This page contains photos of faces viewed from the profile angle, to demonstrate the array of variation which exists. Aesthetically, profiles can broadly be grouped into two categories: vertical/straight and sloping/protruding. To determine which category a face falls into, one must take into consideration not only the facial angle of the skull, but also whether the individual has heavy features (e.g. prominent nose, chin, etc.) or light features. Heavy features will tend to give a living face a protruding look, even if the facial angle of the skull is vertical.
To see faces viewed from the frontal angle, see the Faces Shapes Galleries. Although there is some amount of correlation between the shape of a face when viewed in profile and when viewed from the front, it is important to note that no single face shape has a monopoly on any profile shape. Therefore, the profiles on this page are considered independently of whatever shape the face may be when viewed from the front.
1. Vertical or Straight Profiles
1a. Vertical/straight forehead and facial angle, with light features.
Combining gracile features with a smooth, vertical facial angle, this is the Aryan aesthetic ideal for what a face in profile view should look like.
The forehead remains vertical even when viewed in semi-profile view.
Statue of an Aryan-looking face, commissioned by the National Socialist Race and Resettlement Organization (RuSHA), 1940.
Note again how the forehead remains vertical in semi-profile.
***
1b. Vertical forehead and facial angle, but heavy features.
Similar to how some Oblong faces can give an impression of being an overly-robust and overgrown Oval, some individuals have profiles which are geometrically quite similar to the vertical profiles above, but have heavy noses, chins, or jawlines which give the face a distinctly different impression. By no coincidence, most of the Square and Oblong faces which have vertical/straight facial angles fall into this category.
***
2. Sloping and Protruding Profiles
Note that the forehead does not appear vertical in the semi-profile view, and the heavy browridges accentuate the protruding look.
A heavy nose is a sure way to produce a protruding profile.
