What Haircut Should I Get? (Men)

Finding the haircut that will make you look your best can be difficult. Fortunately for you, we’ll cover a range of face shapes and different styles to help you discover the haircut you should get.

What Haircut Should I Get? (Men)

When it’s time for a trim or a full haircut, you have an opportunity to do something different. Why not find a haircut that is tailored to your best features and designed to flatter your face shape?

Sure, you could walk into a barbershop and loudly ask, “What haircut should I get, men?” But there’s an easier way that doesn’t involve embarrassing yourself.

We’ll show you how to find the perfect haircut for your specific face shape – and how to determine your face shape – in this guide. It’s a lot simpler than you think! But first, here’s a simple chart to help you find the best style for your face.

Ever had a bad or mediocre haircut? If so, you know the importance of finding a cut that best suits you. After all, the wrong haircut can ruin your look in a variety of ways. Depending on your face shape, the wrong haircut can:

• Create the appearance of a chubbier face
• Make your face look too long 
• Further minimize a small chin 
• Cause your features to look imbalanced

On the other hand, the right haircut can work all kinds of flattering magic. When you get a haircut that actually suits your face shape, you can expect it to:

• Highlight and play up your best features
• Balance features that may overpower your face 
• Downplay roundness, sharp angles, and chubbiness
• Work with your face shape instead of against it
• Make you look more attractive

If the right haircut can do all this for you, what are you waiting for? You’re ready to find out your face shape and discover the cuts that look best for your face shape. Let’s get started!

Read Next: Our Favorite Men’s Haircut Examples

Start With Your Face Shape

The first step to finding the holy grail of haircuts is identifying which face shape you have. There are tons of little variations in face shapes, but for this article, we’ll focus on the four main categories.

You’ll fit under one of the following: Oval, round, heart, or square. The overall shape of your face is determined by the measurements and balance of the following features:

• Forehead
• Cheekbones
• Length of the face
• Width of the face
• Jawline
• Chin

The right haircut for you will depend on all these features that make up your face shape. A cut that looks perfect on a guy with a square face will be pretty different from what looks good on a man with a heart-shaped face. 

Since many men don’t know which face shape they have, they tend to get a popular cut or familiar to them without making sure it’s suited for their specific face.

You should learn which face shape you have to get a step closer to knowing which cut will work best for you. Before you check out the different face shapes, know that they are general categories.

If you have a square face shape, it doesn’t mean you have a block head. If you have a round face, it doesn’t mean it looks like a basketball. These are just general parameters that indicate how wide and long your face is.

All while taking your specific features – chin, cheekbones, forehead – into account. Here’s an overview of each face shape and its characteristics, so you’ll know what to look for.

Read Next: Hairstyles for Guys With Big Foreheads

The Oval Face Shape

Oval faces have a generally oval shape, characterized by more length than width. The forehead is somewhat narrow, and the jawline and chin are rounded off, not sharp or angular. Jake Gyllenhaal is an example of a man with an oval face shape. 

The Round Face Shape

Round faces are characterized by more width than length, or a roughly equal width and length. The cheekbones are the widest part of this face shape. The forehead and chin have a rounded shape as well.

Leonardo Dicaprio is an example of a guy with a round face shape. It’s important to note that weight gain can cause a natural oval or square face to appear more like a round face.

First, you’ve formerly identified that you had an oval or square-shaped face. Next, know that a few extra pounds could’ve turned it into a round shape. If that’s the case, you should stick with haircuts that suit a round face for now. 

The Heart Face Shape

Heart-shaped faces are typically easy to identify because they have a trademark pointed chin that’s narrower than the rest of the face. A wider forehead and sharp jawline typically accompany a heart-shaped face. Nick Jonas has a heart-shaped face. 

The Square Face Shape

Square faces are angular and balanced. The width of the face is roughly equal to the width. The jawline is angular, and the chin is not rounded or pointy. Bradley Cooper has a square-shaped face. 

How to Determine Your Face Shape

Identifying your own face shape can be a little challenging. You might see that you share characteristics with more than one face shape. But we’ve found a method that works perfectly and makes it easy to find which shape best describes your face. 

Looking in the mirror doesn’t always lead to an accurate appraisal of face shape. You can really only focus on one area at a time, and it can be tough to get a sense of your face’s overall shape. So taking a selfie is an easy solution! 

Try to get in front of a plain, light-colored background. This will make it easier to see the edges of your face. If you have long hair, pull it back or use a headband. Brush your hair up and off your face if it’s shorter. Relax your face and take a selfie without smiling. 

Use a photo editing app or your phone’s built-in edit features to do the next step. You’ll want to place white dots along the following points of your face:

• The top of your forehead
• The sides of your forehead (temples)
• The widest part of your cheekbones
• The edges of the jawline
• The curve of your chin

Once you’ve added white dots to these points, you are starting to get a better picture of your face’s general shape. If you’d like, you can then switch to a line tool to draw straight lines between each of the points to form a more complete shape. 

Do I Have an Oval Face Shape?

If the line between the top of the forehead and the tip of the chin are further apart than the two cheekbone points, and your chin and jawline are slightly rounded, you have an oval face shape. 

Do I Have a Round Face Shape?

If the points between the cheekbones are further apart than the points between the top of the forehead and the tip of the chin, and your chin and jawline are rounded, you have a round face shape.

Do I Have a Heart Face Shape?

If the points at the edges of your forehead are further apart than those at your jawline and you have an angular jawline and pointed chin, you have a heart face shape. 

Do I Have a Square Face Shape?

If the points of your forehead and jawline are roughly as far apart as the edges of your cheekbones, and you have an angular jawline, you have a square face shape. 

Now that you know which face shape you have, you can determine which men’s haircut you should get. Below, we’ll show you the best haircuts for oval, round, heart, and square faces and tell you why they’re flattering for your face shape. 

Best Men’s Haircuts for Oval Faces

Oval faces have it easy – it’s rare to find a haircut or style that won’t suit this face shape. That’s thanks to your symmetry and balance. Middle parts, side parts, and brushed-back hairstyles are all flattering on oval faces.

To really suit this face shape, stick with haircuts that are long on top and can be styled back or parted to the side to show off your face. Trust us — you’ll want this style.

1. Slicked Back Pompadour

This oval-flattering haircut is kept very short on the faded sides and back while hanging onto a few inches of length on top. That gives you the option to style it slicked back with gel or pomade or parted to the side. 

2. Short Taper

If you prefer keeping your hair short, a tapered cut like this works well for an oval face shape. Combing the hair in the front over to the side keeps it off your forehead to keep the face from looking round. 

3. Brushed Up Taper

A playful style where the front is messy and brushed upward pairs perfectly with a medium-length taper cut. For oval faces, it’s important to keep those sides short and groomed. If you want extra length, make sure it’s on top.

What Oval Faces Should Avoid

Don’t opt for bangs or any haircut that is brushed forward over your forehead. Covering your forehead will make your face look less oblong and more rounded, throwing it off balance. 

Depending on how oblong your face is, high fades may elongate the face too much. Stick with classic or low fades if you have an oval face.

Read Next: How to Get a Fade Haircut

Best Men’s Haircuts for Round Faces 

Haircuts for round faces are all about downplaying the sides and playing up the top. That means more length on top, shorter sides, and high fades look great on round faces.

Since round faces are as wide as they are long, adding height at the top creates an illusion of a longer face to balance out the roundness. 

1. Combed Over Taper

A slightly longer top combed over to the side and mussed up in the front draws the eye upward instead of to the sides. The sides gradually taper down in length to keep the volume concentrated up top. 

2. Faux Hawk

A faux hawk is a great way to style a long top, short sides haircut for round faces. It does double duty: It creates height at the top to downplay the face’s width and features short sides to further narrow the face.

3. Hi-Top High Fade

Whether you have coily, curly, wavy, or straight hair, a high fade flatters a round face. The fading starts much higher up than in a classic fade, which visually narrows the head’s sides. Adding volume to the top adds to the effect.

What Round Faces Should Avoid

Round faces can look wider with haircuts that leave too much volume on the sides. That’s especially true for curly-haired guys. Keep the sides as short as you can to avoid creating the illusion of more width. 

Round-faced men should also avoid wearing super-short haircuts that are flat on top. Even with short sides, the lack of height on top can accentuate the face’s roundness.

Read Next: Short Sides, Long Top Haircuts

Best Men’s Haircuts for Heart Faces 

Men with heart-shaped faces have a wider forehead, angular jaw, and narrow chin. To create a little more balance with this face shape, stick with haircuts that have some volume on the sides and work to partially cover the forehead with bangs or a strong part. 

Keeping a mid-to-long-length top gives you plenty of styling versatility. Beards can also help build the jaw and chin to look balanced with the wider top portion of the face. 

1. Long Pushed Back Taper

The top is comparatively long to contrast with the shorter, tapered sides. By pushing the top back and slightly over to the side a bit, you add volume to both sections and balance the narrow chin. Facial hair helps add visual weight to the jawline and chin.

2. Medium Curly Crop

Curly hair is a big bonus for heart-shaped faces because it adds so much volume. Avoid tapering or fading the sides too much to keep a nice, rounded look that fills out the middle portion of the face.

3. Shaggy Fringe

Keeping the hair medium-long with a forehead-covering fringe is perfect for heart-shaped faces. This makes the face appear more balanced by covering the widest part, and the length offsets the narrow chin.

What Heart Faces Should Avoid

Heart-shaped faces have two major haircut characteristics to avoid: Super-short, close-cropped sides, and too much volume on top. Short sides that hug the head visually widen the face near the widest point (the forehead/upper cheek area).

Too much volume on top adds more weight to the biggest area of the face and creates an illusion of an even narrower chin and jawline. For this reason, we love longer hair on this face shape.

Read Next: Undercut Hairstyle Examples

Best Men’s Haircuts for Square Faces

Men with square faces have that traditional, angular, and masculine look. But the face shape can look boxy or wide with the wrong haircut. Square faces should stick with:

• Close-cropped sides
• Layered cuts
• Any type of fade

Fortunately, square faces can wear any length on top, so there’s a lot of versatility with haircuts for square faces. In fast, it’s one of the most versatile face shapes.

1. Wavy Top High Fade

Like the wavy hair shown here, different textures go a long way with the square face shape to soften it a bit. A high fade that starts at the temples keeps the sides tight and clean-cut to accentuate the chiseled face shape.

2. Medium Crew Cut

Traditional and masculine, a crew cut with a medium length on top is perfectly suited for square face shapes. The sides are tapered to a short length, and the top is brushed back and over for a neat, clean look.

3. Pushed Back Taper

Keeping a longer top allows you to push the hair up and back for a casual, tousled look or part it to the side with a little gel for a more polished effect. Shorter tapered sides keep the focus on the angular and square shape of the face.

What Square Faces Should Avoid

Middle parts with longer hair will conceal the sharp, chiseled edges of your face and make it appear rounder. Heavy bangs or forward-brushed hair have a similar effect, shortening the face and giving it a more circular appearance. 

If you go too short on the sides combined with too much height on top, it’ll make your face look more rectangular than square. Avoid these features in a haircut to take advantage of your strong face shape.

Read Next: Widows Peak Haircuts

So, What Men’s Haircut Should I Get?

Now that you know your face shape – oval, round, heart, or square – and have seen some examples of haircuts that suit and flatter each type, you’re one step closer to looking your absolute best. 

But just because a haircut suits your face shape doesn’t mean it’s one that matches your style and needs. So which haircut is truly going to be a good fit for you? Here are a few final things to keep in mind. 

• Oval face shapes are the most variable, with square as a close second. Go long or short on top. Let the sides and back grow out, or have them shaved close. As long as you’re steering clear of high fades and bangs, any haircut is going to look great on you. Might we suggest a classic fade with a long top? 
• Round face shapes have a few rules to follow to truly look their best. Don’t opt for haircuts that leave the sides long, especially if you have curly hair. Concentrate the length and volume up top to visually lengthen and slim your face. We recommend a high fade with a pompadour or curly/wavy top for added height. 
• Heart-shaped faces need a little more volume down low while keeping the top pretty tight and shorter. That means pompadours and quiffs are out, but longer, slightly tapered styles look great, as well as any style with a little fringe. A haircut with roughly equal length on the top and sides works perfectly, especially when paired with a beard. 
• Square faces have that naturally chiseled look and shouldn’t hide behind lots of hair. Keeping with a shorter, clean-cut style shows off the angles of your face and puts your jawline front and center. Crew cuts and fades are staple haircuts for this face shape. 

When it comes down to it, the haircut you choose should be working for your face, not against it. Choosing a haircut that follows the parameters we’ve laid out in this guide will help you make the most of your face shape and look your best. 

If you’ve been stuck in a haircut rut for a few years and are ready to try something new, pick a haircut from our list and book an appointment with a skilled barber to make it happen.