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Match Maker
How to select frames that enhance skin tone, facial shapes, and features, as well as hair color
BY JENEAN CARLTON, ABOC, NCLC
Skilled opticians pride themselves on being able to select frame styles that fit a patient beautifully while enhancing their skin tone, hair color, facial features, and the finished look of the lenses.
All it takes is to pay close attention to key elements we present here, and you’ll be on your way to providing customers with five-star frame styling.
TAKE A GOOD LOOK
In a world of faces, there are six basic facial shapes—oval, round, square, and heart, as well as long and diamond. For the most part, it’s not so easy to figure out which is which. One quick method is to have the patient face a mirror, pull the hair away from her face and, while looking into the mirror, trace her face’s outline with a dry erase marker. Take a look at this video link to see just how easy it is to use this method to determine facial shape: bistlinevision.com/eyeglasses-and-contacts/frames-and-face-shape.
Fitting tips
OPPOSITES ATTRACT
When it comes to balancing facial features with eyewear, remember that opposites attract. Determine the patient’s facial shape and then look for frames that are the opposite shape in order to balance their features.
HANDLING ANGLES
Drill-mounted frame styles and rimless designs are good options for all patients with angular features, as long as the lens shape isn’t angular, because the lens borders aren’t as obvious as those of full-rimmed metal or plastic frames.
BALANCING PROPORTIONS
OVAL FACES
DESCRIPTION: Oval-shaped faces are considered the ideal shape for eyewear. They gently taper toward the chin, feature a wide forehead and prominent cheekbones
FRAME PICKS: Lucky them! This shape looks good in almost any frame.
ROUND FACES
DESCRIPTION: Their width and length have nearly the same measurement and they are widest at the cheeks.
FRAME PICKS: Angular-shaped frames and styles with a high temple attachment are used to balance a round face. A frame with temples attached near the top of the eyewires makes a shorter face appear longer. Square or rectangular-shaped eyewires will balance the curves of a rounded face.
STRONG RX: Be mindful of the Rx. High-minus lenses appear thicker when mounted in frames with angles. Select frames that are a softened rectangle or softened square for high-minus patients with round faces.
LONG FACES
DESCRIPTION: They taper toward the chin, which may appear as an obvious feature.
FRAME PICKS: Select frame styles that have a short “B” measurement. A rectangular frame with a shorter “B” measurement will break up the length of the patient’s face and make it appear shorter since the frames will fit just at the mid-point of the face. Likewise, having the temple attach at the mid-point or the bottom of the eyewire will make a long face more balanced.
SQUARE FACES
DESCRIPTION: Square facial shapes are very angular with the forehead, cheekbones, and jawline are almost the same width. With this facial structure, the jawline is typically the most prominent feature.
FRAME PICKS: Square faces appear less angular when fitted with round or oval-shaped frames. The rounded edges of these styles soften the face’s angular features and balance the facial proportions.
HEART-SHAPED FACES
DESCRIPTION: This shape tapers sharply toward the chin, and the forehead is often a conspicuous feature of the face.
FRAME PICKS: Because this face shape has angular features, it’s important to stay away from frames with sharp corners or angles, such as square or rectangle-shaped frames. Frames that are slightly wider than the forehead or frames with details or embellishments on the lower portion of the frame work well.
DIAMOND-SHAPED FACES
DESCRIPTION: It’s rare to see someone with a diamond-shaped face. This shape is the most difficult to fit because of the angular proportions and because the face is widest at the temples.
FRAME PICKS: To bring balance, stay away from frame styles with angles. Drill-mount frames with rounded or oval-shaped lenses or cat-eye frames with detailing at the upper portion of the eye are winning looks here.
HOW TO MATCH FRAMES TO HAIR AND SKIN TONES
Rule 1…
Most patients with darker skin and hair color are able to wear more saturated frame colors like deep reds, black, browns, vivid purples, and dark blues.
Rule 2…
Patients with fair skin and lightly colored hair should lean toward warmer, softer colors like brushed gold, brushed bronze, matte gold, soft brown, and transparent pastels.
Rule 3…
Patients with graying or white hair look best in cool colors like silver or two-toned frame styles with silver and gold as well as lilac, rose, lavender, light blue, steel blue, and light gray colors
PUTTING IN ALL TOGETHER…
In addition to contemplating frame shapes and colors to enhance the cosmetic appearance of the wearer, it’s also necessary to choose frames that will provide optimal vision.
• B MEASUREMENT. When fitting patients with bifocals, trifocals, or progressives, it’s necessary to choose frame styles that offer a deep enough “B” measurement (the vertical measurement of the lens opening).
• THICKNESS ISSUES. Minus-powered lenses always have thicker edges when manufactured for angular frames, such as a rectangular-shaped frame. Likewise, high-plus lenses are always thicker in the nasal area when fabricated for drill-mount and rimless styles because the edge thickness of the lenses must be increased to allow for grooving the edges or drilling holes to mount bridge and temple pieces.
• KEY CONSIDERATIONS. For the best outcome, consider: the patient’s facial shape, hair and skin coloring, the prescription, and the chosen lens design. With all these factors in mind, you can provide patients with frame choices that both enhance their cosmetic appearance and offer exceptional vision.
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