The Right Frames for Your Face - Articles,Fashion & Beauty

Most people wear glasses on a regular basis, whether it’s to correct their vision or to protect their eyes from the sun (or both)—and to us fashionistas, our glasses are an invaluable accessory. That’s why choosing the perfect frames for your face is so important! We spoke to Mélanie Plouffe, a former assistant optician, for a few tips on how to select a style that will suit your features.

The basics

Plouffe tells us that there are two rules of thumb to follow when choosing frames:

1. Choose frames that will follow the natural brow line;

2. Choose frames that will complement (not accentuate) the shape of the face.

Round face

Do go for glasses that will give your face some angles, like a rectangular frame.

Don’t choose round frames, and avoid the big glasses trend.

Round-faced star: Michelle Williams.

Oval face

Do try on as many types of frames as possible—almost anything will suit you!

Don’t forget to take the shape of your eyebrows into consideration and to choose a frame with a top part that won’t clash with your natural line (for example, don’t go for a frame that slants upwards towards the outer corner if your eyebrows are straight across).

Oval-faced lady: Eva Longoria.

Square face

Do try rounder glasses, or frames with rounded corners.

Don’t go for specks with particularly angular corners or plastic frames, so as not to put the emphasis on your strong jawbone.

Star style we love: Johnny Depp complements his angular features with cute round frames!

Heart-shaped face

Do try a rectangular frame that is of equal lengths on the top and bottom, and that is not too large.

Don’t go for frames that have slanted angles.

Heart-shaped beauty: Reese Witherspoon.

Extra tips

- Ensure your frames are wide enough by inserting your index finger between the side of your face and the temples of your glasses: if your finger does not fit, the frame is too narrow. An ideal width should let your finger fit perfectly in this space. Also, if the temples leave marks on your face, this is another sign that they are too narrow.

- Smile when you try on a pair of frames to make sure they don’t put pressure on your cheeks (or anywhere else), which would indicate they are too big for your face.

- When choosing frames for prescription glasses, remember that the lenses used to correct myopia (nearsightedness) are concave, meaning they are thicker on the outside. Choose smaller frames to avoid ending up with very thick lenses near the rims. Plastic frames are also ideal to camouflage thicker lenses.

- The opposite is true for the lenses used to correct hypermetropia (farsightedness) and presbyopia (farsightedness due to age): they are convex, meaning they are thicker in the middle and become thinner towards the edges. In this case, you can choose bigger frames to minimize thickness at the edges near the rim.