To speak strictly in highbrow economic terms, sunglasses have fast climbed the ranks from luxury to necessity. As ridiculous as that claim may sound, it’s embarrassingly true.  Walk the streets of Bombay, Delhi, wherever you please, and you’ll be hard-pressed to spot the odd one out. In such crucial times of keeping up with the sunglasses-adorned Kapoors, Chaudharis and Joshis, we provide a quick guide on how to buy sunglasses online and choose the perfect sunglasses.

For convenience, we’ll first list styles basis face shape and then basis skin colour. (Yes, we’re obsessive-compulsive like that.)

:: FACE SHAPE

Heart-shaped: Broad forehead, wide cheekbones and a narrow chin, this face shape is the frontrunner in choosing from a wide variety of sunglasses. To buy sunglasses online for this shape, opt for frames with low-set temples to highlight the upper part of your face. 
Recommended frames: straight top line, circular, cat eyes

Oval: With a chin comparatively narrower than the forehead and high cheekbones, this shape also has the luxury of picking from any style of sunglasses. Geometric-shaped frames are best suited to soften the curves of this face shape.
Recommended frames: square, rectangular

Oblong: A narrow, long face characterised by a long forehead and nose and high cheekbones. To make the face seem shorter and wider, pick sunglasses that wrap around the breadth of your face. Sunglasses with decorative temples are best suited to this face shape as they add width. 
Recommended frames: oversize, round, wrap

Round: With full cheekbones and narrow forehead and chin, the trend is to make the face appear thinner and longer. To buy sunglasses online for a round face, pick frames that are either wider or equal to the broadest part of the face. 
Recommended frames: broad square, angular, rectangular

Square: To minimize the sharp angles of the broad forehead, spread-out cheekbones and firm jaw line, opt for frames with curves that soften the shape of the face. 
Recommended frames: oval, cat eyes, round

:: SKIN COLOUR 

Fair complexion: Light frames with a hint of color in red tones will add color to your face. Blue/green and dark colors tend to make you face look paler. 

Wheatish complexion: Olive, Golden skin and dark hair are enhanced by bright silver and gold or light colored non-decorative frames. Very Dark colors should be avoided, as they tend to darken your skin further. 

Dark complexion: Metallic frames look phenomenal on dark skin tones. Light amber tones work well too. Very dark shades should be experimented with.

Though the options are endless and the directions a tad complicated, follow a simple thumb-of-rule to buy sunglasses online for you: whatsoever the shape of your face, pick frames of an opposite shape. Round-faced beauties, head straight for square frames, and square-shaped dreamboats, round is the way to go.

Sneha Rajan is the author of this article on Contact Lens.
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