Hijab Styles for Different Face Shapes

Asalam Waliykum, 

Over the years sisters have asked for my opinion on what Hijab style suits different face shapes. So I decided recently that I would dedicate one post to this subject, although I realise the purpose of wearing the hijab is not to look "nice" or "Attractive", however it is something we should wear in a presentable manner and in a way that we feel comfortable in. The last thing we want to do is wear a style that makes us feel uncomfortable and isn't practical, where we spend most of the day playing around with it and constantly fidgeting. Not to say that if the Hijab style doesn't "suit" your face shape then you should not wear the hijab, not at all. In Sha Allah we realise the purpose of the Hijab is for Allah and we wear it regardless of if it "suits" us. So when we leave the house each day we look in the mirror to be sure the Hijab is presentable and pleasing to who? Pleasing to the Creator and not His creation. 

I was reluctant to write this post, in the fear of being called shallow or encouraging the "Hijab Fashion" boom that we are currently seeing. I want to clarify that I am not promoting wearing the Hijab incorrectly or in a way that does not comply with the rules and guidelines, if you are unsure of these I have created a separate post on this Here!. I am encouraging sisters to style the Khimar/headscarf/hijab in a way that is comfortable for them and I have no other intention then that. 

I will be honest, when I first started to wear the Hijab I was one of the first among my community and I had no clue on what styles to wear to suit my face and be comfortable and importantly covering at the same time. My first year was difficult in Hijab as I was constantly battling with styles, struggling with fly away hair and pins that would not stay put, on top of this the added pressure from people asking why I chose to wear hijab and telling me "You look better without hijab". Finding a style that suits you will make you feel comfortable, especially in your first few years when things are a little rough, and that you will forget you are wearing it and spend your time on more important matters. As Muslimahs we should feel confident in our Islamic attire when we leave the house, and to mention as women it is in our innate nature to look presentable, collected and calm and not a fumbling mess when we are in public.... well I try to sometimes with success...

In the end my intention is to encourage more sisters to wear the Hijab, as often I hear many sisters who are non hijabies say "The hijab doesn't suit my face", and this is totally wrong there is a way to wear the hijab that will suit every face shape. I hope you take my intention as a positive one to encourage our sisters and I hope there is no misunderstanding in this post. ***What I will be explaining is how to frame your face with your Scarf and NOT about material, Size, Designs, Camel hump, volume etc etc.*** 

I will be covering the 4 basic and most common face shapes and I will be using simple shapes to represent the faces, In Islam is is forbidden for us to draw any living creature and give it a face with features. So I used simple shapes instead. In Sha Allah you get the idea from this and you can follow along easily. 

***This is just my opinion, based on my own experience and through years of experimentation***

Wrong styles and styles to be avoided

The first example of styles to avoid for each face shape. Those with Oval face can wear pretty much any style however, you would want to try and avoid styles and wrapping the scarf in a way to further narrow your face such as exposing the jaw line and having the scarf pointed at the top. The Same applies to those with a Square face. If you have a round face shape you want to avoid making the face appear rounder with a style that shows the widest part of your face, and avoiding head bands/ bonnets that cover the forehead to further stretch out the face width ways. If you have a heart shape you want to try avoid a style that exposes the full width of the fore head, making it appear larger and your face length shorter, this may also cause your hair line to show and stray hairs to escape. You also want to avoid covering the eyebrows and cheeks if you have a oval/heart shaped face.

Again, with Oval face shape you want to avoid this style it will make your face appear longer, and narrower. Not such a practical style if you wear glasses, can narrow your vision and expose the hair line. If you have a Square face shape avoid anything that will accentuate the shape of the face as much as possible, also you want to avoid wearing head bands/bonnets that are worn on the forehead near the eye brows as this will only reinforce a "square" shape. Similarly, if you have a round face you want to avoid styles that will expose the forehead too much width ways and make the face appear shorter in length and wider in the width. Just as with oval shape face if you have a heart shape you want to try avoid this style, again it will give the illusion of a wider forehead, besides not suiting the face shape it is also not a very practical style. 

Good hijab styles to try

With oval and heart shaped face a diamond style hijab wrap will suit both faces, this will allow the full width of the face to be shown evening out the overall shape of the face. This will Also work for those with Square shaped face and will soften the jaw line and the forehead. If you have a round face then creating a slightly narrower style will make the face appear narrower and more balanced out.

Oval and Heart shaped faces can pull off many styles. Creating a more structured rectangular style for those with oval shaped faces reduces the narrowness of the face, and reducing elongation. Just as with those with circle shaped faces, those with square shape can also pull off the hijab wrapped in a way to soften the face, framing the face nicely. And as before those with a Circular face shape can style the hijab to create a diamond shape, showing some width and length and given structure to the face. This diamond style way to wrap the headscarf is great for any face shape, it is universal style and it is great for sisters who wear glasses. I personally wear this style day to day as I often need to wear glasses.  You also achieve this style if you wear the overhead, tie back jilbabs/abayas. (A future post on this style soon)

I want to make the post a little more interactive, so I want to know how many years you guys have been wearing hijab for and what style you most often do? 

I will start, well I just had a little shock when I only realised right now that I have worn Hijab for 6 years! It feels like a couple years ago that I started to wear hijab, and I wear the diamond hijab style as it suits my face as my face is sort of between oval/circle shaped, it's practical as I wear glasses, as I already mentioned, and it the most comfortable to wear for long period of time. 

***Making these face charts and altering each one took time and effort on my behalf, so I appreciate it that if you intend on using these on your own blog or other social media, which you are free to, but to please post a link to my blog and leave the images unaltered.

Jazaka Allah kheir for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post and if you found this helpful or you know it may help someone else then please do share with others.   

Wasalam -x-