Choosing Eyeglasses

Everyone can agree that when you are on the hunt for the perfect pair of eyeglasses, the main thing you should consider is how they will look on your face. Most people will walk around the eyewear dispensary aimlessly, trying on every single pair they can find to determine which ones look best.{{more}}

But what if, before you even walked in to the store, you could narrow your search down to just a few and find that perfect pair in much less time? The good news is; it’s very possible! Choosing your perfect pair of glasses is as simple as determining your face shape and personal best feature.

The Vision Council of America (VCA) has proposed three main keys in their Envision Yourself Programme, and these are; choose a frame that flatters your face shape, make sure the frame size is in scale with the size of your face, and be sure to choose a frame that accentuates your personal best feature (e.g, a light colour frame to compliment light coloured hair).

According to the VCA, there are about seven face shapes and as soon as you determine which one your own face falls under, your journey to the perfect pair of eyeglasses has become that much simpler. The VCA’s seven basic face shapes include; base-down triangle, base-up triangle, round, diamond, oval, square and oblong. Of course, it always helps to have a good eye care practitioner to answer any questions you may have along the way.

Face Shapes and Eyeglass Frames- An Overview

As previously stated, your own face will fall under one of the seven basic face shapes and in order to determine which frames will look best on you, you have to know which face shape you have. Considering the following guidelines will help you choose a frame to fit your shape.

Round Face

When you think of a circle, you know it has curved lines, no angles, and that the length and width are equal to each other; the same is true of a round face. When choosing frames for this face shape, stick with narrow, angular glasses that are wider than they are long (such as rectangular), as this will help to lengthen the face.

Oval Face

Oval faces are considered to be the ideal face shape because of its equal proportions. Because of the balance this face shape already possesses, it’s good to choose frames that are only as wide as the most broad part of the face.

Base-Down Triangle Face

This face shape is narrow at the forehead and wider at the cheeks and chin (think right side up triangle). The key is to bring the top half of the face into proportion with the rest, so choose an eyeglass that is wide in shape rather than tall.

Base-Up Triangle Face

This face shape is like an upside down triangle. The top of the face is much wider than the bottom, so it’s best to choose a frame that is either very light colored or completely rimless to help draw attention away from the top of the face.

Square Face

With this face shape, the length and width are generally proportionate, the jaw line is strong and the forehead is broad. The goal with this shape is to try and make the face look longer, so narrow frames that have more width than depth are usually the best choice.

Diamond Face

This face shape is considered to be the most rare, but even so, there are options available. This shape is narrow at the jaw and eye lines and wider at the cheeks so complimenting it is best done by choosing a frame that is detailed at the brow line, rimless, and cat-eye shaped.

Oblong Face

Since this face shape is longer than it is wide and has a straight cheek line, the goal is to make the face appear shorter and more proportionate. To accomplish this, go for a frame that has top to bottom depth so that it will add intensity to the structure of the face.

Hair, Skin, and Eye Colour Play an Important Role

When it comes to the colours of our hair, skin, and eyes, all colours fall into two categories; blue, which is cool, or yellow, which is warm.

Skin

Skin colour is a key aspect in determining the best colour of eyeglasses and the complexion is considered cool if it has pink or blue traces, or warm if it has a yellowish shine, or what is often referred to as “peaches and cream.”

Eyes

With such a wide variety of eye colours, it is a factor when determining frame colour, but not as essential. Blue eyes range from cool violet to warm pale blue and brown eyes range from a light brown to a very warm almost black colour.

Hair

Even hair colour is classified as cool or warm and is an important factor when choosing the colour of your eyeglasses. Blond, white, gray, and light brown are considered cool colours, darker blond, black, dark brown, and “dirty” gray are warm colors.

Now that you’ve determined whether you are “warm” or “cool,” you can begin looking for the frames that will compliment you the best.

Cool Colour Frames

The best colours for those who have cool colouring are; dark brown, black, gray-blue, plum, blue, magenta or dark turquoise.

Warm Colour Frames

Those with warm colouring will find that gold, copper, peach, tan, orange, coral, bright red, medium blue, or light turquoise fit their needs the best.

The Final Decision

When all is said and done, all that matters is that you are happy with the choice that you made; after all, you are the one who will be wearing the eyeglasses every day. The information that has been provided is simply a reference based on your face shape and colouring to help you in your decision making process but in the end it is completely up to you. While we do recommend following these guidelines because they ensure the best possible fit, no one can force them upon you. Just be sure that after making your selection, you wear your new eyeglasses with confidence!

Dr Kenneth Onu is a resident Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Beachmont Eye Institute/Eyes R Us Send questions to: Beachmont@gmail.com
Tel: 784 456-1210