angular cuts as they will only exaggerate the angles already in the face.

If you want or need to include bangs in the style, be sure to texture them so that you avoid creating a "horizontal" line across the forehead. This horizontal line would emphasize the width of the face. A curved bangs line would work well, especially textured, as it would add a softening effect to the face to counter the square look.

The hairstyle should have minimal volume on the sides, since extra volume there will only make the face look wider.

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See also:

Face shapes and suitable hairstyles

Hairstyles for a square face

Why do face shapes need to be considered when cutting hair?

Would layers be good for my square face?