Hunter eyes test: what are hunter eyes, and do you have them?

01What are hunter eyes?

"Hunter eyes" is a looksmaxxing term, not a medical one. It describes eyes that look deep-set and horizontally long, with a slight upward tilt from the inner to the outer corner, little or no upper eyelid showing, and brows that sit low and fairly straight just above them. The opposite is often called prey eyes: rounder, more open eyes with a visible upper lid and higher, arched brows. Neither is better; they are two ends of a normal range, and most people sit somewhere between them.

02The five hunter eyes traits, and which ones we measure

• Positive canthal tiltMeasuredThe outer corner of the eye sits a little higher than the inner corner.
• Long, narrow eye openingMeasuredThe gap between the lids is small compared with the eye's width.
• Low browsMeasuredThe brow sits close to the upper lid.
• Little upper eyelid showingMirror checkThe lid fold is hidden under the brow area. A face mesh follows the lash line, not the crease, so we can't measure this.
• Deep-set eyesMirror checkThe eyes sit back under the brow bone. A front photo has no depth, so we can't measure this either.

03How the hunter eyes test measures

Your browser finds 478 points on your face. For each eye we take the inner and outer corners, three points on the upper and lower lids, and the middle of the brow above the iris. Tilt is the angle of the corner-to-corner line against the line through both outer corners, so a tilted head doesn't change it. Openness is the average lid-to-lid gap divided by the eye's width. Brow height is the distance from the brow down to the top of the upper lid, also divided by the eye's width, so photo size doesn't matter. The two eyes are averaged.

04What's typical?

In 102 front-facing photos of adults measured the same way, the middle 80% of faces had a canthal tilt of 1.1° to 6.3°, an openness of 0.28 to 0.35, and a brow height of 0.35 to 0.61. A reading counts as leaning hunter when it's further that way than three in four of those faces: a tilt above 5.1°, an openness below 0.30, or a brow height below 0.41.

05Check the two traits a photo can't measure

• 01Stand at a mirror, face relaxed, looking straight ahead.
• 02Upper eyelid: if you can see a clear band of lid between your lashes and the crease, that's prey-leaning; if the crease is hidden or the skin above it rests near the lashes, that's hunter-leaning.
• 03Depth: turn your head to the side. If your brow bone sticks out past your eyelid, your eyes are deep-set.

06How to take the photo

• 01Face the camera with the phone at eye level and look straight into the lens. Looking down makes the lids look heavier and the brows lower.
• 02Keep your face relaxed: no squinting, smiling or raised brows. A squint narrows the eyes and a smile lifts the lower lids.
• 03Take off glasses and pull your hair off your brows.
• 04Use even light from the front; harsh light from above shadows the eyes.

08Hunter eyes questions