Guide · Framing
Best glasses for your face shape, plus how to use your pupillary distance
The best glasses for your face shape contrast it: rounded frames on a square face, angular frames on a round one, wider frames on an oblong face, lighter or rimless frames on a diamond face. Match frame width to cheekbone width, the bridge to your nose, and use your pupillary distance so the lens centres sit over your pupils.
The short version
- 1Find the face shape and note where it is widest. Photograph the face straight on at eye level with hair pulled back and run the face shape tool. Note whether the widest point is the forehead, the cheekbones or the jaw, because the frame must respect it.
- 2Pick a frame shape that contrasts the face. Choose angular frames for a round face, rounded frames for a square one, wide tall frames for an oblong face, bottom-heavy or light frames for a heart, and browline or rimless frames for a diamond. Ovals choose by colouring.
- 3Match frame width to cheekbone width. In a straight-on photo the outer edges of the frame should sit at or just inside the face at the cheekbones. Go to the full width on an oblong face and stay inside on square and diamond faces.
- 4Match the bridge to the nose and keep it constant. Choose a keyhole or saddle bridge for a high narrow nose and a low bridge or nose pads for a low or wide one. Keep the bridge number the same across frames so the lens centres stay level.
- 5Use your pupillary distance for the lens centres. Take the PD from your prescription, or from an optician, so each lens is ground with its centre over your pupil. A photo estimate is a band for choosing a frame width, not a figure to order strong lenses from.
- 6Choose colour and rim weight for contrast. Use thick dark rims where the face wants width, thin or rimless frames where it already has strong features, and a colour that either blends with the hair or contrasts the skin deliberately. Photograph each pair under the same light.
Three fits before any style
Frame charts start with shape, but three fits come first, and a pair that fails any of them will look wrong on every face shape. The first is width: the frame should be about as wide as the face at the cheekbones. Wider, and the eyes look close-set and the frame reads as a mask; narrower, and the face reads wider than it is and the temples press. The second is the bridge: it should sit on the nose without pinching or sliding, which depends on the nose's width and how high it starts, not on the face shape. The third is the position of the lens centres, and that is what your pupillary distance is for.
Get those three right and most style advice becomes a matter of taste. Get them wrong and the best-chosen shape still sits crooked, magnifies the wrong part of the eye or leaves a gap at the temples that no colour fixes. The face shape tool gives you the shape from one photo; the pupillary distance tool estimates the third fit from the same photo, and the rest of this guide takes them in turn.
The chart: frames by face shape
| Face shape | What to balance | Frames that tend to work | Frames that fight it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oval | Keep the proportion; the face is already balanced, so the frame should not dominate it | Most shapes at the width of the cheekbones: wayfarer, rectangular, soft round, thin metal. Choose for colouring and taste | Oversized frames wider than the face; very narrow lenses that cut the eye area into a strip |
| Round | Add angles and length; the face is as wide as it is long with soft edges | Rectangular and square frames, angular browlines, frames with a strong top edge, slightly wider than the face at the cheeks | Round or oval lenses that repeat the curve, small frames that leave the cheeks wide, low-set rims that shorten the face |
| Square | Soften the corners; the jaw and forehead are wide and angular | Round, oval and soft-cornered frames, thin rims, frames slightly narrower than the cheekbones so they do not add width | Sharp rectangular frames, heavy square acetate, geometric shapes that echo the jaw |
| Oblong | Add width and take length; the face is longer than it is wide | Wide frames with tall lenses, oversized wayfarers, thick rims or a decorative temple, a low bridge that shortens the nose visually | Narrow or shallow lenses, small round frames, high-set thin frames that leave the lower face long |
| Heart | Balance a wide forehead against a narrow chin | Frames wider at the bottom than the top, rimless or light-rimmed styles, round and oval lenses, aviators, cat-eyes kept subtle | Heavy browlines, top-heavy frames, embellished upper rims that add width where there is already plenty |
| Diamond | Soften the cheekbones against a narrow forehead and chin | Browline and cat-eye frames that add width at the brow, oval and rimless styles, frames no wider than the cheekbones | Narrow frames that emphasise the cheekbone width, heavy angular frames at the widest point |
The rule under the chart: a frame adds a shape to the face, so choose the shape the face lacks. Round faces lack angles, square faces lack curves, oblong faces lack width, heart faces lack weight below, diamond faces lack width above and below. An oval lacks nothing, which is why ovals are told to choose by colouring, and why every other shape is a small correction toward the middle. The same six shapes are used in hairstyle by face shape, and the two guides are meant to be read together, because hair and frames share the same edges.
Frame width against cheekbone width
Width is the fit most people get wrong, because frames are tried on in a mirror at close range where the phone-camera distortion of a selfie does not apply and the temples cannot be seen. The check is simple: in a straight-on photo at eye level, the outer edges of the frame should sit roughly at the outer edges of the face at the cheekbones, or a touch inside them. Frames that sit outside the face make the eyes look close-set and the head small; frames that sit well inside make the eyes look far apart and the cheeks look full.
This is where face shape and fit meet. An oblong face can carry a frame at the full width of the cheekbones or slightly beyond, because width is what it wants. A square or diamond face should stay just inside, because both are already at their widest there. A round face sits in the middle: full width but angular, so the frame adds the corners the face lacks without adding to its width.
One more consequence for anyone using a photo to judge frames: the eye area is the part of the face a rating weights most after harmony, and a frame changes how the whole area reads, the spacing of the eyes, the visible brow, the under-eye. BecomeTen asks for a scan without glasses for that reason, and the framing effect is discussed in glasses, hairstyle and framing.
Find my face shape
Free · one photo in the browser · then run the pupillary distance tool on the same photo
The bridge, and what your pupillary distance is for
The bridge decides whether a frame sits where the chart assumes it sits. A high, narrow nose takes a keyhole or saddle bridge; a low or wide nose takes a low bridge or adjustable nose pads, otherwise the frame slides down and the lens centres drop below the pupils. The bridge is written on the inside of the temple next to the lens width, and it is the number to keep constant when you change frames.
Pupillary distance is different: it is a fact about you, not the frame. It is the distance between the centres of your two pupils when you look straight ahead, and an optician writes it on a prescription in millimetres so the lab can grind each lens with its optical centre directly in front of your pupil. If the centres are off, the lens acts as a weak prism and the eyes work to correct for it, which shows up as strain, and on a stronger prescription as noticeable distortion at the edges. The definition, and why it is written as one number or as two, is at interpupillary distance.
For ordering glasses online, the PD is the one measurement the site cannot guess from a frame size. If it is not on the prescription, an optician will measure it, and the pupillary distance tool gives an estimate from a photo for anyone who wants a rough figure before the appointment. Treat that as a band rather than a number to order from: a photo can be scaled only against a known object, and a small error in the scale is a real error in the lens. For a frame choice it is plenty; for a strong prescription, ask the optician.
Colour, contrast and rim weight
Once the shape and fit are settled, colour is the last decision, and it interacts with framing more than most charts admit. A dark, thick rim adds a strong line across the eye area and reads as weight; on an oblong face that width is wanted, on a heart face it is a browline the face already has. A thin metal or rimless frame adds almost no line and lets the shape of the face show, which suits square, diamond and heart shapes and any face that already has strong features.
Contrast with skin and hair matters as much as the colour itself. A frame close to the hair colour reads as part of the hairline and blends; a frame in strong contrast reads as a separate object and draws the eye to the eye area. Neither is wrong. Blending suits a face where the goal is to keep proportion, most ovals; contrast suits a face where the eye area is the strong point and the frame can draw attention to it. Tortoiseshell and muted tones sit between the two and are the safe answer for most colouring, which is why opticians default to them.
Two smaller points. A frame with a strong top edge and a light bottom edge lifts the visible line of the eyes, which helps a face where the outer corners sit low; the effect is the same one brows produce, and the canthal tilt entry explains why the corner itself does not move. And lens tint or a coating that reflects in a photo hides the eyes, so a pair chosen for daylight is not necessarily the pair to be photographed in.
Choosing frames from a photo, honestly
Try-on mirrors and virtual try-ons both flatter, the first because it is close and forgiving, the second because it scales the frame to the face for you. A photo at arm's length and eye level does neither, and it is the honest test: does the frame sit at the cheekbones, is the bridge holding it level, are the pupils near the lens centres, does the shape contrast the face rather than repeat it. Take one photo per pair under the same light and compare them side by side.
That is also the limit of the advice. Glasses are framing; they change what a face reads as, and BecomeTen scores the face without them so the frame does not stand in for the eye area. The guide exists because framing is still worth getting right, the way a haircut is. None of it moves a structural trait, and the guide would be dishonest if it suggested otherwise.
Questions
Which glasses make a round face look slimmer?
Rectangular or square frames with a strong top edge, slightly wider than the face at the cheeks, and set high rather than low. The angles add what the face lacks and the width keeps the cheeks from reading full. Avoid round lenses, small frames and low-set rims, each of which repeats or shortens the shape.
Should glasses be wider than my face or narrower?
About the same width as the face at the cheekbones, or a little inside. An oblong face is the exception and can go to the full width or slightly beyond, because width is what it wants. Frames well outside the face make the eyes read close-set; frames well inside make the cheeks read wide.
Do I need my pupillary distance to buy glasses online?
Yes, for any lens with a prescription. Frame size is on the temple; pupillary distance is on you, and the lab needs it to place each lens centre over the pupil. Take it from the prescription or an optician. A photo estimate is enough to pick a frame width but not to order a strong lens.
Are the frame shapes for men and women different by face shape?
The principle is identical, contrast the face, and most of the chart applies to both. What differs is the range on offer: cat-eye and browline shapes are usually marketed to women and suit heart and diamond faces, while heavy acetate and aviators are marketed to men and suit oblong and heart faces respectively. Fit rules are the same for everyone.
Can the right glasses raise my BecomeTen score?
Not directly, because the scan asks for a photo without glasses so the frame does not stand in for the eye area. Glasses are framing and change how the face reads in daily life and in other photos, the way a haircut does. The score reads the face; the guide is for the frame you wear the rest of the time.