Upturned Eyes: What They Are and How to Tell

An eye is upturned when its outer corner sits clearly higher than its inner corner, so a line from corner to corner rises toward the temple. The lower lash line often curves upward at the outer end, which is the easiest way to spot the shape. In measurement terms it is a strongly positive canthal tilt.

Because most adults already have outer corners a few degrees above the inner corners, upturned describes eyes where that lift is noticeably larger than usual. It is an angle, not an outline, so upturned eyes can also be almond, round, hooded or deep-set.

Look straight into a mirror or a front camera with your head level:

• Find the inner and outer corner of one eye and imagine a line between them.
• If the outer end rises clearly above the inner end, and the lower lash line curves up toward the temple, your eyes are upturned.
• If the line rises only slightly, your eyes are in the common range and may be better described by their outline, such as almond.
• For a number, the canthal tilt calculator measures each eye's angle from a photo and corrects for head tilt.

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.

The example on this page measures +9.9°, about twice the angle of our almond example (+4.0°) and far from the downturned one (−1.9°). Published studies report average adult tilts of a few degrees positive, so a reading near ten degrees is clearly lifted.

Head position matters for small angles. Tilting the head sideways tips both eyes, which is why our tools level the measurement on the line between the irises. Smiling also pushes the lower lids up and can make eyes look more upturned than they are at rest.

Almond describes the outline: an elongated eye tapering to pointed corners. Upturned describes the angle: how far the outer corner rises. An eye can be both, and many upturned eyes are almond-shaped. The difference is the lift: almond eyes sit level or slightly lifted, upturned eyes clearly slant up.

Upturned eyes already carry lift, so makeup guides often suggest balancing it: liner that follows the lower lash line at the outer corner, or shadow that extends outward rather than sharply upward. Strong upward wings add to the lift and give a dramatic cat-eye look, which is a matter of taste.

For glasses, frames with a straight or gently curved top edge balance the slant; cat-eye frames emphasise it.