1. A method for face alignment implemented at least in part by a computer comprising: receiving an image including a face; and estimating, by a processor, a facial shape in the image with shape regression, wherein the facial shape is represented by a multiple of facial landmarks, the estimating including, for each stage in the shape regression: extracting a local feature from a local region around each facial landmark in the image independently, the extracting comprising mapping a local region around a facial landmark into a local feature according to a local feature mapping function associated with the facial landmark, the local feature mapping function encoding the local region into a local binary feature; organizing two or more of the local features based on correlations among the facial landmarks to predict a facial shape increment; determining whether the predicted facial shape increment is less than a threshold; and based on a determination that the predicted facial shape increment is greater than the threshold: extracting a set of second local features around each facial landmark in the image independently, the extracting comprising mapping a second local region around a second facial landmark into a second local feature according to the local feature mapping function associated with the second facial landmark, the local feature mapping function encoding the second local region into the local binary feature; organizing two or more of the second local features based on correlations among the second facial landmarks to predict a second facial shape increment; and based on a determination that the second predicted facial shape increment is less than the threshold, generating a final facial shape.