Types of eye shapes: almond, round, hooded, monolid and more

What are the different types of eye shapes?

Most eye shape charts list almond, round, monolid, hooded, upturned and downturned eyes, often with close-set, wide-set, deep-set and protruding eyes added on. They look like one list, but they answer different questions, and that’s why so many people feel they fit two or three types at once. You probably do.

It is clearer to think of eye shape as a few separate traits. Each eye has one answer for each:

• Openness: how tall the lid opening is for its width. Almond, round or long and narrow.
• Tilt: which way the outer corner points. Upturned, level or downturned.
• Spacing: the gap between the eyes. Close-set, average or wide-set.
• Eyelid fold: whether and where a crease shows. Monolid, hooded or double lid.
• Depth: how far the eyes sit under the brow bone. Deep-set, average or protruding.

Eye shape chart: what each type looks like

So a full description might be “upturned almond eyes with hooded lids” or “round, slightly wide-set monolid eyes.” Here is what each word means and the quickest way to check it.

Almond eyes vs round eyes: which do I have?

Almond eyes are the shape most people have, and the one makeup tutorials treat as the default. They are roughly three times as wide as the lid opening is tall and narrow gently toward both corners. FaceRater’s eye shape test measures the opening from the upper to the lower lid against the eye’s width and calls anything from 0.31 to 0.37 almond, meaning the eye is about 2.7 to 3.2 times as wide as it is open. Those limits were set from the middle of 102 adults’ studio photos, so at least half of the adults in those photos read almond.

Round eyes have a taller opening (0.37 of the width or more in the test), so more of the iris shows and the eye looks bright and open. Long, narrow eyes sit at the other end, at 0.31 or less: a lower opening that reads sleek and calm. Neither is a better or worse version of almond; they’re just further from the middle.

Openness is the trait that changes most with expression. Smiling narrows the opening, raising your brows widens it, and a camera held above eye level makes eyes look rounder. Judge it with a relaxed face and the camera at eye height.

Monolid, hooded or double eyelids?

Eyelid type is about the crease, the fold of skin above the lashes. It is independent of the other traits: almond eyes can be monolid, round eyes can be hooded, and so on. Here is the quick mirror check, the same one the eye shape test gives you. Look straight ahead with relaxed eyes and don’t lift your brows.

Monolids are common in East Asian faces and often come with an epicanthic fold, a small fold of skin over the inner corner. Hooded lids are common at any age and become more common as skin above the eye loosens over time. Both are ordinary variations, not something that needs correcting.

A front photo can’t settle this one. Landmark models, including the one FaceRater uses, trace the lid opening and the corners, not the crease above them, so the test doesn’t guess your eyelid type. Your mirror is the better tool here.

• No crease shows at all: monolids.
• A crease exists but is hidden under skin from the brow bone: hooded lids.
• A clear crease shows above the lashes: double lids.

Upturned vs downturned eyes, and eye spacing

Tilt is the angle of the line from the inner to the outer corner, measured with the head level. Almost every adult eye tilts up a few degrees, so the eye shape test calls eyes upturned only from about 5.5°, level between 2° and 5.5°, and downturned at 2° or less. “Downturned” in eye shape language means softer than most, not necessarily an outer corner below the inner one. That narrower question is what “negative canthal tilt” means.

Spacing compares the gap between the inner corners with the width of one eye. A gap of about one eye width is average; the test calls eyes close-set at 1.1× or less and wide-set at 1.38× or more. Spacing shapes how frames and brow starts look on you more than almost anything else.

When a measurement lands near the edge of a band, the test says so (for example, almond but close to round), because a small change in photo or expression can tip it over.

Makeup and brows for each eye shape

Knowing your traits mostly helps you decide where to put definition. These are the starting points the eye shape test gives for each result. Combine the rows that match you, and if two tips pull in different directions, follow the one for the trait you care about most.

Brows and frames work the same way: a brow that starts directly above the side of the nose suits average spacing, and starting it slightly further in or out balances wide-set or close-set eyes. If you’d like the tips joined into one routine for your whole face, the optional AI style coach can build it from the same scan.

How to find your eye shape

Start with the mirror for the eyelid fold, then use a clear front photo for the three traits a camera measures well. FaceRater’s free eye shape test finds 478 landmarks on your face, levels your head, and measures openness, tilt and spacing, then names one type for each and shows the values behind them. It runs in your browser, your photo isn’t uploaded and there’s nothing to sign up for. Deep-set and protruding eyes need a side view, so a single front photo doesn’t judge depth.

For a reading you can trust, take the photo like this:

• Hold the camera at eye height, about an arm’s length away.
• Face the camera straight on with your head level.
• Keep a relaxed, neutral expression: no smile, squint or raised brows.
• Use soft, even light from the front and take off glasses.
• Compare photos only if they were taken the same way.