Wide-set Eyes
Wide-set eyes have more than one eye's width of space between them. It is a spacing measurement rather than a shape one, which is why it can pair with any outline — an eye can be wide-set and almond, wide-set and round, wide-set and hooded.
Drop a photo into the panel and it will say whether your measurement reads as wide-set, with the numbers behind it.
Click to choose a photo, or drop one here
Straight-on, even lighting, at arm's length gives the most comparable reading.
No photo to hand? Try one of these and see what the tool returns.
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What are wide-set eyes, and how are they measured?
The distance between your inner corners divided by the average width of one eye. The classic reference is one eye-width of gap. Above about 1.1 reads as wide-set.
- More than one eye's width between the inner corners
- The bridge of the nose reads as broad relative to the eyes
- The face often reads as open or serene
Wide-set means the gap between your inner corners is greater than the width of one eye — above roughly 1.1 eye-widths. It is a spacing measurement and it is entirely independent of shape, so a wide-set eye can be almond, round, hooded or monolid at the same time. It is also one of the more stable traits on the face: the bone that sets it stops changing after growth.
How to tell if you have wide-set eyes
- 1
Measure the gap between your inner corners and compare it to the width of one eye, corner to corner.
- 2
Do it straight on. Any head rotation compresses one side and produces a false reading.
Wide-set eyes vs close-set eyes
The same ratio read from opposite ends. Above about 1.1 eye-widths of gap is wide-set, below about 0.9 is close-set, and the range between is where most people land. Because it is spacing rather than shape, it stacks with every other trait on this page rather than competing with them.
Wide-set eyes vs hypertelorism
Wide-set is a cosmetic description of a normal variation. Hypertelorism is a clinical finding — an increased distance between the orbits themselves, usually identified in childhood and often alongside other features. The distinction matters because they are not the same measurement: wide-set compares the gap to your own eye width in a photo, while hypertelorism is assessed against population norms by a clinician, often with imaging. Nothing on this page is a diagnosis, and a spacing measurement from a selfie is not the instrument for that question.
Makeup for wide-set eyes
Wide-set technique pulls attention inward, which is the opposite of nearly every other eye-makeup instruction.
Works
- Depth at the inner corner and along the inner third of the lash line
- Liner extended slightly past the inner corner toward the nose
- Brows drawn a little closer at the inner ends
Fights the shape
- Inner-corner highlight, which pushes the eyes further apart
- Long outward wings, which extend the width you are trying to reduce
Eyeliner for wide-set eyes
Wide-set technique runs against nearly every default instruction in eye makeup, because the usual advice moves emphasis outward and here it needs to move inward.
- Extend the line slightly past the inner corner, toward the nose
- Keep the outer end short — a long wing extends the width you are reducing
- Depth along the inner third of the lash line rather than the outer
- Skip the inner-corner highlight, which is the standard move and the wrong one here
The common mistake. A long outward wing. It is the most flattering shape on most eyes and it directly increases the apparent distance between wide-set ones.
Eyelashes for wide-set eyes
Lash emphasis follows the same inward logic.
- Fuller lashes toward the inner half rather than the outer corner
- Avoid outer-corner clusters, which widen the gap visually
- Even, moderate length across the lid
Wide-set eyes celebrities
Wide-set eye lists exist and are almost always assembled by eye rather than by measurement. The judgement takes a straight-on photo and a comparison against the person's own eye width — not a red-carpet frame at an angle. This site measures your own and does not publish names.
Wide-set eyes — frequently asked questions
Do wide-set eyes make the nose look wider?
They can change the read. The gap between the inner corners sits directly over the bridge, so a wider gap gives the bridge more visual space and can make a narrow nose look broader than it measures. The two are separate measurements and the nose page reports its own.
Does wide-set spacing change with weight or age?
No. The distance between the inner corners is fixed by bone after growth and is among the most stable measurements on the face. What changes around it is lid skin and brow position, which alter how the spacing reads without altering the spacing.
Can wide-set eyes be made to look closer together?
Yes, by reversing the usual instructions: depth at the inner corner rather than the outer, no inner-corner highlight, a short wing instead of a long one, and brows drawn slightly closer at the inner ends. The gap itself does not change.
Do glasses suit wide-set eyes?
A darker or decorated bridge helps, because it fills the space the eye reads as a gap. Narrow frames make the spacing more obvious by leaving more face visible at the sides.
Is there an ideal distance between the eyes?
The convention is one eye width between the inner corners — the middle column of the rule of fifths. It is a drawing rule rather than a measured population norm, and real faces scatter widely around it without anyone noticing.
How do I know if my eyes are wide-set?
Compare the gap between your inner corners to the width of one eye. Noticeably more than one eye-width means wide-set.
Is wide-set eye spacing a problem?
No, it is an ordinary variation. Very large deviations in eye spacing are a separate clinical matter and are visible from infancy, not something an adult discovers from a selfie tool.