How to Pick the Perfect Sunglasses for Your Face Type

Sunglasses are more than a major summer accessory: they protect our eyes from harmful radiation, reduce fatigue, and add harmony to our overall image. Provided, of course, we choose the type that suits us.

Today WeGoRo offers a selection of tips on how to select sunglasses to match your face shape as well as how to tell a high-quality lens from a poor-quality one. Plus, there’s a helpful bonus waiting for you at the end of the article!

How to determine your face type

Take one of the following: a washable marker, a lipstick, a piece of soap, or a pencil. Stand at arm’s length in front of a mirror. Trying not to let your hand stray, trace the outline of your face on the mirror’s surface, starting from your chin and ending with your hairline. Take a step back, and look at the resulting shape.

Your task is to visually lengthen your face, so choose glasses with dark frames. They narrow the face and bring its contours closer to an oval shape. To balance your facial proportions, choose a frame where the width is greater than the height.

Suitable for round faces:

Pointed, rectangular, and square glasses.
“Cat’s eyes“ glasses.
”Butterfly“ glasses.
Glasses with narrow bridges.
“Aviators.”
”Wayfarers."

Not suitable for round faces:

Round glasses.
Narrow frames.
Glasses with sharply defined edges.
Geometrically shaped glasses.
Glasses with colored lenses.
Glasses that cover the eyebrows.

In this case, the main goal is not to disturb your face’s harmonious proportions. Therefore, you should avoid glasses that look too massive. Preferably, the frame should be as wide as your face, or a little wider. Make sure that the frame’s upper part is in line with your eyebrows.

Suitable for oval faces:

Glasses with smooth-lined frames: rectangular, oval, round.
“Butterfly“ glasses.
”Aviators.“
“Cat’s eyes” glasses.

Not suitable for oval faces:

Glasses with sharply defined edges.
Glasses that appear too massive.
Glasses that look too wide.
Narrow frames.

Sharp-angled rectangular or square frames can “overload“ your face’s outlines. On the other hand, rounded frames will help to visually balance and soften overall facial proportions.

Suitable for square faces:

Large glasses.
Glasses where the frame width equals the width of your face.
Glasses with colored frames.
Glasses with oval, round, or teardrop-shaped frames.
Frameless glasses.
”Cat’s eyes" glasses.
“Aviators.”

Not suitable for square faces:

Square frames with sharp corners.
Small, narrow, and petite frames.
Glasses where the frame is wider than your face.

Aim to make your face appear visually broader. Go for large, massive-looking glasses. Also, make sure they have transparent lenses and slender frames that match the tone of your skin.

Suitable for rectangular faces:

Large-framed glasses.
"Aviators" (with large frames).
Round-framed glasses.

Not suitable for rectangular faces:

Narrow frames.
Small glasses.
Glasses with bright, colorful frames.

Your goal is to balance out the upper part of your face by making the lower part appear bulkier. Massive-looking glasses won’t help: they’ll just add more bulk to the upper part. We advise you to choose glasses where the width equals the width of your face. Opt for a teardrop-shaped design. “Aviators“ would be ideal.

Suitable for heart-shaped faces:

Rounded or round glasses.
Small frames with a narrow bridge.
Glasses with low-set arms.
”Aviators.“
“Wayfarers.”
Frameless glasses.
Bright or neutral-colored frames.

Not suitable for heart-shaped faces:

Glasses with large and heavy frames.
Glasses with sharp, pointy outlines.
Glasses that cover the eyebrows.
”Butterfly“ glasses or teardrop-shaped glasses.
”Cat’s eyes" glasses.
Glasses with brightly colored frames.

Your main aim should be to visually broaden the upper half of your face while making the lower half less conspicuous. Choose sunglasses with a large frame and a broad upper part. The lower part shouldn’t have square or sharp outlines.

Suitable for triangular faces:

Round glasses without bright decorations.
“Aviators.“
”Cat’s eyes" glasses with transparent lenses.
Frameless glasses.

Not suitable for triangular faces:

“Cat’s eyes” glasses with dark-tinted lenses.
Glasses with square or rectangular frames.
Glasses with narrow or small frames.
Glasses where the lower part has square or sharp-edged outlines.

Bonus: Testing sunglasses for UV protection

Take a UV flashlight, and shine it through the lens of the sunglasses at any fluorescent object (such as a pen cap, an earphone speaker, a marker, or a sticker). The better the glasses are at filtering out ultraviolet light, the fainter the object will glow.

Testing sunglasses for polarization

Polarized lenses filter out reflected light, remove glare, and reduce eye fatigue. Finding out whether your glasses have polarizing filters is very easy: just look at a reflective surface with unprotected eyes, then put on the glasses and look again. If the glasses are polarized, the glare should disappear.