How Face Shape Affects the Way Your Clients Age – And How to Treat It
As an aesthetics professional, understanding how face shape influences the aging process is crucial in creating bespoke treatment plans and natural-looking results for your clients.
Ageing isn’t just about wrinkles, it’s also about volume loss, shifting fat pads, and structural changes in the bone. Your ability to identify these changes and select the right treatments will set you apart as a skilled injector.
Why Face Shape Matters in Aging
Facial aging occurs due to a combination of factors, including bone resorption, fat redistribution, collagen depletion, and skin laxity. However, how these changes manifest can largely depend on the client’s natural face shape. Some face shapes retain volume longer but may experience sagging, while others lose structure and definition more rapidly. As an injector, understanding these distinctions allows you to create bespoke treatment plans for your client that preserve youthful contours and balance.
How Different Face Shapes Age – And What That Means for Treatment
Each face shape experiences aging differently. Recognising these variations allows you to make strategic treatment choices that preserve balance and harmony.
Round Faces
A round face shape will be equal in length as it would be in width and is very circular where the sides of the face curve slightly outward instead of going straight. The chin is typically rounded and the cheeks are very full with the cheekbones being the widest part of the face.
Round faces are known to be soft and curved with no harsh and angular edges. For example, Jennifer Lawrence and Selena Gomez are known to have a round face.
- Common Aging Concerns: Retains volume well but can develop heaviness, jowls, or a “puffy” appearance. Skin laxity can cause downward movement, creating a loss of definition in the lower face. This can lead to a less sculpted jawline and an overall softer appearance.
- Treatment Approach: Focus on contouring and definition. Strategic mid-face volumisation can provide lift, while jawline and chin augmentation with dermal fillers can enhance structure. Skin-tightening treatments may also help maintain firmness. Polynucleotides or collagen-stimulating treatments can help improve skin quality and slow down the appearance of heaviness.
Oval Faces
An oval face shape describes a person whose forehead is slightly wider than their jaw. The cheekbones are typically the widest part of the face and the length of the face is around one-&-a-half times its width. The jawline is often rounded and soft rather than being sharp and defined. Picture an egg placed upside down.
Celebrities with oval shaped faces include Julia Roberts and Jessica Alba.
- Common Aging Concerns: Typically ages evenly, but sagging can become a concern as soft tissue descends, particularly around the jawline and nasolabial folds. Mid-face volume loss may contribute to a “flattened” look over time.
- Treatment Approach: A multi-layered approach often works best—combining mid-face volumisation with skin-tightening treatments, jawline contouring, and hydration-boosting injectables to maintain skin integrity. Collagen stimulators can also help with skin laxity and firmness, keeping the face looking structured as volume diminishes.
Triangle Faces
A triangular face has a narrow forehead, wide jawline and a face that is longer than it is wide. It tapers from a broad jawline up to a narrower forehead.
- Common Aging Concerns: Inverted triangle-shaped faces tend to experience volume loss in the upper face first, which can exaggerate lower face heaviness as aging progresses. This may contribute to jowling and a less defined jawline.
- Treatment Approach: Balancing the face by restoring volume in the mid and upper face is key. Cheek fillers and temple volumisation can help lift the lower face. Jawline contouring can redefine structure, while collagen stimulators can improve skin laxity over time.
Square Faces
A square face has a length and width that are similar in size, just like a round face, yet it is more angular. People with square faces have broad foreheads, angular jaws, and strong cheekbones.
Celebrities with a square face include Angelina Jolie and Margot Robbie.
- Common Aging Concerns: Holds structure longer due to strong bone density, but as soft tissue diminishes, it can lead to a more angular, hollow, or harsh look. The lower face may become more prominent with age, exacerbating the appearance of jowling.
- Treatment Approach: Cheek and mid-face volumisation can soften harsh angles and restore balance. Consider subtle dermal fillers to maintain youthful contours while respecting the natural definition of the jawline. Masseter Botox® can also help soften overactive jaw muscles, preventing an overly prominent lower face in clients prone to muscle hypertrophy.
Heart-Shaped Faces
The widest part of a heart shaped face is the forehead. The face then narrows down towards a delicate, narrow jawline and the chin is typically pointed.
Think Reese Witherspoon.
- Common Aging Concerns: Volume loss occurs quickly in the cheeks and temples, leading to a sunken, tired look. The chin may appear more pointed as mid-face support diminishes. Clients with this face shape often struggle with tear trough hollowing and deep nasolabial folds earlier than others.
- Treatment Approach: Focus on restoring mid-face volume with cheek fillers to provide lift and rejuvenation. Subtle chin augmentation may help maintain balance. Tear trough fillers can refresh tired eyes, while skin boosters or polynucleotides improve hydration and elasticity to counteract thinning skin.
Diamond Faces
A diamond shaped face is similar to a heart shaped face but the hairline is narrower.
They are characterised by pointed chins and high cheekbones, narrow forehead, and the face is longer than it is wide.
- Common Aging Concerns: Tends to maintain definition in the cheekbones but experiences volume loss in the temples and under the eyes. This can lead to a hollowed or gaunt appearance, with noticeable shadows forming around the mid-face.
- Treatment Approach: Mid-face restoration with cheek and temple fillers can help soften the appearance of hollowness. Tear trough rejuvenation may also be beneficial. Polynucleotides an improve skin elasticity, helping maintain a youthful glow.
The Key to Successful Treatments? Understanding the Bigger Picture
Great aesthetic outcomes come from treating the face as a whole, rather than chasing individual lines or volume loss. By assessing your client’s face shape and anticipating how they will age, you can create long-term treatment plans that deliver the best results. A well-balanced approach may combine:
✅ Dermal fillers for volume restoration and contouring
✅ Botulinum toxin for muscle balance and wrinkle prevention
✅ Polynucleotides and skin boosters for hydration and skin quality
✅ Collagen stimulators such as Microneedling and Hydro / Hydromax to improve laxity and structure over time
✅ Skin-tightening treatments such as NeoGen and Hydro / Hydromax for sagging prevention
At SkinViva Academy, we train medical professionals to master advanced facial assessment and treatment planning, helping you develop the expertise needed to grow your aesthetics career.
Want to refine your skills and offer more tailored, high-level treatments?
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BOTOX and Fillers Training Manchester
SkinViva Training Academy offers a comprehensive range of aesthetic treatment training courses for medical professionals such as suitably qualified and registered medical professionals who wish to learn and build on their skills in delivering these procedures. For more information, please feel to browse our latest availability.
SkinViva Training Academy was established by Dr Tim Pearce MBChB BSc (Hons) MRCGP in 2013 after he set up SkinViva in 2008 – an aesthetic treatment business which now covers the North West of England.
For further information, to discuss which course is right for you, to enquire about availability or to book a training course please call 0161 850 2491, or email info@skinvivatraining.com.
