What is my eye shape?

Four checks in a mirror, eyes open and relaxed, looking straight ahead. One: is there a visible crease? None visible means monolid. Two: does skin fold over the crease and hide the mobile lid? Yes means hooded. Three: where does the outer corner sit against the inner corner - higher is upturned, lower is downturned, level is neutral. Four: does white show above or below the iris? Yes means round - if the iris touches both lids and the corners taper to points, almond.

Almost everyone does. The six shapes are bins placed on a continuum, and the traits combine freely - a hooded almond, a wide-set round, a downturned monolid are all common. That's why a good read gives you a primary shape, how cleanly you fit it, and the runner-up, rather than forcing one label.

A monolid has no visible crease at all - the lid is one smooth surface from the lash line up. A hooded eye does have a crease, but the skin of the brow bone folds over it so the mobile lid is partly or fully hidden when the eye is open. The practical difference matters for makeup: a monolid builds definition at the lash line - a hooded lid works above the fold.

Because they ask you to describe yourself, and self-description is unreliable - people 'see' the shape they've been told about. Add a squint, a smile that narrows the eyes, liner that redraws the corners, or a photo taken from below, and the answer moves. Reading the four checks from a relaxed, front-facing, eye-level photo is far more repeatable.

The underlying shape is fixed by bone and lid anatomy, but what reads changes: lids hood more with age as the brow bone's skin loosens, and facial fat can make a deep-set eye read less deep. Brow grooming, lashes, liner and camera angle shift the impression more than either.