Horizontal facial thirds

The concept of facial balance is often understood through aesthetic principles, one of which divides the face horizontally into approximate thirds. These sections are typically defined as:

• Upper Third: From the hairline down to the brow line (glabella).
• Middle Third: From the brow line (glabella) to the base of the nose (subnasale).
• Lower Third: From the base of the nose (subnasale) down to the chin.

According to classical aesthetic principles, an ideally balanced face has these three horizontal thirds of roughly equal length. When these proportions are not uniform, it can lead to an appearance of imbalance. Many individuals have a naturally dominant third, though often the difference in size is subtle. However, when these discrepancies are more pronounced, individuals might express concerns such as a “small” or receding chin, or a prominent nose.

Adjusting these horizontal thirds is an option to balance facial structure and reduce the perceived dominance of certain features. For instance, increasing the chin’s structure can make a dominant nose appear more proportionate. Similarly, adding subtle projection to the lips can help balance a prominent chin. While the rule of thirds is a valuable tool for aesthetic assessment, it’s always applied in the context of an individual’s unique ethnicity, sex, age, and personal preferences.

Vertical facial fifths

The principle of vertical fifths offers another insightful way to assess facial balance. This concept is rooted in the inter-canthal distance – the precise measurement between your eyes – which serves as a foundational unit for many ideal facial proportions and ratios.

According to this rule, an aesthetically harmonious face can be divided into five equally wide vertical segments by imagining four lines extending upwards from the inner and outer corners of each eye. By applying this framework during a facial assessment, practitioners can pinpoint areas that appear disproportionately wide or narrow. This detailed analysis then helps to inform and design a tailored treatment plan. For instance, the rule of fifths is frequently used when considering treatments aimed at refining the width of the nose, or when strategically augmenting areas like the cheekbones to achieve a more balanced appearance. As with all aesthetic guidelines, the rule of fifths is always interpreted individually, taking into account your unique gender, ethnicity, age, and personal aesthetic preferences.

Causes of Facial Asymmetry

Why is my face uneven?

An uneven face is a natural occurrence, often linked to how our facial features develop before birth. While some individuals naturally possess more symmetrical faces, others experience noticeable asymmetry that bothers them. Several factors can worsen facial asymmetry over time, including habits like smoking, past injuries, and the natural ageing process. Certain medical conditions, such as Bell’s palsy, can also contribute to unevenness. Beyond genetics, a significant contributor to facial asymmetry is consistently chewing on one side of the jaw. This habit can alter jaw position and lead to one side of the face becoming more muscular than the other.

The only natural way to improve facial symmetry is to consciously try and chew using both sides of your jaw. Additionally, maintaining good skin health and overall well-being can help to slow down the progression of age-related facial asymmetry.

Why is my jaw uneven?

It’s common for most people to have some degree of jaw unevenness, primarily because of a preference for chewing on one side of the face. This habitual chewing leads to the enlargement of the mastication (chewing) muscles, mainly the temporalis and masseter muscles. Over time, this muscle imbalance can subtly shift the position of your jaw bone. You can naturally work to improve jaw asymmetry by consciously distributing your chewing effort across both sides of your jaw. Alternatively, there are treatments available to reduce the size of the more prominent side of your face.

Why are my eyebrows uneven?

Most individuals have some degree of eyebrow asymmetry. The position of your eyebrows is influenced by the unique shape of your underlying brow bone and the varying strength of the frontalis muscles in your forehead. Additionally, differences in eyebrow hair distribution and thickness can contribute to an uneven appearance.

To improve the symmetry of your eyebrows, you can style them to appear more balanced. Furthermore, there are various clinical treatments that can adjust their position.

Why are my lips uneven?

All lips inherently possess some degree of asymmetry, though the extent of unevenness varies among individuals. The symmetry of your lips is determined by multiple factors, including the distribution of the red lip tissue on each side, the underlying lip volume, the alignment of your teeth, and the differing muscle strength on each side of your face. Given these numerous contributing factors, achieving perfectly even lips is practically impossible.

However, some treatments can adjust the volume and muscle strength of your lips, thereby improving their overall symmetry.

Why is my chin uneven?

An uneven chin is most frequently linked to an incorrect position of your mandible (jaw bone) or underlying dental issues. While surgical interventions can be used to improve chin symmetry, non-surgical options can also address chin asymmetry. Although achieving perfect chin symmetry is not feasible, improving an uneven chin is possible.

Treatments for Facial Asymmetry

How volume treatments can help with facial symmetry

Various treatments targeting facial volume can address concerns about facial asymmetry. These techniques allows us to add structure areas that may be less prominent on one side of your face, helping to create a more harmonious and balanced look. These approaches are effective for many areas where more structure is desired to improve overall facial balance. However, if your goal is to reduce the size of a larger, more prominent area to match a weaker side, volume-adding treatments would not be the suitable option; other approaches would be more appropriate in such cases.

How muscle treatments can help with facial symmetry

Treatments that target specific muscles can refine facial symmetry by adjusting the position or size of certain facial features. Since these approaches target facial muscles, they can be used to subtly raise or lower eyebrow height, alter the position of your mouth corners, and even add perceived height to your lips. By treating only one side of the face, or by applying a more extensive treatment to one side, we can address concerns about symmetry. Specifically, when targeting chewing muscles like those along the jawline or in the temples, these treatments can lead to a natural reduction in their size. This allows a larger, more prominent side of the face to become more similar in appearance to the other side, thereby addressing symmetry-related concerns.

What does a symmetrical face look like?

While highly symmetrical faces are often perceived as attractive, a perfectly symmetrical face can paradoxically appear somewhat unsettling. Studies involving half-face mirroring have found that humans tend to find slightly asymmetrical faces to be the most attractive. Faces with perfect symmetry often lack a sense of authenticity and can appear less real, akin to the “uncanny valley” effect observed when looking at highly lifelike but not quite perfect dolls. Fortunately, achieving perfect symmetry is not attainable with treatments, which is a beneficial aspect. Instead, you can achieve noticeable and natural-looking improvements in the symmetry of your face, without looking uncanny.

What are the different face shapes?

Understanding your unique facial structure is the first step towards achieving a balanced appearance. While everyone’s face is distinct, we often see features that align with general face shapes such as:

• Square
• Round
• Rectangle
• Oval
• Heart
• Diamond

It’s also common to have “combination shapes,” where your features blend characteristics from more than one category. Your face shape is generally determined by factors like its overall length and the width at your temples, cheeks, chin, and jawline.

At Cosmetic Connection, we understand that subtle refinements can make a significant difference. By carefully assessing these areas, our non-surgical techniques can be used to reshape and rebalance your facial contours. To explore how these treatments can be tailored to your specific face shape and concerns, we recommend booking a consultation with our experienced team.