I am a creature of habit. Once I find something I like I tend to hold it tight for as long as possible, and this holds true for my Ray-Ban white on black 2140 wayfarers that I bought several years ago. Since I bought them, I haven’t spent a dime on a new pair of sunglasses, and after several summers of faithful service, I am yearning for a more sophisticated and versatile pair of sunnies for the fall season.

Choosing a great pair of sunglasses starts with understanding the shape of your face. Face shapes generally fall into one of five categories, oval, square, round, oblong (long and narrow) or triangular. To determine the shape of your face, trace around a photograph or pull your hair back and study the shape of your face in the mirror.

When shopping for the most flattering sunglasses for your facial shape, choose a style that contrasts with the shape of your face. If you have a square shaped face, your most flattering frames will be round, and if you have a round shaped face your most flattering frames will be square.

Oval

An oval shaped face is as desirable as the hourglass shaped figure. This shape is the most proportionately balanced and makes choosing a flattering frame shape a cinch. As a guideline, choose a style that is as wide or wider than the widest part of your face which helps to make the face look thinner.

Square

Angular, square shaped faces are best suited to sunglasses with rounded frames. With a strong jawline, broad forehead and wide cheek bones, rounded frames help to soften the angular features of the face.

Round

If you have a round face, the goal is to choose sunglasses that help to visually elongate the face and make it appear thinner. As such, full, round shaped faces are best suited to angular, square frames. As with an oval shaped face, choose a style that is as wide or wider than the broadest part of your face, which makes the face appear thinner.

Oblong

When choosing sunglasses for an oblong shaped face, the goal is to visually widen and shorten the face. Round or square frames that are not wider than the broadest part of the face are most flattering. Frames that are wider than the broadest part of the face makes the face appear thinner, so when aiming to widen the face, be sure the width of the frames is in proportion to the width of the face.

Triangular

A triangular shaped face is one with a broad forehead and narrow chin. It is particularly challenging to find the perfect shaped frame for a triangular face. Trying on a variety of different shaped frames and choosing the option that best balances the narrow chin and   visually narrows the broad forehead is the best way to choose a flattering frame shape. Cat eye shaped frames are often flattering on this face shape and is a great place to start when searching for the perfect pair of sunglasses.

The perfect pair of sunglasses will not only suit the shape of your face, but suit your style as well. Whether you’re a minimalist who prefers no-fuss, classic styles or a trend hunter who pines for oversized frames in bold hues, there is a perfect pair out there and shopping for it is half the fun!

Tyrina Talks Fashion is your weekly serving of fashion forecasting, trend reporting, figure analysis and helpful fashion tips and tricks. Email Tyrina with your fashion questions and photos at tyrinaalicia@hotmail.com. Visit www.primadonasales.com