Best Glasses for a Round Face: Styles & Where to Buy

If you have a round face shape, your face is balanced in width and height. Your features are likely softer and gentler compared to people with more angular or sharp faces.

People with round faces often have foreheads and jawlines of similar width. Round faces tend towards soft curves, soft features, full cheeks, and wide cheekbones. Rounded chins with few angles add to the overall shape of a round face.

The best glasses frames for a round face complement add length or width to the face to offset some of the roundness. The most flattering glasses for this face shape are generally wider frames in angular or rectangular styles.

To enhance the width of your face, look for a frame that is slightly broader than the widest portion of your face. To enhance the length, look for bold, angular, or rectangular shapes. 

If you’re looking for extra definition, try double brow styles or frames that include higher temples. 

Which Frames Look Best on a Round Face?

Certain types of glass frames are ideally suited for a round face. These are the top frame styles that complement a round face:

• Square, rectangular, or geometric frames: Square frames add balance and can complement the roundness of a face. Rectangle frames add angularity and can work to make your face seem longer and narrower.
  Geometric frames add unique angles in stylish shapes and sizes. They may incorporate uncommon shapes into frames, such as octagons or hexagons. 

• Cat-eye frames: Cat-eye glasses have a trendy retro look. This vintage style was first made popular in the 1930s as an alternative to horn-rimmed glasses. Audrey Hepburn wore them in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and they became a popular fashion style in the 1960s. 

Today, cat-eye frames are still trendy, and they work great for a round face. The upswept edge on the frames lifts the overall features of a round face. 

• Wayfarer frames: The Wayfarer is always in fashion, especially for a round face.

• Browline glasses: These glasses emphasize the upper portion of the face, often with additional colors and details. This draws attention upward and balances rounded features.

• Oversized frames: Larger frames can offset a round face if you make sure the frames are wider than the widest point of the face. You can also have fun with colors and styles in oversized frames.

• Navigator frames: Navigator frames are similar to aviators, but with more of an angle or square frame. These are well-suited to enhance the features of a round face.

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Top Brands for Round Faces

Once you have an idea of the shape of frames you’d like to buy (shapes that tend to suit round faces), you have no shortage of options. Here are some of the top glasses for round faces:

• Ray-Ban: Ray-Ban offers quality frames for eyeglasses and sunglasses. Popular styles have withstood the test of time. 

The Ray Ban Wayfarer Frames are a good choice for round faces. They feature the classic Wayfarer style with an updated smaller frame and softer eye shape. They cost about $191.

Ray Ban’s Aviator frames offer timeless quality, comfort, and style in these classic frames. They cost about $179.

• Persol: You can shop for classic designs and timeless style with this brand. Filter and sort options by searching for “glasses for round faces.” Prices range from $140 to about $370.
   
• Warby Parker: Warby Parker offers an online quiz to discover your unique face shape and the glass frames that will complement your features. You can shop styles that suit your round face, find staff favorites, use their augmented reality (AR) virtual try-on feature, and have five pairs sent directly to your home for you to try. Frames average about $95.

• Liingo Eyewear: Liingo offers angular and wider frames to help you add definition and length to your face. Their virtual try-on tool makes shopping easy. You can try on five frames at home for free as well. Frame costs range from about $79 to $129.

• GlassesUSA: GlassesUSA offers a quick quiz, video tutorial, and tips to find your perfect frame size. Rectangular glasses are among the top recommendations for a round face. With over 500 styles to choose from, you can find the pair that works best for you here. Prices range from about $69 to $470.

• EyeBuyDirect: If you’re looking for stylish prescription glasses for round faces at affordable prices, check out all the options here. It’s easy to shop frames by filtering for “round face.”

• Zenni Optical: With this retailer, it’s easy to filter frame choices by face shape, color, material, size, and other features. Zenni Optical offers stylish frames at bargain prices with virtual try-on features. Prices range from $7 to $45.

Frame Shapes to Avoid for Round Faces

Typically, rimless glasses and small frames make a round face look rounder. Circular and oval frames add more roundness to the face as well.

Avoid transparent frames, as they can blend in with your skin tone. The glass shape won’t provide the contrast that you’re looking for. Choose frame colors that contrast your skin tone instead.

How to See What Frames Are Best Online

Many virtual try-on apps and glasses manufacturers have frame selection tools that help you find the best frames for your face shape. Start by shopping for styles that flatter a round face. Type in “glasses for round faces” and start browsing.

Many brands have their virtual try-on features with augmented reality (AR) to create a close-to-real-life experience. In addition, virtual try-on apps are a convenient way to explore different frames and see how they look on your face.

Virtual try-on apps are available for both iPhone and Android. Here are two choices to get started:

• Ideofit: This app is easy to use and great for trying on glasses and sunglasses. It can quickly show you how the frames look on you before you make a purchase.

Ideofit  on Apple

Ideofit on Google Play

• YouCamMakeup: This app is easy to use and free. You can select different styles and see how they look on your face.

YouCamMakeup on Apple

YouCamMakeup on Google Play

Glasses for Round Faces FAQs

Which glasses are best for a round face?

Square, rectangular, and geometric frames add definition and angles to balance a round face. Cat-eye glasses and browline glasses are also popular choices for round faces.

Do glasses look good on a round face?

Yes, many frame styles look great on a round face. Glasses that add contrast, width, and angles tend to look best on a round face.

Do round glasses work on round face shapes?

Generally, it’s best to stick with more angular frame styles to offset the roundness of a round face. Round frames will tend to make a round face look even rounder.

That being said, there are no hard rules. If you like a certain frame shape, it’s worth trying it on to see how it looks on your face.

References

1. Eyeglasses Lens Contour Extraction from Facial Images Using an Efficient Face Description (October 2013). Sensors.

2. Frame Selection Guide. Flaum Eye Institute, University of Rochester.

3. Eyewear. SUNY College of Optometry, University Eye Center.

4. Know Your Frame Shapes. EYESEE Magazine.

5. The Cat-Eye: A Style for Every Decade (January 2019). Zenni Optical.

6. The hidden psychology of wearing specs (April 2017) U.K. Blasting News.

7. How to Choose Eyeglasses for Vision Correction (February 2020). American Academy of Ophthalmology.

8. How to Choose the Glasses Frame Material That’s Right for You (April 2022). American Academy of Ophthalmology.

9. Using Virtual Technology to Help Patients Choose Spectacles (December 2017). Optometry Today, Association of Optometrists.

10. How Many Optical Apps Are There? (August 2015). The Optical Journal.