A rounded chin and forehead; your face appears longer than wide and your forehead is wider than your jaw.
The oval face is considered to be the ideal shape because of its balanced
proportions. To keep the oval's natural balance, look for eyeglass frames
that are as wide as (or wider than) the broadest part of the face, or
walnut-shaped frames that are not too deep or too narrow .
Consider most shapes of frames
A long face with a square chin
The oblong face is longer than it is wide and has a long straight cheek
line and sometimes a longish nose. To make the face appear shorter and
more balanced, try frames that have a top-to-bottom depth, decorative
or contrasting temples that add width to the face or a low bridge to shorten
the nose
Consider large square frames
A broad forehead with tapering width down to a very narrow rounded chin.
To minimize the width of the top of the face, try frames that are wider
at the bottom, very light colours and materials, and rimless frame styles
(which have a light, airy effect because the lenses are simply held in
place to the temples by a few screws).
Consider small square or rounded frames
A broad forehead with a long jaw-line and a square chin.
A square face has a strong jaw line and a broad forehead, plus the width
and length are in the same proportions. To make the square face look longer
and soften the angles, try narrow frame styles, frames that have more
width than depth and narrow ovals.
Consider oval and round style frames
A narrow forehead with wide cheekbones and a narrow
chin. Diamond-shaped faces are narrow at the eye line and jaw line, and
cheekbones are often high and dramatic. This is the rarest face shape.
To highlight the eyes and bring out the cheekbones, try frames that have
detailing or distinctive brow lines, or try rimless frames or oval and
cat-eye shapes
Consider wider, bigger styles
A circular face, usually with fuller cheeks and a rounded chin.
A round face has curvilinear lines with the width and length in the same
proportions and no angles. To make the face appear thinner and longer,
try angular narrow eyeglass frames to lengthen the face, a clear bridge
that widens the eyes and frames that are wider than they are deep, such
as a rectangular shape.
Consider more rectangular and wider styles
A narrow forehead that widens at the
cheek and chin areas. To add width and emphasize the narrow upper third
of the face,
Consider frames that are heavily accented with colour and detailing
on the top half or cat-eye shapes
As you browse through our frames, you'll notice icons with these shapes next to each frame to help you choose the frame style that will fit your face the best.
Frames must fit you properly to work right and look good.
For most people the standard fit should be fine.
If you know the size of your frame the options for each style of frame are available from the drop down list. The dimension details are shown on the image on the left. All sizes are in mm.
If you don’t know the size of the frame you require here are some guidelines
Don’t choose a frame that is too large, visual distortion and glare can occur. If your frame is too small, you limit your peripheral vision.
Generally, the frames shouldn't be wider than the widest part of your face, with the exception of frames for oval faces, which can be a little wider. When you put on a pair of glasses, your eyes should look out of the centre of each lens. The frames should not be so tight that they pinch your nose or leave red marks. Conversely, they should not be so loose that they slide down your nose. If they have nose pads, try adjusting them very gently
Tip: The top of the frames should not be above the eyebrow line and the bottom shouldn't touch your cheeks, so they don't irritate your skin. Finally, they should be comfortable around your ears. If your frames become uncomfortable over time, pop into a spectacle shop and ask them to help you adjust them. Usually, adjustments are free. You can try to adjust frames yourself but be very careful because they break easily if you force them.
To determine the size of your face.
For most people the standard fit should be fine.
When determining if a frame is the
right size for you, remember that it's ok if the frame is a bit narrow
on your face, however the total frame width should not be wider than your
face. A typical measurement is 5 inches (127mm) for a small frame, 5 3/4
inches (146mm) for a large frame.
If you have an old pair of glasses that fit, look at the size numbers
on that frame as a good approximation as to whether the frame you have
chosen will fit. You will find the numbers on the inside of the temple
arms or the back of the bridge between the lenses. The size numbers usually
look like this: 52/18 135
What do these frame numbers mean?
The measurements are in mm (millimetres).
For most people the standard fit should be fine.
The first number is the width of the lenses. In this picture it
is 52 (A).
The second is the distance between the lenses. In this picture
it is 18 (DBL).
The third is the full length of the temple/arm (TL). In this picture
it is 135 (Including the part that goes behind your ear)
The total width of the frame is the distance across from the far
left to the far right of the frame when looking straight at it.
In this picture it is 140
Tip1 : Choose sufficient lens height, if bifocals and progressive lenses are ordered.
It is possible for you to have a frame that has a 52-lens size and another frame with a 48 and they both fit perfectly. These numbers are not precise, they are meant as a guide only. In fact many frame companies now only manufacture in one or two sizes.
All of our metal frames are manufactured with the highest quality materials and finishes and our frames have adjustable nose pads and bend-able temples, so they are simple for you or an Optician to adjust!
The contemporary design, durable lightweight construction and high lacquer finish of our plastic frames produce a stylish and comfortable fit.
Tip2 : To see how wide your face is,
just look in the mirror with an ordinary ruler resting on the top of your
nose and measure the total width of your face.
You will also need to find your pupilary distance (P.D.) by measuring
the distance, in millimetres, between the centres of your two pupils (black
spots in the centre of your eye). The number should be somewhere between
45-70 millimetres. Enter the P.D on the prescription page.
Most frames are equipped with built-in spring hinges to ensure proper alignment in addition to fully adjustable soft nose pads for maximum comfort.
The frames you choose should match your lifestyle.
Don’t choose a funky comical pair of glasses if you are only buying one pair! Chances are, you'll probably also need to wear them to school, church, interviews, on the train and busses and every day to work. You know best what your everyday style is: Smart business or jeans and T-shirts, etc so choose something that matches most of your moods.
Construction of frame varies with different materials.
You'll need to select plastic, metal or a combination of both. For folk who are tough on glasses and don’t care for them as they should consider metal frames because they usually last longer, particularly stainless steel and titanium, which is also nice if you think you'll want to keep the frames a long time and just get new lenses when needed. Because most metal frames have adjustable nose pads, they work well for people whose noses are too small or large for plastic frames. If you're allergic to any metals, but have your heart set on a metal frame, make sure to get one that's hypoallergenic. Also, you might want to take into account the kind of jewellery you like to wear: if you wear a lot of gold, you might not want silver-coloured frames and vice versa.
Plastic frames tend to be less expensive and feel lighter on your face. They usually need less maintenance than metal ones, but certain types of plastic contract and expand with temperature changes and require more frequent adjustments.
Do you tend to accidentally break things a lot? If so,
you might want to look into flexible hinges, which are more indestructible
than regular hinges. For example, you can bend the temples (the side "arms")
out more than you can with regular hinges.
Alloy, stainless steel, memory titanium, and memory plastic.
Alloy
The most popular
Most of the metal eyeglass frames, including most of the very expensive
designer brand frames, sold in the world are made of what is called nickel
silver alloy in the trade. Oddly enough nickel silver usually has very
little if no silver at all but is an alloy of mostly copper, nickel, zinc,
and iron. This fairly durable metal holds its shape well, and can be plated
easily to a wide variety of colours, it has relatively low material cost
and is easy to manufacture, hence its popularity for eyeglass frames.
A downside is that about 10% of the population has at least some minor
allergy to nickel, but since these frames are almost always colour electroplated,
they shield and protect the nickel from touching the skin. However, the
parts that do rest on the skin, like the nose pads and temple tips are
usually of plastic anyway.
Our Cosmo range of nickel silver frames have high quality electroplated
finish and have hypoallergenic soft plastic nose pads and plastic temple
tips for maximum comfort.
Stainless steel
Our Cosmo range of stainless steel frames, compared to our alloy frames, are much lighter, and far more durable, stronger, flexible, and corrosion resistant. These frames are a steel and chrome alloy and unlike nickel silver alloy are hypoallergenic. Stainless steel is harder to manufacture into eyeglass frames than alloy and hence these frames are more expensive so they tend to be used less often.
Memory titanium frames
Our range of memory titanium frames use some of the very latest SMA (Shape Memory Alloy) technology and are extremely flexible, light, and durable. Memory titanium is a special titanium alloy belonging to the SMA family. Although SMA was discovered more than 70 years ago the modern SMA mixes are quite extraordinary.
Memory plastic frames
Our memory plastic frames uses the latest plastic technology to produce a very light, extremely flexible frame with a strong shape memory similar to metal alloy SMA's. This material, unlike most plastics, does not stretch or shrink when heated, and the colour is impregnated into the resin so it will not scratch, chip, or wear off.
Eyeglass frames should complement your features
and colouring.
The frame's bridge (that part of the frame that joins the lenses in the front) can affect how your eyes and nose look. A thin or clear bridge gives the illusion of width to eyes that are close-set, while a coloured bridge will make wide-set eyes appear closer together while a low bridge will make your nose appear shorter.
Frame colour should be used to complement your
natural colouring, including skin
tone; skin colour (ranging from fair
to dark) and hair colours.
Yellow – If you are Caucasian, Asian or Light Mixed and have beige or yellow undertones you will look nice with gold, copper , or silver coloured frames
Olive – If you are Mediterranean, Latino, a Fair-skinned African, or dark mixed-race, then you will look nice with light-coloured metals in blue-grey and browns .
Brown – If you are African, deep complexioned Indian or any other dark skin colour then you will look nice with most metallic frames in shades of purple, black, rose-brown, blue-grey, plum, magenta, pink, jade, blue and semi-amber and dark tortoise
Hair and Eye colours are usually a secondary element in determining frame colours but they are important so consider all combinations as a whole.