How to Choose the Best Frames for Your Face

There are many different factors to consider when shopping for sunglasses that will flatter your face the most. Here are a few tips to consider when you are purchasing your new frames. These tips also apply to prescription glasses.

Balance Out Your Proportions

When it comes to finding frames that flatter your face, it is all about balancing your proportions. Just as we strive for balanced proportions in our dress, the same applies to our face.

Let's say you have a round/oval face or softer, rounded features in your face. "Features" would include the shape of your eyebrows, eyes, nose, cheekbones, lips and jawline. If you have softer, curved lines in your face, you will want to balance this out with more strong, angular lines in your sunglasses. Maybe these are square or rectangular frames. Or frames with strong, sharp angles. See below for my favorites:

RAY-BAN Icons Wayfarer, $180

LE SPECS So Fetch, $59

LE SPECS Hathor Alt Fit, $79

QUAY After Hours, $55

This principle also applies to the opposite face shape; If your face has more angular features or a square or diamond face shape, you will want to balance out these stronger angles with softer, rounded frames. Rounded or oval frames will suit you nicely. See below for my favorites:

LE SPECS Tornado, $79

STELLA MCCARTNEY Falabella Round, $315

LE SPECS Outta Love, $59

KAREN WALKER Super Duper Strength, $250

LE SPECS Hey Macarena, $69

Now some people, like myself, have a combination of lines and angles in your face. Maybe your face is more square, but you have softer features. If this is the case, be sure to choose sunglasses that also have mixed angles and curves. Here are a few of my favorites:

LE SPECS Beautiful Stranger, $79

RAY-BAN Wayfarer Outsiders, $154

LE SPECS Feline Fine, $79

Just as we balance out the lines and angles in our face, we also want to balance proportions when it comes to the length of our face. To balance proportions on longer face shapes, these would be our diamond or oval faces, choose frames that are shorter and not too long. Adding tall, long frames to a long face would make your face visually appear even longer than it is. The same also applies to the opposite. To visually elongate a shorter, rounded face, opt for taller frames. See below for some examples:

Krewe Marconi 24K, $355

LE SPECS Liar Liar, $59

You Can Go "Too Big"

I am a big supporter of the "oversized sunglasses" trend. Nothing hides your previous all-nighter or carb binge than a pair of oversized frames. That said, it is possible to go too big. The general rule, is to make sure that your sunglasses do not dip lower than the bottom of your nose. If they do, then they are indeed... TOO BIG!

Here are a few of my favorite "oversized" frames—

LE SPECS Caliente, $79

GUCCI Urban Web Round, $450

LE SPECS Liar Liar, $69

QUAY Rhinestone After Hours, $55

Logos Can Say It All

Large logos plastered to the sides of your sunglasses shouting "DIOR" or "VERSACE" can be distracting and tacky, taking away from the frame itself. That being said, a sign of cheap glasses is no logo at all. As you are shopping for your perfect pair, look for sunglasses with a more subtle logo on the side. Something that lets the frames speak for themselves.

Mimic Your Coloring

When it comes to choosing your color of sunglasses, you will want to buy a pair that mimics your personal skin tone and hair coloring. If you have warmer skin tones, or warmer tones in your hair, warmer-toned sunglasses will be your most complimentary color. These are your tortoises, beiges, browns, and reds. If you have more cool tones, then you will want to find a pair of sunglasses that also have cooler tones. These are your blues, greens, purples, and blacks. I am not saying that a warmer-toned individual shouldn't wear black sunglasses. But if you find yourself repeatedly reaching for tortoise-colored frames, this may explain why you're more drawn to them.

With Spring and warmer weather on the horizon, hopefully these tips will provide you with some guidance as you pick out your next frames! Happy shopping.