To a woman, choosing a hairstyle is a major decision. Not only do you want one that looks good on you, but you need to choose one that works with your lifestyle. The best place to start is by learning what your face shape is and then choosing a style that flatters your face.

Here are some tips to help you choose the perfect hairstyle:

Know Your Face Shape

There are six basic face shapes and the hairstyle that is going to look good on you depend greatly on which shape of face that you have.

Oval - High forehead. Narrow, slightly rounded chin.

Heart - Wide, short forehead. Small pointy chin.

Diamond - Narrow forehead. Small pointy chin. Wide cheeks.

Square - Wide, short forehead. Square jaw.

Round - Wide, short forehead. Full jaw and chin.

Rectangular - Long face. High forehead. Long jaw and chin.

Triangular - Narrow forehead. Wider at the cheeks and widest at the jaw.

If you are having trouble deciding which shape your face is, try this.

Pull all of your hair back from your face and clip it back. Stand in front of a mirror and take a tube of lipstick. On the mirror, trace the shape of your face with the tube of lipstick. This may be easier for you if you have a friend do the tracing for you.

After you get your face shape traced, step back and look at the shape. You should be able to see easily what shape your face is.

Now that you know your face shape, you can choose which hairstyle would be best for you.

Hairstyles According to Face Shape

Oval - You're lucky! Just about any hairstyle is going to look great on you.

Heart - Bobs will look best on you that have an outward flip at chin level to balance out your face.

Diamond - Choose a style that is narrow at your chin and wider at your forehead.

Square - You're in luck! Layers are in style and will look great on you. Have layers with volume at the crown.

Round - Try hairstyles that slim down your face. Use height and fullness above your ears.

Rectangular - Try a chin or shoulder length hairstyle. A fringe of bangs will look great on you.

Triangular - Short cuts are great for this face shape. Avoid styles that have volume at the top.

After getting an idea of your face shape and the style that is best suited for you, you need to take into consideration your lifestyle. For every face shape, there will be more than one style that will look good on you. So after you've looked at several styles, choose the style that best fits in with how much time you have to spend on your hair. Even the best cut in the world won't do you any good if you don't have time to fix it.