You've probably heard the old "rules" a thousand times. If you have a round face, don't get a bob. If you’re over 60, keep it short. Honestly? Most of that is total nonsense.
The goal isn't just to "slim" the face—it's to find balance while dealing with the reality of hair at 60, 70, and beyond. Texture changes. Volume starts to pull a disappearing act. Color might be shifting to a beautiful silver or a soft salt-and-pepper. When you're looking for hairstyles for round faces over 60, you’re looking for a strategy, not just a haircut. It’s about creating height where there’s flatness and angles where there’s softness.
Stop trying to hide your face. Start framing it.
The verticality trick: Why height beats length
Most people think long hair hides a round jawline. It doesn't. In fact, long, limp hair can actually drag the face down, making the cheeks look heavier than they really are. What you actually need is verticality.
Think about a classic pixie. Not the flat-to-the-head kind that looks like a swim cap, but a textured, voluminous pixie. By adding height at the crown, you're literally changing the perceived proportions of your head. You're stretching the silhouette.
Chris McMillan, the man behind some of the most iconic celebrity cuts, often talks about the importance of the "square" shape in a haircut to balance a round face. If you go too rounded with the cut, you just look like a circle inside a circle. Nobody wants that. You want those choppy, jagged bits at the top to draw the eye upward. It’s basically an optical illusion, but one that works every single time you look in the mirror.
Pixies and the power of the "Spiky" top
A pixie isn't a "grandma cut" anymore. It's a power move. For a round face, the secret lies in the sides. Keep the sides tight—not buzzed, unless that's your vibe—but close enough to the scalp that they don't add width to your cheekbones.
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Then, you go wild with the top.
Use a bit of sea salt spray or a lightweight pomade. You want that piecey, "I just woke up looking this cool" texture. If you leave the bangs long and swept to the side, you create a diagonal line. Diagonal lines are your best friend. They slice across the roundness of the forehead and create an angle where there wasn't one.
The "Long Bob" or Lob: A safe haven
Maybe you aren't ready to chop it all off. That's fine. The Lob—the long bob—is arguably the most flattering hairstyles for round faces over 60 because it hits that sweet spot just below the chin.
Here is the catch: it has to be asymmetrical or layered.
A blunt, chin-length bob is a disaster for a round face. It creates a horizontal line right at the widest part of your face. It's like drawing a highlighter pen across your jaw. Instead, ask for a lob that hits the collarbone. The length provides a vertical frame that "slices" off the sides of the face, making it appear narrower.
Add some long, face-framing layers. These should start below the chin. If they start at the cheek, they'll just add volume where you don't need it. You want the layers to kick out or lay flat in a way that leads the eye down toward your neck and shoulders.
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Texture is the secret sauce
At 60, your hair might be thinning. Or maybe it’s gotten wiry.
Don't fight the texture. If you have natural waves, lean into them. Soft, beachy waves are great for round faces because they break up the symmetry. Symmetry is the enemy of a round face. Anything too perfect, too centered, or too balanced just highlights the circular nature of the face shape.
Shag cuts: The 70s are back (and they work)
The modern shag is a godsend. It’s messy, it’s intentional, and it’s full of those diagonal lines we talked about. With a shag, you get a lot of short layers around the crown (height!) and thinner, wispy ends (no bulk at the bottom!).
Jane Fonda has basically pioneered this look for decades. It’s effortless. It’s also incredibly easy to style. If you’re tired of spending 45 minutes with a blow-dryer and a round brush, the shag is your new best friend. You basically just scrunch in some mousse and go.
Let's talk about bangs
Can you wear bangs with a round face over 60? Yes. But stop thinking about those heavy, straight-across "Zooey Deschanel" bangs. Those will make your face look half as long and twice as wide.
You want curtain bangs or side-swept bangs.
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Curtain bangs part in the middle and sweep out toward the ears. They create an "inverted V" shape on the forehead. This is huge. That little triangle of skin showing at the top of your forehead actually makes your face look longer. Side-swept bangs do something similar by creating that diagonal line that breaks up the circle.
The gray factor: Color and dimension
When we talk about hairstyles for round faces over 60, we have to talk about color. Solid color is flat. Flat color makes the hair look thinner and the face look heavier.
Whether you’re embracing your natural silver or you’re a die-hard bottle brunette, you need dimension. Lowlights and highlights create shadows and reflections. Just like contouring with makeup, "hair contouring" uses darker tones around the jawline and lighter tones near the top of the head to reshape the face.
If you're going gray, consider "herringbone highlights." It's a technique where stylists blend your natural gray with fine highlights of warm and cool tones. It looks expensive. It looks deliberate. And it keeps the hair from looking like a solid block of color around your face.
Avoid these common traps
- The Center Part: Unless you have incredibly high cheekbones and a very specific bone structure, the center part is tough. It splits the face into two equal halves and emphasizes the width. Try a deep side part instead.
- The "Poodle" Perm: Too much tight curl around the sides of the face adds massive width. If you love curls, go for bigger, looser waves.
- Too Much Product: Heavy waxes and gels will weigh the hair down. Gravity is already working against us; don't help it out. You want lift. You want movement.
- The Chin-Length Blunt Cut: We've said it before, but it bears repeating. Ending your hair exactly where your face is widest is a recipe for a "bowl" look.
Real talk on maintenance
Let's be real. Short hair is "easier" to wash, but it's "harder" to style because you can't just throw it in a ponytail on a bad hair day. If you choose a pixie or a short shag, you’re committing to a trim every 4 to 6 weeks to keep those angles sharp.
If you're more of a "get up and go" person, the shoulder-length lob is your best bet. It’s long enough to tie back when you’re gardening or hitting the gym, but stylish enough to look "done" with minimal effort.
Actionable Next Steps
- Audit your current look: Stand in front of the mirror and pull your hair back. Look at where the widest part of your face is. Is your current haircut ending right there? If so, it's time for a change.
- Find a stylist who understands aging hair: Hair at 60 is not the same as hair at 20. It reacts differently to bleach, heat, and cutting techniques. Ask for someone who specializes in texture and thinning hair.
- Bring photos, but be realistic: Find pictures of women with your actual face shape and hair texture. If you have fine, straight hair, showing your stylist a photo of a woman with thick, curly hair won't end well.
- Invest in a lifting spray: Before you change your cut, try a root-lifting spray. Sometimes just adding a bit of height to your current style can bridge the gap until your next salon appointment.
- Check the "profile" view: When you get a haircut, look at the back and the sides. A round face benefit from a "tapered" back, which makes the neck look longer and the overall silhouette more elegant.
The right hairstyle isn't about looking younger. It’s about looking like the most "put-together" version of yourself. A round face is a soft, youthful feature—don't fight it, just frame it properly. Look for those angles, keep that volume at the crown, and don't be afraid to experiment with a little bit of "messy" texture. It's often the imperfections in a haircut that make it look the most human and the most flattering.