Certain hairstyles complement individual face shapes

Baseball hats and loose ponytails fit right in on a college campus, but when it comes to the professional world, they must go. But with a hairstyle that complements face shape, students will find themselves transitioning smoothly into a career; aesthetically at least.

Face shapes include oval, round, square, triangle, inverted triangle, diamond, heart and a typical longer face.

Ingrid Rhynes, director of B-Street Designs International Hair Styling, located at 512 Poyntz Ave., compares hairstyles to outfits.

"Everything needs to complement each other," she said.

Rhynes said the first step to getting a great style is to know your face shape. She said it is easy to figure out face shape because it will typically be comparable to the real geometric shapes, like a square or triangle.

Brenda Ricketts, hair stylist at Haynes Salon, located at 718 N. Manhattan Ave., said oval is the perfect head shape to create the most variety of hair styles.

Rhynes said oval shape allows people to wear their hair longer or have an up-do.

"The side pony is coming back, which cracks me up," Rhynes said.

When it comes to other face shapes, there are hair styles that should be avoided.

Rhynes said a round face should always avoid a bob or shorter hair cut.

"The face is already round and the bob will make the face even more round," Rhynes said.

Rhynes said square faces have width at the jaw line and temple and should avoid longer hair styles, but create bangs.

An example of a good hair style for square face would be a bob. A bob is shoulder length or shorter and can be all one length or have several different layers.

A triangle shape should have a similar style as a square shaped face. A style with more action at the temple offsets the prominent jaw line.

Highlights around the face also draws the eye out more, Rhynes said.

She said a popular hairstyle for a triangle shape would be the "stack" or "Victoria Beckham," an inverted bob shorter in the back and longer in the front.

Diamond and heart-shaped faces both need to have width added to the chin area, Rhynes said.

A diamond also needs expansion around the eyes, so Rhynes said a bob with bangs would be the best option.

A heart-shaped face does not need width around the eyes. Longer shag or a longer layered hair cut is better for a heart-shaped face, Rhynes said.

A typical longer face should not have a longer look because it will draw the eye down even more, Rhynes said.

Face shapes are not as important for men to pay attention to, said Kent Yeager, owner of Aggie Hair Shapers, located at 1220 Moro St. Instead, it has more to do with the image they are trying to project.

"Usually fraternities have the shorter, cleaner cuts," Yeager said. "It ranges from shorter hair styles to the Justin Bieber look."

Yeager said even if the cut is a little shorter, the neck is typically not very clean and the cut looks a week or two old.

Yeager said he does a lot of thinning when men have coarser, thicker hair.

"They tend to complain about their head getting too hot," Yeager said.

The styling look has also gone away from the shiny gloss finish to the matte finish when dealing with hair products, Yeager said.

He said there are a few ways men can keep their hair healthy.

"Stay away from the shampoo/conditioner combination," Yeager said. "They do not do either one well."

Instead, Yeager said to use products for specific needs like oily or dry, flaky hair.

Rhynes said customers should talk to their stylist when getting their hair done.

"Talk to them about how they are blow drying the hair and what product is being used," she said. "If you go home and use different products your hair is not going to look the same."

Rhynes also said not to over process hair with too many highlights and color.