Almond Eyes: How to Tell and Makeup That Suits Them

How to tell if you have almond eyes

Relax your face, look straight ahead into a mirror at eye level, and check:

1. Width vs height. Your eye is clearly longer than it is tall, often around three times as long.
2. The iris. Your upper lid covers a little of the top of the iris and your lower lid touches or slightly covers the bottom, so no white shows above or below it. That matches how lids typically rest: the upper lid a millimeter or two below the top of the iris, the lower lid near its bottom edge (StatPearls).
3. The corners. Both corners taper to a soft point rather than a rounded end.
4. The crease is visible (unless you’re also hooded) and follows the curve of the upper lid.
5. The tilt. The outer corners often tilt very slightly upward at the outer corner, but they can also be level or slightly downturned.

What does it mean if you have almond eyes?

The almond label describes the outline of your eyes: longer than they are tall, with the lids resting on the top and bottom edge of the iris and corners that taper. It says nothing about anything else, such as vision, personality or background.

Almond vs round eyes

Almond or round is the most common eye-shape question, and plenty of people sit near the line between the two.

A quick way to see it: take a relaxed, straight-on photo and look at the lower lid. If it touches the iris, you’re almond. If you see a strip of white, you lean round.

Almond and round are the two outline types. The eye shapes guide explains how outline combines with lid, tilt and spacing.

How almond combines with other shapes

Almond describes the outline only, so it pairs with everything else:

• Hooded almond: a fold covers the crease. Follow the hooded eyes techniques.
• Upturned almond: the outer corners lift. This is the natural base for the siren eye look and, with more lift, the fox eye.
• Downturned almond: the outer corners dip slightly. See downturned eyes for lifting liner.
• Almond monolid: no crease, with an almond outline. See monolid eyes for gradient shadow that shows on a smooth lid.
• Deep-set almond: the eye sits back under the brow bone. The deep-set eyes guide covers brightening the lid.

Makeup for almond eyes

This outline is balanced, so makeup is about choosing a mood rather than changing a shape.

Everyday

1. Sweep a medium matte shade through the crease and blend it slightly past the outer corner.
2. Press a light satin or shimmer onto the center of the lid.
3. Line the upper lashes with a thin brown or black pencil and smudge the outer third.
4. Curl and add mascara from root to tip.

Evening and smoky

Build a deeper shade from the outer corner inward in a sideways V, then diffuse the edge upward. Smudge the same shade along the outer half of the lower lashes and connect it at the corner. This outline holds a smoky look well because the tapered corners keep it defined.

Graphic and colorful

The shape is a good canvas for graphic liner, floating creases and bright color, since the shape is easy to follow. Try a colored liner (teal, violet or bronze, depending on your season from the color analysis) along the upper lash line.

Balancing the eyes with the lips is easier when you know your lip shape; the lip shape detector measures it on your phone.

Eyeliner for almond eyes

• Classic flick: follow the natural upward angle of your lower lash line and extend it a few millimeters.
• Full wing: a longer wing turns the eye into a lifted siren look.
• Tightline: defines the lash line without changing the shape at all.
• Lower lash line: this shape can wear liner along the bottom too; keep it smudged at the outer corner for balance.

Eyeshadow placement for almond eyes

Because the crease is usually visible, the classic three-shade placement works well: a light shade on the inner lid, a medium on the outer lid and crease, and a deeper shade at the outer corner. If your eyes are also slightly downturned, lift the outer corner shade toward the brow tail; if they’re upturned, you can carry it straight out.

Eyebrows for almond eyes

Most brow shapes suit this outline. A soft arch that peaks around the outer edge of the iris echoes the eye’s taper. If your face shape is round or square, a slightly higher arch adds lift; if it’s long, a flatter brow balances it (see the face shape detector).

Glasses for almond eyes

Because the shape is balanced, frame choice depends mostly on your face shape and brows rather than your eyes. Two eye-specific tips still help:

• Center your eyes in the lens. Your pupils should sit roughly in the middle of each lens, slightly above center. Frames that are too wide push your eyes toward the nose and make the eyes look closer together than they are.
• Let the top rim follow your brow. A top rim that sits just below the brow line keeps the tapered outer corner visible. Cat-eye and upswept frames echo an upturned almond eye; straight-topped rectangles suit level ones.

Eye color and the almond shape

The almond shape shows color well because the whole lid is usually visible. Some easy starting points that play off eye color: coppers, plums and olive greens make blue eyes look brighter; purples, bronzes and burgundies bring out green and hazel eyes; and brown eyes can wear almost anything, especially navy, gold and deep teal. Pick the version (warm or cool, bright or soft) that matches your color season.

Almond eyes in men

Almond is also the most common eye outline in men. Tidy brows that follow the natural arch are enough to frame it. For glasses, most frame shapes work; choose by face shape rather than eye shape.

Myths about almond eyes

• “Almond eyes are the ideal eye shape.” Makeup artists call the shape versatile, not ideal. Every shape can wear every look.
• “You need almond eyes for a winged liner.” Any eye can wear a wing; placement just changes.
• “Almond eyes always tilt up.” Many are level, and some tilt slightly down.
• “Your eye shape tells you something about your background.” It doesn’t. The shape is common everywhere.

Not sure if you’re almond, round or somewhere between? The eye shape detector shows your eye height compared with its width next to the average.