Slim Your Look with These Haircut Tips
A smart haircut can visually shave pounds from your face.
Article By: Karie L. Frost
We know you like your barbershop experience simple: In and out, see you in three weeks. As far as style is concerned, you keep that chatter to a minimum — you simply tell the barber to shave, trim or chop various patches of your mop. After all, he’s the expert, right? But it’s what you don’t discuss that can actually make you look thinner. A few slights of the shears or clippers can instantly make your face appear slimmer — and give you added confidence. Here’s what you need to know before sitting down in the stylist's chair.
Understanding the fund-head-mentals
The more knowledgeable the client (you) is about what you want, the better the hairstylist or barber is able service you. So, before you start debating the virtues of batting stances with your barber, it’s important to have a basic understanding of what cut you desire, and why you want it.
“For every man on the planet, the first way to look leaner is to either trim the facial hair short or shave it off altogether.”
It’s all in his head
Maybe you’ve heard that face shape influences the perfect haircut. Well, this may be true for the ladies, but for men, “face shape is far less relevant than head shape; for men, the head shape is the face shape,” explains Kurt Kueffner, director of men’s education for Aveda. A combination of the shape of your head plus the types of facial features you have (think: strong jaw, large nose, small eyes) helps determine what cut best fits you.
Texture tips
“You also want to take into account the hair texture, and how you finish the look,” says Austin Finley, TONI&GUY Salon Education Director. Stylists worth their weight in hair products should be able to determine your hair’s texture for you, as well as give you helpful direction on how to style your cut — but you may have to ask for this last tidbit of info.
Balancing act
“If you have a really strong jaw line and defined features — brow, nose, lips — you need a decent amount of hair to balance those features,” says Kueffner. He points to Al Pacino, Jay Leno or John Travolta as men who need longer — think two finger-widths longer — hair to balance their bold features. Conversely, a large head paired with smaller facial features calls for less hair. “That’s why Billy Crystal looks better with short hair and why Art Garfunkel looks comical with his large forehead and tons of hair,” laughs Kueffner. And this is why when you put on that ’80s Ozzy Osbourne wig for Halloween, you look, silly. Awesome and rockin’ of course, but silly nonetheless.
Head takes
Despite scrutinizing yourself in private for hours on end, you’re still having a hard time determining your facial features and head shape. This is to be expected; as you lose weight, the shape of your face will most definitely change. Though you may be starting out as a “round” shape (see table below), it’s important to ask for the cut that fits your head shape as you drop pounds. Go to your barber or stylist with these haircut guidelines from Kueffner and Finley in mind.
Haircut Guidelines |
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Round: full and round; almost as long as it is wide (Jack Black, Albert Finney, Cuba Gooding Jr.) “Ask for more geometry; a more square cut will help to balance a round face,” advises Kueffner. “Say no to any kind of cut that is too round, which only adds girth,” says Finley.
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Oval: length is 1.5 times as long as width; jaw and forehead are same width (Jackie Chan, Bernie Mac) Kueffner points to seeking a more square shape in the cut, and avoiding rounded haircuts. Finley advises keeping the facial hair short or completely shaved for extra weight removal.
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Square: strong, angular jaw; broad forehead; square hairline (John Travolta, Jay Leno, Charlie Sheen) “Square heads can tolerate having subtle weight (read: more/thicker hair) in the center on top, and can lean more toward the fauxhawk shape,” says Kueffner. Avoid any type of bangs as they create a strong horizontal line and emphasize width.
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Triangular: broad forehead; square hairline; pointed chin (Larry King, Leonardo DiCaprio) Kueffner points to Leonardo DiCaprio’s longer style from his Titanic days as a great muse for the triangle. “The style is long on top and lays flat, which balances a long face,” he says.
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Diamond: high, wide cheekbones; narrow forehead and jaw (Joaquin Phoenix) “Wear a more square shape in the haircut. Think of a modified flattop, like football legend Howie Long doffs. Avoid wearing hair too short and too narrow above the temple,” says Kueffner.
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Oblong/Rectangular: longer with angular features (Ben Affleck, Elliott Gould) Good news! Your shape is already quite lean and long. Follow Finley’s advice: “Even if the sides are collapsed/tighter, make sure that the top sets heavier (thicker/more) — but not too long, especially if you like to style your hair high at the top of the head, which will only make your face appear longer.”
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The slim trim
So now you know where you’re “head”-ing; how about appearing thinner via a few snips? “The mantra here is to minimize the horizontal and express the vertical. Ask your stylist to introduce as many vertical lines as possible into the cut for a leaner and taller look,” says Kueffner. This can be applied to the preferred cuts for each head shape. He points to the classic male profile — seen on James Dean, Sean Penn and George Clooney — as an excellent option for achieving maximum facial slenderization. “The shape is a pompadour, narrow on the sides and tall on top,” he says.
If all else fails, and you’re still not so confident about your hair lingo, Kueffner gives you this bit of info: When asking for a slenderizing cut, don’t ask for the typical "short on the sides and long on top." What you should ask for is narrow on the sides and tall on top, otherwise you risk ending up with a cut that has too much weight and is bulky, which looks short and wide.