Buzz Cuts And Oval Faces: The Complete Guide

When you’re trimming your hair down this short, face shape really isn’t something you want to ignore. 

You’re about to learn everything you need to know about buzz cuts and oval faces – whether it works, tips for styling them, and some great examples at the end. 

Let’s get to it. 

Does A Buzz Cut Look Good On An Oval Face? 

Buzz cuts look great on an oval face. The well-balanced features lend themselves well to very short hairstyles. Going too short, however, does run the risk of making the face appear too round. 

The versatility of an oval face shouldn’t ever be underestimated. The face width will gradually reduce from the forehead with a sloping jawline. 

The features are evenly-proportioned but are soft and not angular.  

People with oval faces have the benefit of styling a variety of different hairstyles and lengths with less risk of their features being thrown off balance. 

When it comes to buzz cuts, however, some caution should still be taken. In the next section, you’ll learn a few tips to ensure the style of buzz cut you choose is ideal. 

3 Tips For Styling Buzz Cuts With An Oval Face

Consider all of these tips before heading to the barber or buzzing your own hair. 

While oval faces are versatile, trimming the right buzz cut can make the difference between a good buzz cut and a great one. 

1. Don’t Go Too Short

In general, it’s best not to go shorter than a number 3 buzz cut when you’ve got an oval face. 

Don’t go too short up top with your buzz cut. Doing so can make the face look too round despite the gradually sloping jawline of an oval face. 

The reason behind this is that you lose the ability to add any real height with the hair on top. 

This is a problem with buzz cuts in general, but even more so with the ultra-short buzz cuts. 

You probably wouldn’t be able to style a real quiff or pomp with any buzz cut, but with the “longer” buzz cuts you’ll at least be left with a small amount of height up top. 

While a number 3 buzz cut isn’t exactly long (10mm to be exact), it won’t leave the face looking quite as round as a number 0, number 1, or number 2 buzz cut would. 

The difference would be subtle and not quite as significant as it would be for someone with a truly round face, as buzz cuts with round faces can be pretty tough to style. 

At the end of the day, the features of an oval face are well-proportioned enough to prevent the face from looking too round regardless. 

But the effect of a very short buzz cut would still be noticeable. 

2. Consider Long Top And Short Sides

Another way of preventing an oval face from looking too round with a buzz cut would be to taper the sides, making them noticeably shorter than the hair on top. 

What most people think of when they hear the term buzz cut is an “induction cut”, which refers to a style where all of the hair is trimmed to the same length in all directions. 

But most buzz cuts these days usually have at least a subtle difference in length between the top and the sides. 

This could simply be a difference of one or two clipper grades. 

Or, it could be a more significant difference as you’d get with buzz cut variations such as crew cuts and Ivy Leagues. 

But the bottom line here is that having the top longer than the sides, even by just a little, will reduce the risk of the face looking too round with a buzz cut. 

It gives off the illusion of length and height up top as it’s compared to the short hair at the sides. 

3. Beards Work Well

Buzz cuts and beards work very well together, especially when there’s a risk of a buzz cut making the face look too round. 

The beard will add length to the bottom of the face to make up for the lack of length up top. This creates the illusion of the face looking longer than it actually is. 

When you’ve got an oval face, you’ll want to be cautious with this as well, however. Yes, you want to add some length to the face, but not so much that you’ve now got the complete opposite issue of the face looking too long. 

Remember, oval faces are already well-proportioned. Any changes you make should be subtle enough to not ruin this benefit. 

So, stick to stubble or short beards. 

4 Buzz Cut Styles For Oval Faces

Here are some examples of buzz cut styles on oval faces to serve as inspiration. They may not all appeal to you, but there’s a good chance that some of them will. 

Long Induction Buzz Cut

A long induction style buzz cut will have the hair all over trimmed to the same length. That length, however, will be a little longer than your average buzz cut. 

This one looks like a number 5 buzz cut (16mm). 

Notice how it clearly looks like a buzz cut, but there’s still more than enough length up top to prevent the face from looking too round. 

Even though the side hair isn’t that short relative to the top, the hair is long enough all over for this not to matter. 

Crew Cut

A crew cut is a buzz cut variation where the hair on top is left long and often scissor-cut, gradually tapering in length from the front to the back. In contrast, the sides are clipped down much shorter. 

The great thing about the crew cut is its versatility. You’ve got enough length up top to actually style if you wanted to. 

It would usually be possible to style a very short quiff, tall enough to add length and elongate the face. 

They work incredibly well on oval faces because of this. 

Although you’ve got more length than you would with a regular induction-style buzz cut, it’s still a pretty low maintenance style in terms of washing, drying, and styling. 

Buzz Cut With Beard 

Stubble and short beards work the best when it comes to buzz cuts and oval faces. Long enough to add some length, but not too much length. 

This is a great example. It would amount to heavy stubble which is usually in the 4 to 5mm range. 

It’s simple to maintain. You’ll come across as clearly “bearded” without the upkeep of a longer beard. 

Number 4 Buzz Cut

The number 4 buzz cut is one of the most popular lengths for people looking to transition into buzz cut styles. They’re short enough to clearly be recognized as a buzz cut, while usually not being too drastic of a change. 

It’s also long enough to prevent an oval face from looking too round. Definitely one to consider if you don’t want to go quite as short as a number 3. 

Conclusion

Hopefully, that’s everything you could have wanted to know about trimming and styling a buzz cut with an oval face. 

The benefits of this endlessly versatile face shape shouldn’t be underestimated. But at the end of the day, there will always be certain styles and lengths that suit it better than others. 

Enjoy.