Quite true. The distortion is what needs to be dealt with ;) So... at some point, the face will be safe from distortion. The thing is, the background then needs to go further away. And there's the perspective thing, the frame widening too much... We'll see. It's an interesting case to play with. I am not saying I would normally prefer a wide-angle to a good zoom lens.

Have a good week and lots of inspiration!