The shape of your face is an important part of your appearance. There is no one “normal” or most attractive face shape and faces can come in many basic configurations, including round, oval, square, rectangular (or oblong), diamond, and heart. However, there are certain face shapes that are more feminine, or more masculine, and, we see that some face shapes are more desired and more often requested by people we see at The Spiegel Center.
In general, people requesting a softer, more feminine face, will ask for a heart-shaped face. A heart-shaped face will have a smooth, wide forehead, and a narrow more pointed jaw.
If you have a square or rectangular face you’ll likely notice a wider and more pronounced jawline that may be as wide as your cheekbones and forehead.
A common question we get asked is how to fix a square jaw or square face. Similarly, we get many inquiries from people looking to adjust a rectangular face.
The first thing we look at in determining how to help is to consider certain key features of your face. First, we look at your temples. Are they hollow? Hollow temples make the lower face seem relatively wider. We can readily adjust hollow temples with filler injections like Radiesse or Sculptra, or, fat grafting to the area. We’ll find undesirable fat from elsewhere in the body like the stomach area or thighs, remove it and repurpose it to a facial location.
Next, we’ll want to look at the width of the cheeks. If the cheeks are not wide enough, even a normally shaped jaw will look too wide. Narrow cheekbones can be addressed with fillers, for a temporary solution, or with cheek implants for a permanent solution. Cheek implants widen the face and will make the face look less rectangular by moving the mid-portion of the side of the face out, and breaking up the vertical line on the edge of a rectangular or square face.
Of course, to make a shape less square and more heart shape we want to widen the upper areas of your face by addressing the temples and cheeks, and then narrow the lower extremities by making sure the jawline is tapered, otherwise known as “snatched”. This can be done with v-line jaw surgery, muscle reduction, and skin tightening. We need to look at the jawline to determine what’s causing the width. This can be caused by a wide jaw angle, and by a large masseter muscle. Sometimes the problem is both. First, we check if the problem is a large masseter muscle. This is the muscle at the back edge of the jaw that helps you chew. When you bite down you may see this muscle get even wider and further widen the face, making it even more bottom-heavy and rectangular. If the masseter is the main culprit we can inject it with Botox (botulinum) to help the muscle shrink. That’s an effective, quick, and quite painless solution. But, it’s temporary. If your issue is a widened jawbone we will need to do surgery by going inside your mouth and reducing the bone. At that time we can also reduce the masseter muscle surgically.
Lastly, we’ll want to evaluate your skin around the neck area, and determine how loose or heavy it may be. If you have thicker skin, some fat under the skin, or jowls that are making your neck wider and more square we’ll want to address those issues as well. There are many ways to tackle those issues. These include liposuction, energy-based treatments like Morpheus8 or FaceTite, and of course facelift and extended deep plane facelift, which can very much help contour the jaw.
A square face is something we can help with. The key is in matching the right treatment to the proper diagnosis. You may be surprised by the recommended solution to help you get the shape you want.
