How to Make Your Face Look Thinner (2024)

Even if you've gained only a couple of pounds, the extra weight can show in your face. Or maybe you have a naturally round face shape that makes you look heavier than you are. Rather than stressing about it, turn to these 10 simple makeup, hair and accessory ideas that give your face a trimmer appearance.

The fastest, fuss-free way to fake a slim face? Draw attention away from it with eye-catching earrings. "Especially long, dangly ones," says Andrea Pomerantz Lustig, author of How to Look Expensive: A Beauty Editor's Secrets to Getting Gorgeous without Breaking the Bank. Almost any style works, but avoid hoops that hang from below your ears, says Pomerantz Lustig. Hoops that go through your ears will do the trick, though.

Darker roots with lighter tips don't just require less upkeep; it's also a trendy way to make your face appear less round, says Philip Berkowitz, a Hollywood hair and scalp expert and creator of Philip B hair products. "Dark colors recede and make your face seem slimmer," he says. The ombre trick works best with deeper brunette shades, so consider dyeing your hair darker if it's naturally light, he adds.

"You can slim a round face by adding slight volume in the crown," says Robb Dubre, artistic and technical director at Kenra Professional, a haircare brand. To create height at the top of your head, lightly tease the hair near the crown, brushing from ends to roots with a wide-tooth comb. As for the rest of your hair, keep it smooth and past your shoulders for a sleeker look.

Highlights framing your face can actually make it appear rounder. "Lighter tones open up the face, making it appear wider, while darker tones are slimming," says Dubre. So keep the strands closest to your face a shade or two darker than the others, he suggests. Choose face-framing lowlights and place subtle highlights near the crown, which will call attention away from the sides of your face.

A pressed matte powder that's one shade darker than your skin can be a round-faced gal's best friend. Celebrity makeup artist Vincent Longo, who has an eponymous makeup line, uses contouring powder for this face-slimming trick: "Lightly shade the jawbone, sides of the nose and temples with only a hint of product. It should be barely noticeable," he explains. To get the right amount of shading, avoid unnatural lighting when you apply it.

Pulling back your hair in a pony can minimize a round appearance, if you know how high to go, says Pomerantz Lustig. Rather than gathering hair at the top of your head, "match the ponytail height to the tips of your cheekbones for the best faux facelift effect," she says. Use a non-slip elastic hair holder and tame flyaways for a more put-together look.

Soft, side bangs create a natural frame around the face, while longer layers downplay a rounder shape, says Berkowitz. His favorite example of this cut: Jennifer Aniston's most recent hairstyle. But not all bangs have the same slimming effect. "Short bangs are a killer," he says. "They make your face seem wider and rounder."

"A cat eye helps elongate the lash line and eye shape in an outward and upward direction," Longo says. And that draws attention to the corners of eyes, making your face look leaner. How to do it: Highlight your eyes with a dark-colored eye pencil, smudge it slightly around the lash line and apply a light layer of eyeshadow. Then, sweep a darker eyeshadow above the crease, following the natural curve of your eye, says Longo.

To elongate your face, swipe three types of color on your cheeks, says Pomerantz Lustig. Use a highlighter on the tops of cheekbones, a bright cream blush in the apples of your cheeks and a bronzer or darker powder underneath cheekbones. It "works very well as a face-narrowing technique because it gives the illusion of more lifted, angular cheekbones," says Pomerantz Lustig. Just don't forget to blend.

Use a brow pencil to give your brows a more angular shape, which can help your face appear thinner. Angled brows "add contour and a point of interest to the upper part of the face," explains Pomerantz Lustig. Keep the natural thickness of your brows; thin, over-tweezed eyebrows can contribute to a rounder-looking face, she adds.

We're all guilty of these bad habits every now and then.