As we age, our faces naturally change shape, and what worked in our younger years might not be the best choice now. For women over 60 with round faces, certain hairstyles can accentuate fullness rather than create balance and definition. Finding the right cut isn’t just about following trends—it’s about choosing styles that enhance your natural beauty while providing a more slimming, youthful effect.
1. Blunt Bob Without Layers
A straight-across bob creates a horizontal line that makes round faces appear wider and fuller. The lack of movement or texture gives no dimension to soften facial curves. Instead, opt for a bob with longer layers that create vertical lines to elongate your face shape.
2. Super Short Pixie
Extremely cropped pixies expose the full circumference of a round face, drawing attention to its circular shape. Without length to balance proportions, your face becomes the focal point. Even a little length on top creates necessary height to elongate your face.
3. Center-Parted Straight Hair
Middle parts draw the eye directly to the center of your face, emphasizing its width. When paired with straight, flat hair, this style creates a frame that highlights fullness rather than creating flattering angles. Consider a side part to create asymmetry that slims the face.
4. Heavy Bangs
Thick, straight-across bangs create a horizontal line that visually shortens your face. For round faces, this accentuates width while reducing the vertical space needed for balance. Think of your face as a canvas—you want to create length, not width.
5. Chin-Length Curly Bob
Curls that hit exactly at the jawline add volume precisely where round faces are fullest. This creates a mushroom-like effect that emphasizes facial roundness rather than creating a slimming illusion. Either go shorter or longer—the chin-length zone is particularly problematic.
6. Severe Slicked-Back Styles
Pulling hair tightly back exposes the full roundness of your face without any softening elements. This harsh style emphasizes the circumference of your face shape and can appear aging. Softness around the face creates a more youthful, flattering effect for round faces.
7. Single-Length Long Hair
Long hair without layers can drag down your features, especially as facial skin loses elasticity with age. One-length styles create a curtain effect that emphasizes facial roundness rather than creating definition. Long hair can work, but needs strategic layering to frame the face properly.
8. Bowl Cuts
Remember these from the 70s? Bowl cuts create a perfect circle around your already round face, doubling down on roundness. The uniform length all around offers no strategic angles to balance your face shape. This retro style unfortunately emphasizes exactly what you want to minimize.
9. Tight Curly Perms
Small, tight curls create a halo of volume all around the face, emphasizing its circular shape. These dated perms add width exactly where round faces don’t need it—at the sides. Volume should be strategic, not uniform around the face.
10. Overly Teased Crown
Excessive height at the crown without balancing length creates a top-heavy silhouette. This outdated styling technique draws attention to roundness by creating disproportionate volume. Moderate volume is fine, but balance is key for flattering proportions.
11. OFF-LIMITS: Micro Bangs
Ultra-short bangs cut high above the eyebrows create an optical illusion that widens the face. This severe style draws a horizontal line across your forehead, emphasizing roundness while creating odd proportions. These trendy bangs work better for longer, narrower face shapes.
12. OFF-LIMITS: Mullet Variations
The dramatic short-to-long transition of mullets creates unflattering volume at the sides of round faces. This returning trend unfortunately emphasizes width at the cheeks and jawline—exactly where round faces need slimming. Some trends are better admired from afar!
13. OFF-LIMITS: Dramatic Undercuts
Shaving one side while leaving length on top creates striking asymmetry that draws attention to facial roundness. This edgy style emphasizes rather than minimizes a round face shape on mature women. Bold statement cuts often work against the softening effect most women over 60 desire.
14. OFF-LIMITS: Blunt Pageboy
The pageboy’s distinctive rounded shape with curved ends that turn under mirrors and amplifies a round face. The uniform length and curved silhouette create a helmet-like effect that’s particularly unflattering. This retro style unfortunately doubles down on roundness.
15. OFF-LIMITS: Pyramid-Shaped Cuts
Wide at the bottom, narrow at the top—these triangle-shaped cuts create an inverted silhouette that emphasizes jawline fullness. The disproportionate volume at the bottom visually widens the lower face. Balance is essential; avoid styles that are dramatically wider at the bottom than the top.