Almond Eyes: What They Are and How to Tell

Almond eyes take their name from the nut: an elongated oval that narrows to a point at both ends. The eye is clearly wider than it is open, the lids curve gently from corner to corner, and the corners themselves are pointed rather than rounded. In most almond eyes the iris touches the upper lid, the lower lid or both, so little white shows above or below it.

Almond is the most frequently described eye shape in makeup and beauty guides, partly because it is a broad category. It overlaps with other descriptions: an almond eye can also be upturned, hooded or deep-set, because those terms describe the angle, the lid and the depth rather than the outline.

Look straight into a mirror or a front camera at eye level, with a relaxed face:

• Compare how wide each eye is from corner to corner with how open it is at its tallest point. Almond eyes are roughly three times as wide as they are open.
• Look at the corners. Almond eyes narrow to a point at both ends instead of curving round.
• Check how much white shows around the iris. If the iris touches both lids, the eye leans almond; if white shows all around it, it leans round.
• Imagine a line from the inner to the outer corner. If it is level or rises slightly toward the temple, the eye is almond; if it rises clearly, it is also upturned.

Each example eye was measured by the same analyzer our tools use. Tilt is the angle from the inner to the outer corner, levelled on the line between the irises; the eye ratio is how open the eye is compared with its width; brow-to-lid space is the distance from the lower edge of the brow to the upper lid, also compared with the width.

Round eyes are more open: the lids arch higher, the corners are softer, and white often shows above or below the iris. Almond eyes are longer and narrower for the same width.

Upturned eyes describe an angle, not an outline. An almond eye whose outer corner sits clearly above the inner corner is both almond and upturned. The example on this page measures +4.0° from corner to corner, close to the few degrees most adults show, which is why it reads as almond rather than strongly upturned.

Because almond eyes are already balanced in length and opening, makeup guides treat them as a shape that suits most techniques: winged liner that follows the upper lash line, shadow blended into the crease, or a simple tightline. The common advice is to follow the eye's natural taper rather than change it.

For glasses, most frame shapes work. Frames whose top edge follows the brow line keep the eyes centred in the lens.

A photo shows the outline and the angle of the eye, which is enough to judge almond against round and to measure tilt. Expression changes both: smiling narrows the eyes and lifts the lower lids, and looking up or down changes how much of the eye shows. For a reading you can compare, look straight into the camera at eye level with a relaxed face. The Hunter Eyes Test measures your eye shape ratio, and the canthal tilt calculator measures the corner-to-corner angle of each eye.