The Romantic-Classic Connection?
If you have Romantic, are you likely to also have Classic?
Possibly…
The disclaimer is that there’s tons of people who have a lot of Romantic and no Classic.
But, something interesting emerges when we explore:
Essence Lengths
The connection between Romantic and Classic? They’re the only essences that are generally defined by moderate lengths.
The Elongated Essences
Ethereal, Dramatic, and Natural are awesome in elongation, from hair to hemlines.
These essences also often have elongated facial features in horizontal or vertical space (even if it’s not always obvious to the naked eye).
EDN Cate Blanchett
EDN Leona Lewis
The Shortened Essences
Gamine and Ingenue are awesome in cropped fashion—short skirts, cropped pants, ankle boots.
These essences also often have compact facial features:
Jamie Chung has a lot of Gamine and Ingenue, plus (likely a tiny amount of) Dramatic.
Shawn Johnson has primarily Ingenue, with some Gamine and Classic.
The Moderate Essences?
Classic is the Goldilocks essence. Highly Classic faces tend to have features with typical sizes and spacings—not especially long or short, or close together or far apart.
ECDR Caitriona Balfe has primarily Ethereal, with Classic as a likely close second—her features overall appear typically placed, not especially close together or far apart.
And despite her strong Ethereal, she doesn’t necessarily have obvious elongation—that’s partly due to Classic’s moderating effect.
Finally, where does Romantic fit?
It’s harder to say!
Romantic seems to match stereotypes of elongated and shortened essences:
Romantics are amazing in certain elongated elements, like long hair and plunging necklines. Their eyes and lips also sometimes have greater vertical height than average features.
Yet Romantics are also amazing in some shortening, like ankle-revealing pants and waist-length tops. Plus, certain Romantic features, like noses and chins, can appear short compared to average adult features.
So, is Romantic long or short?
Maybe neither! Ultimately, Romantic’s defining shape in fashion seems to be the moderate-to-large circle (or a tapered circle, like a teardrop or heart). And this shape doesn’t really seem elongated or shortened.
Instead, the quintessential Romantic shape has a degree of balance in vertical and horizontal space, giving it a full, rounded shape.
Romantic Dramatic Classic Jessica Alba has some features that may appear short (like her nose), and some that may appear longer in vertical space than average (like her lips). We might argue that overall, her highly Romantic face doesn’t appear quite as short as highly Gamine or Ingenue faces, or as elongated as EDNs. And we might argue that this is often true of highly Romantic beauty.
(Importantly, Romantic in faces isn’t always obvious to the naked eye—especially since most people don’t truly have circular facial features! So you definitely don’t need to have them in order to be Romantic. Jessica Alba is used as an example of what Romantic can look like, but as with every essence, there’s a lot of nuance and variation in how it manifests.)
So, of all the essences, Romantic might actually be most similar to Classic in terms of overall length—not defined by elongation or shortening.
And if this is true, then it might mean that Romantics are most likely, compared to any other essence, to have Classic in their blend.
Simply because if it’s true that Romantic is (generally) characterized by moderate lengths, then Romantic faces might be more likely to have moderate Classic proportions.
But… is this true?
The idea of the “Romantic-Classic connection” actually first came from observation, not theory.
Specifically, it came from typing four essence celebrities.
So far, it seems like some of the most common four essence blends have both Romantic and Classic—like Romantic Ethereal Gamine Classic and Romantic Ethereal Dramatic Classic.
And there’s various potential explanations for this, such as that these essences may be especially well-represented in the media. (Or that I just haven’t typed enough four essence celebs yet to see greater variety, which is a very fair point!)
But interestingly, even though I’ve found many celebrities who have types like Ethereal Dramatic Natural (EDN), Ethereal Dramatic Gamine (EDG), and Ethereal Dramatic Ingenue (EDI), so far I’ve identified very few EDNC, EDGC, and EDIC celebrities.
Why? One possible explanation is that Romantic faces tend to have more moderate proportions, which maybe makes them more likely to have Classic as a fourth essence.
Whereas in comparison, faces comprised entirely of elongated or shortened essences (like EDN, EDG, and EDI) might on average be less likely to have Classic, simply because these blends lack any essence defined by moderate lengths.
But that could be wrong!
The (big!) disclaimer is that this could totally be wrong—it might not be the case that Romantic blends are more likely to have Classic.
And even if it’s true, then it’s still just a statistical average that doesn’t reflect every individual’s reality.
So, even if Romantics on average are more likely to have Classic, you personally could still have a lot of Romantic without any Classic. Or vice versa.
Practical Implications
A few practical takeaways:
1) Length Matters
Even if the Romantic-Classic connection is ultimately false, it’s still a good reminder that the length of your face and facial features can influence your best styling, especially your hair. More on that here.
As a quick summary, if you have a vertically long face, you’ll likely be flattered by long hair—even if you’re not tall. And if you have a very compact face, you’ll likely be flattered by short hair, regardless of your height.
This is simply because matching hair length to face length often seems to confer harmony.
But, in defiance of the Romantic-Classic connection, hair length is an area where these essences diverge.
Highly Romantic faces tend to favor hair at least several inches past the shoulders. In contrast, shoulder-length cuts, give or take a few inches, tend to best suit Classic beauty.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Romantic is ultimately defined by elongation. But it does mean that there’s nuance in style essences, and that you don’t want to base everything entirely off of your literal features.
Romantic hair is a great example of how ultimately, when it comes to visual harmony, the figurative tends to be more important than the literal. Because even though Romantics don’t seem defined by elongation, they do have a glam aesthetic that’s very flattered by long locks.
2) Essence Clues
Another practical implication of the Romantic-Classic connection is that if you’re pretty sure you have notable Romantic, but aren’t sure of your full blend, then it might be worth exploring Classic—and vice versa.
3) Red Herrings
The “Romantic-Classic connection” can also prompt us to think more about how essences tend to look in faces, and be more aware of the ways that essences can be mistaken for each other.
Specifically, since it seems true that of all essences, Classic and Romantic are most defined by moderate lengths, it’s possible that Romantics are frequently mistyped as having Classic (or the reverse).
Conclusion
Is there a Romantic-Classic connection? In theory, yes—of all the essences, these two seem most defined by moderate lengths.
But, does this mean that Romantics are actually more likely to have Classic, and vice versa?
I’m not sure! I do think it’s probable that there’s a meaningful link here, both based on theory and observation. But it isn’t guaranteed.
And of course, even if there is a real connection, it’s worth repeating:
Many, many, many people will have high amounts of one of those essences without having any of the other.
I hope this possible connection is more useful than confusing, and that everyone has a wonderful holiday! : )
