Womens Sunglasses:

"Fashion Advice on How to Select & Wear Sunglasses"

Courtesy of Sunglass Warehouse
Need advice on how to buy womens sunglasses? On this page you'll find guidelines to the best sunglass styles for your face shape and personal style - along with tips on how to get the most out of them!

Want to look for the latest sunglasses styles and shop instead?

Get fashion advice & tips on:

What sunglasses to invest in
The best styles for your face shape
How to ensure UV protection

You want to make sure to place your money on a pair of sunglasses that look fabulous on you and that are safe on your eyes.

Read along as we'll go through pointers to have in mind when shopping for the perfect match for you:

What Sunglasses to Invest In?

Make sure to spend some time on hunting for the perfect sunglasses. If you want to get the most out of your money, you need to first secure sunglasses in timeless styles and colors.

Examples are: simple square frames, aviator frames oh, and you can never go wrong with Wayfarer sunglasses! And ideally in your best neutrals (eg. black, brown, beige, white, etc.) without any fancy details that draw too much attention and are harder to mix & match with your outfits.

In this way, you'll be able to wear them with the rest of your wardrobe without ever having to think twice about if they match. These classic sunglass styles never go out of style so you never have to worry about looking outdated.

The drawer sunglass essentials, are in my opinion:

One pair of basic shades in dark neutral
One pair of fun, but versatile sunglasses

As you can see, your sunglass essentials are almost entirely based on your personal style but they still need to be versatile enough to be worn with the rest of your wardrobe. So start off by securing the essentials and then build on your collection based on your personal taste. For example if your style is Eclectic or a bit artsy add a pair of sunglasses in red.

Here are examples of trendy but versatile sunglasses:

Trendy womens sunglasses

Courtesy of Celebutopia
Or if you live in a all-around sunny climate you can make sunglasses your signature pieces that people will remember you by! Learn more about finding and defining your personal style

Womens Sunglasses in Your Best Colors

Colors affect the way you look. It can either make you look drained or give an healthy glow to your face and hair. Look your best by selecting the right colors for your hair and skin complexion.

In general, if you're warm-toned (Spring and Autumn), you'll look fabulous in golden, warm colors such as brown, cream, gold and tomato red.

If you're cool-toned, (Summer and Winter), you'll look best in colors such as black, blue, white and silver.

Check out Cheryl Cole's warm coloring compared to Sarah Harding's:

Cheryl Cole with oversized big sunglasses

Sarah Harding with oversized big sunglasses

Images via sunglasses-shop.co.uk
See how the golden browns bring out a healthy glow in Cheryl's olive skin? Sarah has a much vivid and cool skin tone and looks amazing with black sunglasses. Learn how to find and wear your best colors.

Note: If you're warm-toned and wish to wear black sunglasses then choose ones that have a warm-colored lense in for example brown, yellow, dark charcoal grey, golden red, etc. or some gold decoration.

If you have cool skin and hair, then you might want to choose purple and bluish lenses.

Sunglasses for your Face Shape

The right sunglass frames will looking flattering on you by balancing out the shape as well as complement the scale of it.

For example, if you have a square face then softly rounded frames will help deflect your angular jaw. Or if you have a round face, you need sunglasses that are wide enough to cover the broadest part of your face (cheekbone) and make it look slimmer.

Or for example, oversized sunglasses elongate a narrow and long face shape. A wide and round face will look bigger in narrow and small sunglasses.

Why? Simply because of the obvious difference in size :) Learn more on how to determine your face shape.

Best Sunglasses for the 7 Face Shapes

Let's have a look the different common face shapes and what suits each of them the best:

Oval

Round

Oblong

Square

Triangular

Heart

Diamond

Oval Face Shape

Lucky you! You have the most options when choosing sunglasses because your facial shape is already proportional.

Sunglasses for oval face shape

Squarish frames with gently rounded corners will look really good on your face. Learn more about how to style your Oval Face Shape.

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Round Face Shape

Your main goal should be to elongate and slim down your face. So choose frames equal to or slightly wider than the broadest part of your face.

Sunglasses for round face shape

Elongate your temples with brow bars or double brow. This will help to create a longer profile. You might also want to off-set your rounded face shape and sharpen it with angular frames. Avoid round and narrow frames at all cost.. unless you want to emphasize your face shape :-) Learn more about how to style your Round Face Shape.

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Narrow/Oblong Face Shape

Your main goal is to shorten as well as widen your face shape. Deep frames along with short horizontal & long vertical frame (eg. aviator sunglasses) are recommended.

Sunglasses for oblong narrow face shape

Details at the temples and narrow sunglass styles will look good on you. Learn more about how to style your Oblong Face Shape.

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Square Face Shape

Your main goal is to soften your angular face with delicate, curvy frames like round and oval, like for example aviator sunglasses. You can wear square frames but they need to have rounded corners.

Sunglasses for oblong narrow face shape

If you have a short square face shape, follow my advice on round face shapes on elongating your face. Learn more about how to style your Square Face Shape.

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Triangular Face Shape

You want to balance out your wide lower part by adding more width to your forehead with for example aviators, brow bars and double brow, or frames with details on the upper rim (think horned rim glasses).

Sunglasses for triangular face shape

Look for shapes that angle outwards at the top corners like cat eyes. They should be wide enough to form a straight line with your broad jaw. Learn more about how to style your Triangular Face Shape.

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Diamond Face Shape

You might want to soften your wide cheekbones with something delicate and with curves like frames with rounded corners.

Sunglasses for Diamond face shape

Look for sunglasses that add more width to your narrow forehead with sunglasses that angle outwards the upper corners. Learn more about how to style your Diamond Face Shape.

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Heart Face Shape (also: Inverted Triangle)

Your focus is to camouflage your wide forehead - which means look for frames that are wider on top than bottom, such as aviator sunglasses.

Sunglasses for heart Diamond face shape

You can also get away with rectangular and rounded frames as long as the top is wider than the bottom. Learn more about how to style your Heart Face Shape.

Pay close attention to Your Facial Features
If you have strong features (strong chin, prominent nose etc.), select a pair that softens them. Or if you have delicate features ( like a short nose, rounded jaw etc.), choose a shape opposite from it to visually sharpen them a little. Learn more about styling your face shape.

Scaling the Sunglasses

Like say, if you have a small face with delicate features, large sunglasses will look too much on you, making you look like a little child wearing your mother's dress.

Here we can see Beyonce wearing a pair of slightly small Raybans that isn't quite scaled to her face size. She would look better in bigger shades. Nicole Richie on the other hand is wearing super huge sunglasses that make her face smaller (which is her signature style).

Beyonce wearing small sunglasses, Nicole Richie wearing oversized sunglasses

Beyonce wearing small sunglasses, Nicole Richie wearing oversized sunglasses

Courtesy of Phestival.com and Celebutopia
For example - if you have a wide face and you attempt to wear a pair of narrow sunglasses - it will only make your face shape more noticeable. It's like trying to fit in a dress that's too small and everything just pops out.

So you should opt for bigger sunglasses with either angular or round frames depending on how sharp or delicate your features are.

Note: If you're a trendsetting fashionista and/or want to create a fashion statement, it's completely fine to wear large sunglasses to darw attention, just make sure you're confident and comfortable with it!

Be Safe - Check the Label for UV Protection

Woman wearing sunglasses out in the sun. Check UV protection of the sunglasses!

Wearing sunglasses reduces the risk of eye damage due to sun exposure. Just like sunscreen lotion protects you from dangerous ultra violet rays (that can lead to skin cancer) sunglasses protect your eyes.

You do know that exposure to sunlight can contribute to cataracts and eye disorders?

According to Sheryl Berman, M.D., a medical officer in the FDA's Division of Ophthalmic and Ear, Nose, and Throat Devices, light still enters from the sides of sunglasses and can be reflected into the eye extra protection, no matter if the sunglasses give 100% UV protection.

So if you're planning to stay out in the sun for a longer period of time, you might want to look for close-fitting, larger-lensed or wrap-around sunglasses. These will prevent UV rays from filtering in from around the edges.

Don't assume that you get full protection from sun rays with pricier sunglasses with darker tint. You might want to look at the label specifically states that the glasses have at least 99%, or best of of all 100% UV Protection. This is often stated on the online store item description or on a small sticker on the sunglasses at your local store.

Note: The best way to secure that the sunglasses you're buying online are UV-safe, is to buy at reputable stores. If you're not sure of their level of UV protection, you could also ask an eye-care professional to test your sunglasses.

Beware that most counterfeit (replicas) cheap sunglasses, especially sold from street vendors, don't have UV protection, no matter how dark the lenses are or how good they look.