Your face shape is one of the most powerful guides to choosing the right hairstyle. If you have an oblong face shape, the right cut can completely transform your look. The wrong one, however, can make your face appear even longer. Knowing which styles suit you saves time, money, and frustration at the salon.
An oblong face is longer than it is wide. It has an elongated jawline with a forehead and chin that are roughly similar in width. The overall shape is noticeably tall and narrow, with few sharp angles.
Celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Rihanna, and Liv Tyler all share this face shape. Each of them has found hairstyles that add width, reduce visual length, and create balance. Their choices give you a real-world guide for your own hair decisions.
This article covers the best and worst hairstyles for oblong faces. You will find celebrity breakdowns, salon tips, and styling advice you can use at home. Whether your hair is straight, wavy, or curly, there is a style here for you.
What Is an Oblong Face Shape?
An oblong face shape is defined by its vertical length. The face is noticeably taller than it is wide. The forehead, cheekbones, and jawline share a similar width, which gives the face a uniform, column-like structure. There are no dramatic curves or sharp angles to break up the length.
Compared to an oval face, an oblong face is longer and narrower. An oval face has a slight curve that naturally creates balance. An oblong face benefits from hairstyles that create that balance artificially, using volume and width.
Key features of an oblong face shape:
- Face length is noticeably greater than face width
- Forehead, cheekbones, and jawline are close in width
- Chin is slightly rounded with no sharp point
The goal for any oblong face hairstyle is to add width and reduce length. Styles that push hair outward at the sides create the illusion of balance. Styles that add height or fall flat on the sides do the opposite.
Here are four celebrities with oblong faces:
- Sarah Jessica Parker – her face runs long with a narrow, defined jaw and a forehead that matches her chin width almost exactly.
- Rihanna – her face has significant vertical length with uniform width across her cheekbones and forehead.
- Liv Tyler – her face is elegantly long and narrow, with soft features spread across a tall, slim structure.
- Kim Kardashian – her face has notable length with a forehead, cheekbones, and jaw that sit at similar widths.
Best Hairstyles for Oblong Faces
The best haircuts for oblong faces share one quality: they add horizontal volume. Whether you prefer short, medium, or long hair, you have plenty of options. Each style below works specifically to balance a long face shape. Study the celebrity examples and use the salon tips to get exactly what you want.
Soft Waves and Curls
Soft waves and curls are among the best long face hairstyles available. They push hair outward at the sides, which immediately adds width to the face. The movement and texture also interrupt the vertical line that makes an oblong face appear elongated.
Sarah Jessica Parker frequently wears this style. Her signature curly, voluminous hair creates dramatic width at her cheekbones and jaw. It is one of the most effective oblong face hairstyle choices she has made throughout her career.
Salon tip: Ask your stylist for “soft body waves from mid-shaft to ends, keeping the crown flat and the volume concentrated at the sides.”
Bob Cut with Volume at the Sides
A bob cut with volume at the sides directly targets the width problem of an oblong face. The length of a bob sits right at the jaw, which draws the eye horizontally rather than vertically. When the sides carry volume, the face appears shorter and wider.
Rihanna has worn this style multiple times and it consistently suits her face shape. Her chin-length bobs with outward-flipped or rounded ends are a textbook example of a great oblong face hairstyle.
Salon tip: Tell your stylist you want a “jawline-length bob with a slight outward flip at the ends and soft volume through the sides, not the top.”
Layered Lob (Long Bob)
A layered lob breaks the vertical line of the face with movement and texture. The layers create depth and width without dramatically shortening the hair. This is an ideal oblong face hairstyle for those who prefer longer lengths but still want to create balance.
Priyanka Chopra has worn layered lobs that frame her face beautifully. The layers give her hair natural movement, which visually widens her face at the cheekbones and jaw.
Salon tip: Ask for “a shoulder-length lob with face-framing layers from the cheekbones down, and soft ends that curve inward or outward.”
Side-Swept Bangs
Side-swept bangs shorten the visible length of the face by covering part of the forehead. This directly reduces the vertical space your face occupies. They also add a diagonal line across the forehead, which creates visual interest and breaks the uniformity of an oblong face.
Liv Tyler has used side-swept bangs at various points in her career. The bangs soften her long face and shift attention to her eyes, making the face appear shorter and more balanced.
Salon tip: Request “long side-swept bangs that sweep across the forehead and blend into the rest of the hair, long enough to tuck behind the ear.”
Voluminous Curly Hair
Natural curly hair is a huge advantage for long face hairstyles. Curls naturally expand outward, creating width on both sides of the face. When styled with volume at the sides rather than the crown, curly hair becomes one of the most effective tools for balancing an oblong face shape.
Rihanna has embraced full, voluminous curls throughout her career. When she keeps her curls wide rather than tall, the result is a perfectly balanced look that complements her face shape.
Salon tip: Ask your stylist to “diffuse or shape curls outward from the sides, and keep the crown flat so all the volume falls at the cheekbones and below.”
Blunt Bangs
Blunt bangs make a bold, direct statement and they work exceptionally well for an oblong face shape. A straight across, thick fringe cuts the face length immediately and draws the eye to the eyebrows and upper face. The result is a shorter-looking face with a strong focal point.
Kim Kardashian has experimented with blunt bangs, and the result consistently shortens the appearance of her long face. Paired with mid-length hair that has volume at the sides, this style is a powerful celebrity oblong face hairstyle choice.
Salon tip: Tell your stylist you want “a straight-across fringe just above the brows, thick enough to feel bold, and paired with volume at the sides.”
Hairstyles That Do Not Suit Oblong Faces
Knowing what to avoid is just as useful as knowing what to choose. The styles below add height or vertical length, which works against the natural structure of an oblong face. Avoiding them does not limit your options – it simply keeps your focus on what genuinely works for your face shape.
- Sleek straight hair with a center part – this style emphasizes vertical length and divides the face into two narrow halves, making it look longer.
- Very long straight styles with no layers – the lack of movement keeps the eye traveling straight down, emphasizing face length.
- Tight high ponytails – these pull hair away from the face and expose its full length, adding visual height at the same time.
- Slicked-back styles – removing all face-framing hair eliminates the only width-creating elements and leaves the face looking stark and elongated.
- Very short pixie cuts with no side volume – a tight pixie without width at the temples makes the face appear longer by fully exposing its length.
Celebrity Oblong Face Hairstyle Looks to Copy
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker has one of the most recognizable oblong faces in Hollywood. Her face is long and narrow, with a forehead and jaw that sit at similar widths. Her most iconic look is her voluminous, curly hair – the wide, spiral curls push outward at the sides and add significant width to her face.
This oblong face hairstyle works because it balances her vertical length with horizontal mass. To recreate it, ask your stylist for shoulder-length curls with maximum side volume and a flatter crown.
Rihanna
Rihanna has worn celebrity hairstyles for oblong faces better than almost anyone. Her jaw-length bob with an outward flip is a standout choice. The length lands exactly at the widest point of the jaw and the flipped ends create instant width.
She has also worn full, wide curls that push outward at the sides, creating a wide, balanced silhouette. Both styles work for the same reason: they redirect the eye horizontally. Ask for her bob by showing a reference photo and requesting outward-flipped ends at jaw length.
Liv Tyler
Liv Tyler has a classically elongated face with soft, even features. Her most effective style is shoulder-length waves with side-swept bangs. The bangs cover part of her forehead, shortening the visible length of her face. The waves add width and movement at the sides.
Together, these two elements make her face look balanced and proportionate. You can recreate this look by requesting long bangs swept to one side and soft waves beginning at the chin level, not higher.
Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra has a long, refined face with balanced proportions that classify it clearly as an oblong shape. She often chooses layered lobs that fall at the collarbone, with soft layers that start at the cheekbones. These layers do two jobs: they add width and they break the vertical flow of the hair.
Her style is polished and practical, which makes it one of the best haircuts for oblong face shapes across all hair types. Ask for face-framing layers starting from the cheekbone and a length that ends just below the collarbone.
How to Style Oblong Face Hairstyles at Home
Getting a great cut is only half the job. The right home styling routine keeps your look working for your face shape every day. These five tips are specific, practical, and easy to follow no matter your experience level.
- Use a round brush when blow-drying. Roll the brush outward through the sides of your hair to push volume away from the face. This technique creates width at the cheekbones and jawline, which is exactly what an oblong face needs.
- Apply volumizing mousse before drying. Work a small amount of volumizing mousse through your mid-lengths and ends before you blow-dry. This adds body and lifts the sides of your hair outward without weighing the roots down.
- Use a texturizing spray on waves or curls. A light texturizing spray on second-day hair revives waves and adds grip. Scrunch it into the sides to reactivate volume and push the hair outward rather than downward.
- Avoid center parts on straight styles. A center part on straight hair emphasizes the length of your face. Choose a deep side part instead, which creates an asymmetric frame that adds width on one side and visual interest across the face.
- Set waves with a diffuser, not a regular nozzle. A diffuser spreads heat evenly and lets curls dry in their natural shape, which keeps them wide. A regular nozzle directs heat in one spot and can stretch curls downward, reducing the width they naturally create.
Find Your Perfect Oblong Face Hairstyle
The key principle for every oblong face hairstyle is simple: add width and reduce vertical length. Soft waves, bob cuts, layered lobs, side-swept bangs, and voluminous curls all achieve this in different ways. Avoid styles that draw the eye straight down, and you will always be on the right track.
Celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Rihanna, Liv Tyler, and Priyanka Chopra show you exactly how these principles work in practice. Their choices are not accidents – they are deliberate decisions that use hair to create balance and proportion. Use their looks as your starting point.
Now it is your turn. Pick one style from this guide and try it at your next salon visit. Show your stylist a reference photo from the celebrity section and use the exact words from the salon tips. You will walk out with a haircut that genuinely suits your face shape.
If you found this guide useful, share it with a friend who has an oblong face shape. The right hairstyle advice can make a real difference, and it only takes a moment to pass it on.
