diff --git a/applets/kickoff/package/contents/ui/Header.qml b/applets/kickoff/package/contents/ui/Header.qml
--- a/applets/kickoff/package/contents/ui/Header.qml
+++ b/applets/kickoff/package/contents/ui/Header.qml
@@ -16,12 +16,13 @@
  *    51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
  */
 
-import QtQuick 2.0
+import QtQuick 2.4
 import org.kde.plasma.core 2.0 as PlasmaCore
 import org.kde.plasma.components 2.0 as PlasmaComponents
 import org.kde.plasma.extras 2.0 as PlasmaExtras
 import org.kde.kcoreaddons 1.0 as KCoreAddons
 import org.kde.kquickcontrolsaddons 2.0
+import QtGraphicalEffects 1.0
 
 Item {
     id: header
@@ -51,43 +52,102 @@
         }
     }
 
-    Image {
-        id: faceIcon
-        source: kuser.faceIconUrl
-        cache: false
-        visible: source !== ""
+        Image {
+            id: squareFace
+            source: kuser.faceIconUrl
+            cache: false
+            visible: false;
+            width: units.gridUnit * 3
+            height: width
 
-        width: units.gridUnit * 3
-        height: width
-
-        sourceSize.width: width
-        sourceSize.height: height
+            sourceSize.width: width
+            sourceSize.height: height
 
-        fillMode: Image.PreserveAspectFit
+            fillMode: Image.PreserveAspectFit
 
-        anchors {
-            top: parent.top
-            left: parent.left
-            topMargin: units.gridUnit
-            leftMargin: units.gridUnit
+            anchors {
+                top: parent.top
+                left: parent.left
+                topMargin: units.gridUnit
+                leftMargin: units.gridUnit
+            }
         }
-    }
 
+        // Shader effect for circle-drawing from sddm-theme by David Edmundson
+        // ../plasma-workspace/sddm-theme/components/UserDelegate.qml
+        ShaderEffect {
+            anchors.top: squareFace.top
+            anchors.horizontalCenter: squareFace.horizontalCenter
+
+            width: squareFace.width 
+            height: squareFace.height
+
+            supportsAtlasTextures: true
+            antialiasing: true
+
+            property var source: ShaderEffectSource {
+                sourceItem: squareFace
+                hideSource: true
+                live: true
+            }
+
+            property var colorBorder: PlasmaCore.ColorScope.textColor
+
+            //draw a circle with an antialised border
+            //innerRadius = size of the inner circle with contents
+            //outerRadius = size of the border
+            //blend = area to blend between two colours
+            //all sizes are normalised so 0.5 == half the width of the texture
+
+            //if copying into another project don't forget to connect themeChanged to update()
+            //but in SDDM that's a bit pointless
+            fragmentShader: "
+                            varying highp vec2 qt_TexCoord0;
+                            uniform highp float qt_Opacity;
+                            uniform lowp sampler2D source;
+
+                            uniform lowp vec4 colorBorder;
+                            highp float blend = 0.03;
+                            highp float innerRadius = 0.46;
+                            highp float outerRadius = 0.48;
+                            lowp vec4 colorEmpty = vec4(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0);
+
+                            void main() {
+                                lowp vec4 colorSource = texture2D(source, qt_TexCoord0.st);
+
+                                highp vec2 m = qt_TexCoord0 - vec2(0.5, 0.5);
+                                highp float dist = sqrt(m.x * m.x + m.y * m.y);
+
+                                if (dist < innerRadius)
+                                    gl_FragColor = colorSource;
+                                else if (dist < innerRadius + blend)
+                                    gl_FragColor = mix(colorSource, colorBorder, ((dist - innerRadius) / blend));
+                                else if (dist < outerRadius)
+                                    gl_FragColor = colorBorder;
+                                else if (dist < outerRadius + blend)
+                                    gl_FragColor = mix(colorBorder, colorEmpty, ((dist - outerRadius) / blend));
+                                else
+                                    gl_FragColor = colorEmpty ;
+
+                                gl_FragColor = gl_FragColor * qt_Opacity;
+                        }
+            "
+        }
+           
     PlasmaCore.IconItem {
-        source: "user-identity"
-        visible: faceIcon.status !== Image.Ready
+        source: squareFace
         width: units.gridUnit * 3
         height: width
         anchors {
-            top: faceIcon.top
-            right: faceIcon.right
+            top: squareFace.top
+            right: squareFace.right
             rightMargin: -units.gridUnit/2
         }
         usesPlasmaTheme: false
     }
 
     MouseArea {
-        anchors.fill: faceIcon
+        anchors.fill: squareFace
         acceptedButtons: Qt.LeftButton
         cursorShape: Qt.PointingHandCursor
         onClicked: {
@@ -107,8 +167,8 @@
         height: paintedHeight
 
         anchors {
-            left: faceIcon.right
-            top: faceIcon.top
+            left: squareFace.right
+            top: squareFace.top
             right: parent.right
             leftMargin: units.gridUnit
             rightMargin: units.gridUnit