How To Choose The Right Frames For Your Face

   Many people get confused when it comes to choosing the right frames, I assume you're one of them, this is exactly why I wrote this article, to help you understand more how the science behind choosing frames that fit your face works, by the end of this article you will be ready to make your choice without any hesitation, keep on reading.

1-Determine your face feature shapes

    One of the first things you will need to do is analyze your face shape, don't worry I'm going to show you how:

 What's the type of you're face features?

  There are two type of face features:
     a-Angular Sharp features: features form angles, they're sharp when it comes to changing direction, the change in direction happens immediately thus making an angle. So a square or rectangular face is called so the because it has sharp features, here are photos that could help you understand more:

       b-Rounded Soft Features: as their name indicates, these features are curved and look like curved lines, the change in directions happens slowly and progressively forming a round shape face. So an oval or heart face face is called so the because it has soft features, here are photos that could help you understand more:

    You notice that the more fat you have in your face the more you will have soft features. Another point to consider is that you may have both soft and sharp features in your face but try to identify the predominant ones.

     When it comes to choosing the right frame, you should know that angular frames work best with rounded feature faces and curved ones fit best the sharp feature faces, this means that you will have to pick up the opposite of your facial features to soften the impact the frame can have, easy isn't it?

     If you want to your look to be subtle and normal follow the above rules, but if it's the provocative exaggerated one you're looking for don't, do the opposite of what I'm telling you there you have it
                     

                                         
             

2-Study the width of your face at 3 different levels:

   
   I'm not talking here about measuring your face with a ruler, what I want you to do is to take a look at the upper part of your face and compare it with the lower part, you can use a mirror it's simple, which one is bigger? 
      
     -Case1 My forehead is narrower than my jawbones:

    If you think your face is close to that type, then what you will need to pick up are frames that are the opposite of your face shape, this means top-heavy frames will fit you (frames where the upper line is wider than the lower one), you want to break your face shape with the glasses you will be wearing. this will bring us to case2.

     -Case2 My forehead is wider than my jawbones: 

   Following the rule of the first case, you will have to break your face shape with heavy-bottom frames (where the upper line is narrower than the lower one)

      So in case 1 and 2 you will need to choose frames that are the opposite of your facial shape. is that right?

     -Case3 My forehead is almost the same size as my jawbones but my cheekbones are wider: 

    What you will want to choose are frames that have a long brow-line compared to your face in order to soften the effect of the cheekbones, for example cat-eye shapes can fit you.

      -Case4 My forehead, jawbones and cheekbones are almost the same size: 

 

     If you're in this category both wide and narrow frames will fit you, this means the frame width should not pose any problem for you, by frame width I mean the distance between the left and the right corner of a frame.

  3-Study the length of your face in comparison with its width:
 
       As the title describes, in this step you will have to take a look at your face and see whether it's a long or wide one, long face meaning that the length is much bigger that the width, and wide face meaning that length is slightly bigger than width. We assume that in all cases face length is longer than the width which is true, but it's the degree of that difference that matters for us in that step.

    -Case1 I have a long face: 

   What you will need to wear are frames that have a relatively big depth compared to your face length, by frame depth I mean the vertical distance between the top and bottom of the frame.

    -Case2 I have a wide face: 

    Then you need to the opposite of case 1, this means that you should choose frames that have a small depth compared to you face length, again I mean by frame depth the vertical distance between the top and bottom of the frame.

    -Case3 I think that my face has the right proportions not long nor wide:

   If you belong to this category of persons then there is no need to worry a lot about the frame depth since it should not pose problem whether the frame depth is big or small.

4-Additional things to consider:

a- The position of your eyes in the frame: you want to choose frames where your eyes would be horizontally on the center of the space reserved for the lens to avoid any effects the frame can have on your eyes. here is a picture to demonstrate further this concept

 

                                    Her eyes look too cramped in the the corner of the frame

                                               to the point that she looks cross-eyed.

    When it comes to the vertical position of your eye, it should be on the top half of the space reserved for the lens because our field of view is concentrated more on the bottom than the top.

her eyes are on horizontally on the center of the lens and

vertically on the top half.

b-Does the frame sit correctly on your nose: another point to consider is whether the frame sits correctly on your nose, this means that there must not a space between your nose and the bridge of the frame, if there is the glasses are more likely to slide out of space and disturb from time to time.

There is not enough room between the bridge his nose, you notice also that the frame 

temples are parallel to the side of his face confirming that the glasses stay in a good

position.

c- Are the frames too loose or too tight: shake your head, if the frames slide out of your face they're too loose and will disturb be falling out their place, but if they don't move after the shake test you will have to pay attention since this doesn't mean all the time that they fit you well, they might be too tight, to find out feel the pressure they exert on the side of your face, if it's too high you should change them because they can disturb and cause some skin problems in the future. 

   

   Another sign that may help determine if the frame is too tight is the change that happens to its temples when you wear it, if they get wider this could mean that you must look for wider frames to fit you head.

d- Do the frames rest on your cheeks: you should avoid choosing frames that rest on your cheeks even if they sit well on your nose, because they may move up or out of place if you smile or tighten your cheek muscles, the lenses may also steam up when it's hot and leave traces on your cheeks over time.

e- Do your eye lashes touch the lenses: if it's the case try other frames or just shorten your eyelashes because sometimes your prescription requires the lenses to be wider at the center and thereby closer to your eyes, so changing your frames won't resolve the problem.

Conclusion

     Take your time when it comes to choosing the right frames, you're going to be wearing glasses for years so you want to find comfortable ones that will make your performance better not worse, since glasses are meant to empower your vision and not to wear your out. so take your time and use the steps I showed you to help you make up your mind.