hair

HAIR TALK: INVERTED TRIANGLE FACE SHAPE

post: Kristin Ess graphic design: Eunice Chun

Last but clearly not least in our hair talk on face shapes we have the inverted triangle.(Hooray!!) Inverted is just a fancy way of saying “upside down” or “flipped”. Knowing that you can clearly see (thanks to Polish beauty Anja Rubik) that an inverted triangle face shape is wider at the forehead than it is at the jaw. Most of my clients with an inverted triangle face shape ask me to make their forehead appear less wide. That’s pretty easy to do, but you also want to avoid making the face look longer and more narrow when doing so. Here are some helpful hints from me to you:

• Half ups: I love half updos for girls with inverted triangle face shapes. A half updo can narrow the forehead + widen the look of your cheekbones + jawline. Gotta love a good illusion! I think the key with Anja’s look on the bottom left is that the hair is wavy and that she has a center part. I like that the “baby hairs” just above her temples are not pulled back into the braids– they’re down and it’s just enough to help diffuse the width of her forehead.
• Bangs: Almost every single girl I know with an inverted triangle face shape loooooves having bangs and will never give them up. Obviously if you want to embrace the forehead you’ve got and not have bangs– do it, girl! On the other hand, if you want the option to show a wider forehead sometimes and narrow the appearance of your forehead other times, you’ll need some sort of bang. Avoid a heavy straight-across bang only because it could potentially make your face even more triangular. I would recommend something similar to Alexa’s long bangs, Brigitte’s “curtain bangs” which are essentially short and long bangs combined, or this heavy side swoop bang. I would even say you could get away with a half-moon bang  in this post as long as it’s got some soft roundness to it and it’s not just a blunt, straight across, heavy bang.
• Center parting: The key to center parting on an inverted triangle face shape is not letting it lengthen you. You don’t want your bangs or layers to be styled “down”, you want them to be styled “out” once they pass your eyes/eyebrows. You want that hair from the center part to then lead into some sort of layers near your cheekbones. I always tell my clients “style your bangs in the direction of your ears.”
• Wavy bob + bangs: This is one of my favorite haircuts for the inverted triangle face shape. Also one of the most flattering, softening, balancing cuts for this face shape. The reason is, you can typically get great texture and layers in a bob or long bob. The side bang leads into layers which do exactly what is mentioned above– widens the cheekbone/jawline and diffuses the width of the forehead. Everything just looks in perfect proportion. LOVE.
• Diagonal side part: This is a great trick. See how Anja’s hair is parted diagonally in the bottom right photo? If all that hair was pulled to one side it would likely make the forehead appear wider. Use a tailcomb or a pencil if you don’t have a tailcomb, and start slightly off center, working your way over to a deep side part. That way there’s hair on both sides but it still appears that you’re wearing a heavy side part.
• Super straight hair with minimal layers: That would be the one style I would suggest girls with inverted triangle face shapes should avoid. All that’s going to do is make your face appear longer and more narrow. You want layers, especially around the face.
• Updos + Chignons: You can do almost any updo, chignon or pony when you have an inverted triangle face shape. Also, leaving out a few soft pieces around the face will help balance out your triangle. I find that a center or off-center part is most flattering but not mandatory. I mean, clearly the updo in the top photo from the Louis Vuitton show is GORGE– a messy french twist with lots of texture and a thin headband! Obsessed.

Do you have an inverted triangle face shape? If so we would love you to share your thoughts, tips and your own tricks below! Thank you for being so patient in waiting for each of your face shapes! Hope this series has helped you guys understand more about how to wear your hair and what to talk to your hair stylist about. xo