Best sunglasses to suit your face shape: Best Picks tests top Sunglasses Hut styles on oval and round faces

May 30, 2023

Finding the perfect pair of sunglasses sometimes feels as though it could be an Olympic sport.

You have to contend with different colours, brands, frame thickness, design and above all else, question yourself several times while facing a mirror before putting a pair back on the shelf and repeating the process.

One of the main issues with shopping for sunglasses is that it’s an individual game and, what might look stunning on your close friend is going to look positively bug-eyed on you, and vice-versa.

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So Sophie and Matilda from the 7NEWS Best Picks team decided to work out which glasses - broadly - suited their face shape in the hope this might help others on their quest to secure the perfect pair.

Sophie is a quintessential oval, with lovely taut cheekbones and a narrow chin. The oval-shaped among us can pull off a great variety of styles but anything overly large leaves her feeling swamped.

For this reason, she leaned heavily into Ray-Ban who specialise in rectangular, cat-eye styles that frame a slimmer face.

Her favourite pairs were the Transparent Orange Sunglasses ($218), the Blue & Striped Havana Polarised Sunglasses ($307) - which is the brands very classic tortoiseshell rimmed design - and the Coach Transparent Pink Sunglasses ($225).

They all had oval or rectangular frames, pastel and bold colourways which complimented her blonde locks and weren’t protruding from the bridge of the nose.

Unfortunately, the excessively large designs by Versace and Dolce & Gabbana that she tried, which were made to be noticed, were just too large.

Most hilarious were the circular Tiffany & Co. glasses ($501), likely made for Audrey Hepburn herself, which swamped Sophie’s face.

“With a small head and facial features, sunglasses can often have me looking more Bugs Life than beaut. So I expected all of the teeny frames to be my new best friends,” Sophie said.

“And while initially I was sold on the small rectangular shapes by Ray Ban, I then swung to a slightly larger oval tortoiseshell design that (I think?) helped to round out my point-ier features.”

Matilda has always had the sort of “chubby cheek” look that round faces possess, and enjoys wearing large, Jackie O-esque glasses as a result.

The extra width of a round face allows her - and others - to be a bit more adventurous with their choices and seek a less structured design.

For her, the absolute stand-out from the pack were the Paris Hilton circa 2002 Tiffany & Co. Champagne Gradient and Pale Gold sunglasses ($501) that exude Leo energy. She is born in August, after all.

The frames fit snugly against her face without overpowering it, much like the Coach Purple Gradient and Shiny Rose Gold sunglasses ($242) did, with a lovely Barbie hue to the tint.

“I find shopping for sunglasses difficult at the best of times but now that I sort of know what works I’m looking forward to living out my Paris Hilton dreams,” Matilda said.

“Some brands are definitely more up my alley than others but it’s nice that Sunglass Hut has such a huge variety to choose from. They’ve always got a cheeky sale on too.”

While neither of the Best Picks writers has a square face, they did try on a few glasses that would be perfect for this shape.

The Dolce & Gabbana white sunglasses ($372) were block-y and stark, which would match the more structure face shape. As would a longer cat eye lens like the one on Tiffany & Co’s Dark Grey and Black sunglasses ($534).

Helpfully, Sunglass Hut and a number of other sunglasses retailers have a handy “find your perfect fit” feature that allows you to upload a photo to the website and trial a number of glasses on your face.

It’s the best way to find out if that style you’re hankering after is actually going to enhance your features or detract from them.