Face Shape Geometry & Anatomy
What Defines the Widest Part of Your Face?
What Defines the Widest Part of Your Face starts with the outer line of the face, not with one feature in the middle of it. The widest part is simply the longest of the forehead, cheekbone, and jaw lines.
The outline is a simple shape: how long the face is, and where it is wide. The picture above is the pin for this guide. The same page is the link on the pins that belong with it.
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How to read the outline
If you searched for “widest part of your face”, stay with the contour. Name the shape only after you can see where the face is long and where it is wide.
That definition avoids guessing from a photo's shadows. The same head position can suggest different shapes when the contour changes at the jaw, cheeks, or forehead.
The contour is the shape. Cheekbone width and chin width answer different questions.
Wide cheeks with a narrow chin lean diamond or heart. A chin as wide as the cheeks leans square or round.
When two names both seem possible
Changing only the jawline changes the outline enough to move round toward square, or heart toward a wider lower face. The upper face stays, the shape name may not.
Curves lean round or oval. Angles lean square.
The rest of the shapes mix a curve with a taper or a peak. Length stops a soft face from being called round when it is oval, and an angular face from being called square when it is long.
Classification needs that vertical fact. Balance here means the widths are close and the length is only a little greater, which is the oval pattern.
It is not a score of attractiveness. The forehead influences the shape when it is clearly wider or narrower than the jaw.
It pulls the outline toward heart or toward triangle. A narrow lower face shows a jaw and chin that lose to the forehead or the cheeks.
Heart and some diamond faces share that look. A broad upper face is a forehead line that beats the jaw line.
Pair it with a narrowing chin and heart is the shape to test.
When you finish, you should be able to say which part of the face you used, not only the shape name. If two outlines both seem close, look again at the chin and the jaw corners. That is usually where they split.
Take the photo straight
Use one photo, taken straight on, with the camera at eye level. Hair only needs to be clear of the hairline and the jaw. A tilt, a shadow on one cheek, or a chin that is lifted will change the outline before you have even started.
Look at the forehead, the cheeks, and the jaw as three widths. Then compare the length of the face with the width. That is the whole reading.
Common questions
What Defines the Widest Part of Your Face?
The widest part is simply the longest of the forehead, cheekbone, and jaw lines. If two outlines both seem close, look again at the chin and the jaw corners. That is usually where they split.
How do I use “Facial Geometry: Curves vs Angles”?
Curves lean round or oval. Decide which area is widest before you say a shape name. The widest point is what starts the name.
How do I use “How to Identify a Broad Upper Face”?
A broad upper face is a forehead line that beats the jaw line. Clear the hairline only enough to see where the forehead ends. You are tracing a contour.
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