whatsuitsme

Diamond face shape

The cheekbones are clearly the widest part, with the forehead near 0.78 and the jaw near 0.74 of cheekbone width.

Last reviewed 10 August 2026By Sravya

Editorial portrait illustrating diamond face proportions

The ratios that define it

face
Length ÷ cheek
1.27

hairline to chin, over cheekbone width

Forehead ÷ cheek
0.78

widest brow, over cheekbone width

Jaw ÷ cheek
0.74

jaw angles, over cheekbone width

These are editorial thresholds for a repeatable comparison, not anthropometric norms. Landing a few hundredths away from a figure means nothing. Landing a long way from one of them is what decides the shape.

Work out my face shape

A diamond face is widest at the cheekbones, with a forehead and a jaw that are both noticeably narrower. It is the least common of the seven and the most often mislabelled, usually as heart or oval, because the cheekbone width is easy to see and the narrow forehead is easy to miss.

The shape has two narrow points rather than one, at the top and the bottom, which is what separates it from heart. That changes the advice: a heart face needs weight added low, while a diamond needs a little softness at both ends and nothing extra at the middle.

How to check whether this is your shape

Measure all three widths. On a diamond the cheekbone figure will be the largest by a clear margin, and the forehead and jaw figures will be close to each other and well below it.

The forehead measurement is the one people get wrong. Take it about halfway between the brows and the hairline, at the widest point, not right at the hairline where it is usually narrower on everyone.

The thresholds used here put a diamond at 0.78 forehead and 0.74 jaw against cheekbone width, with length near 1.27. If the forehead comes out near or above 1.00, the shape is heart rather than diamond.

What it gets mistaken for

  • Mistaken for

    heart

    Both narrow at the chin. Heart is wide at the forehead, diamond is narrow there. The forehead measurement decides it and nothing else does.

  • Mistaken for

    oval

    Oval has a forehead near 0.92 of cheekbone width, close to balanced. Diamond drops to about 0.78, which is a visible difference once measured.

Where the seven shapes actually sit

measured ratios
ovalroundsquareheartdiamondoblongtrianglelength ÷ cheekbone width →jaw ÷ cheekbone →

Round and square sit 0.04 apart on length and 0.09 apart on jaw. That is the entire difference between them, and it is why two sites can give you two different answers from the same face. Ours shows you where you landed rather than only what it decided.

The principle behind every suggestion below

Width is concentrated in one band across the middle, so the useful moves add a little softness at the forehead and jaw and avoid piling volume level with the cheekbones.

Hair

Worth reaching for

  • Soft waves rather than sleek flat lengths
  • Chin-length or shoulder-length movement, which puts a little width near the jaw
  • A side-swept fringe, which widens the visible forehead without a hard line

Works against it

  • Volume that peaks exactly at cheekbone level, which stretches the widest band wider
  • Very flat roots combined with fullness at the cheeks, which makes the contrast sharper

See the cuts for this shape, and the wording to give a stylist.

Say this at the salon

My cheekbones are the widest part of my face and my forehead and jaw are both narrower, so I want a bit of softness at the top and around the jaw, and no extra volume level with my cheekbones.

Naming the proportion and what you want done about it gives a stylist something to work with. A photograph of someone else does not, because their hair is not yours.

Glasses

Frames that carry some width at the brow restore balance to the narrowest part of the upper face. Cat-eye shapes work for the same reason: the lift at the outer corner adds visual width high up, where a diamond has least.

Worth reaching for

  • Oval frames
  • Round frames
  • Cat-eye frames

Works against it

  • Very narrow frames that stop short of the cheekbone line and pinch it

See the frame shapes for this face, and the width in millimetres.

Where people go wrong

  • Measuring the forehead at the hairline

    Almost everyone narrows at the hairline itself. Measuring there makes any face look like it has a narrow forehead and turns ovals into false diamonds. Measure at the widest point between brows and hairline.

  • Treating diamond advice as heart advice

    The two get merged constantly, and the merged advice adds weight at the jaw while ignoring the forehead. On a diamond that leaves the narrow brow untouched and can make the cheekbones look wider still.

  • Pulling hair back completely and flat

    A severe scraped-back style removes all softness from the two narrow points and leaves only the widest line visible, which is the one silhouette that exaggerates the shape most.

Common questions

Sources and review record

Not sure this is you?

The tool measures all seven and shows you how close the runner-up came, which is the useful thing when two shapes score near each other.

Work out my face shape

The seven face shapes

Or see all the guides.

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