Hairstyles and Makeup for Square Faces

How to see your face shape: Pull your hair back from your face, stand a foot in front of the mirror and use lipstick to draw the outline of your face (Tip: I found it easier to do this with one eye closed. It took me three tries to get an accurate drawing.)

How to tell if you have a square face shape: Your jaw and forehead are roughly the same width; the jaw has a definite squareness to it.

The great thing about having a square face shape: Some of the most beautiful women in the world have square face shapes like Sandra Bullock and Katie Holmes. Your strong jawline gives you a gorgeous, distinctive look.

Haircuts for a square face: The goal with your hairstyle is to choose a look that softens the angles of your face. You'll want to avoid anything that accentuates the squareness – like heavy straight bangs or a blunt-cut chin-length bob – because those looks are too geometric to work with your face shape. However, with a few tweaks, many hairstyles do work:

• Long hair. Your square face shape will look great with the elongating effects of long hair. Although some women with square face shapes – like Demi Moore – opt for stick-straight long hair, soft and layered looks (like Jaclyn Smith's hairstyle) are extremely flattering.
• Whispy ends. A layered cut like Kate Capshaw's works great for a square face shape because whispy ends that frame the face give it a softening effect. 
• Curls. What's more softening against angular lines than curls or waves? You can do full-on glamour curls like Maria Shriver does or more subtle waves.
• Full, short hair. If you want to do short hair right, try a style with some rounded fullness to it like Helen Mirren's new shorter haircut.
• Bangs. While heavy, straight bangs are a no-no on square faces, feathery bangs like Kristen Scott Thomas wears can work. 
• Concave cut. While some of the hairstyles work against the shape of your face, this angular cut (shorter in the back, angles down in the front) actually accentuates your jawline and looks amazing. See for yourself:

Makeup for a square face: Contouring with makeup can help give the illusion of a softer face shape. Here's a video to show you how to do it:

Have a round face? We have face shape beauty advice for round face shapes, too.