Certain Style

Earrings add an important element of style to your outfit and your overall look, but earrings can do so much more than that. A carefully chosen pair of earrings can subtly alter the shape of your face and accentuate your best features while playing down your less than desirable ones. Unfortunately, many women don’t take the time to take choose earrings that play up their best attributes. Here’s how to choose earrings that will subtly enhance your overall appearance:

Choose earrings that flatter your hair color

If you have dark hair, you can wear almost any color of metal but platinum and sterling silver earrings look particularly dramatic on raven haired people. Blondes tend to shine in shades of polished or brushed gold while red heads are a natural for copper. Mixed metal earrings, which combine gold and silver or gold, copper, and silver look stunning with almost any hair color. Selecting the most flattering metal makes your eyes look brighter and your face a bit more youthful.

Choose earrings that flatter your face shape

Do you have a round or plump face? You’ll want to avoid repeating the round shape in your earrings. Large round button earrings tend to accentuate a plump face, while a long drop dangle or rectangle shape will draw the eye down and give the illusion of a longer, thinner face. Likewise if you have a long, thin face, you’ll want to avoid long dangles and rectangular shapes and go for short, wider shapes that rest directly on the earlobe. If you choose to wear dangle earrings, make sure they have volume at the base to add width. A good choice might be a pair of wide chandelier earrings. If your face is square in shape, it’s more flattering to draw the eye downward with thin dangles. Wide earrings that rest directly on the ear tend to add more facial width. To determine what earring shapes look best with your face, try cutting shapes out of colored cardboard and holding them up to your ear lobes. Which ones are the most flattering? These are the shapes you’ll want to look for when selecting earrings.

Choose earrings that flatter your overall build

It’s often said that if you’re small and petite you should keep your earrings small and subtle. This isn’t always the case. A larger, more dramatic pair of earrings can be flattering to a small person if other jewelry is kept to a minimum and they’re worn with polished, monochromatic clothing. In this way, the earrings can become the focal point of the outfit. Full-figured women can wear bold, dramatic earrings in larger styles, which can subtly downplay the size of their upper body. Tall women can wear long dramatic dangles that might overpower some women since they tend to have longer necks. Shorter necks may be overpowered by earrings that dangle.

Earrings can be a fun and flattering addition to your wardrobe. Choose them wisely and you’ll always look your best.