Hooded Eyes: What They Are and How to Tell Them Apart From Deep-Set Eyes
Hooded eyes are eyes where skin partly covers the eyelid when your eyes are open (National Library of Medicine: Hooded Eyelid). The overhang can be slight or heavy, and it’s a normal eye feature either way.
Not sure if yours count? Look at your upper eyelid fold with your eyes relaxed and open. Overall eye size and shape don’t answer this.
Eye shape is one piece of how your face reads. To see the bigger picture, try the attractiveness test.
What Are Hooded Eyes?
Hooded eyes have an upper eyelid fold that overlaps or hides the natural crease. When you look straight ahead, you see little or none of the eyelid between your upper lash line and the crease.
In looksmaxxing circles this is usually described as low upper eyelid exposure: how much eyelid skin you can see with your eyes open. The less you see, the more hooded the eye looks.
What hooded eyes look like:
Hidden crease: Skin folds over the upper eyelid crease, so it’s hard to see.
Little visible eyelid: There’s not much exposed skin between the lashes and the fold.
Overhanging upper lid: Skin above the crease rests over part of the moving eyelid.
Varies by person: Some people have mild hooding, others a lot. It’s often stronger toward the outer corner.
Hooded eyes are a look, not a diagnosis. The medical side starts when extra skin gets in the way. The term for loose or extra upper eyelid skin is dermatochalasis. It’s common with age, and sometimes it can interfere with vision (American Academy of Ophthalmology, EyeWiki: Dermatochalasis).
How to Tell If You Have Hooded Eyes
Quick mirror test. Keep your head level, your brows relaxed, and your eyes open naturally. Don’t lift your brows or widen your eyes, because that changes the result.
Check four things:
Eyelid crease. Can you clearly see it, or does skin above it cover most of it?
Visible eyelid. Is there a clear strip of skin between your lashes and the fold, or is most of it hidden?
Skin fold. Does skin from under your brow hang down over the upper eyelid?
Both eyes. Compare them. One eye can be more hooded than the other, and mild asymmetry is normal.
If the crease is mostly hidden at rest, you probably have hooded eyes. If you can see the crease and a good strip of eyelid, they’re probably non-hooded.
This is a visual check, not a diagnosis. Brow position, lighting, expression, and age all change how strong the fold looks. Age-related extra skin adds to hooding too (American Academy of Ophthalmology, EyeWiki: Dermatochalasis).
Hooded Eyes vs. Deep-Set Eyes
Easy to mix up, but they’re two different things. Hooded is about the upper eyelid fold. Deep-set means the eye sits more deeply recessed into the plane of the face than is typical (National Library of Medicine: Deeply Set Eye). You can have both.
Here’s the difference:
Feature | Hooded Eyes | Deep-Set Eyes |
|---|---|---|
What it describes | The upper eyelid fold | How far back the eye sits in the face |
Main sign | Skin covers part or most of the eyelid crease | The eye looks recessed relative to the brow bone and cheek |
Best view to check | Straight on, with relaxed brows | Side profile |
Can occur together? | Yes | Yes |
Deep-set is usually a visual call, not a measurement, so check from more than one angle:
Straight on: Look at your upper eyelid with relaxed brows. If skin covers part or most of the crease, your eyes may be hooded.
From the side: Stand sideways to a mirror, or take a profile photo with your head level and your face relaxed.
Draw an imaginary line: Picture a line from your brow bone down to your cheekbone. If the front of your eye sits clearly behind that line, your eyes may be deep-set.
Lighting and camera angle change how deep eyes look, so don’t judge from a single selfie.
Can You Have Both Hooded and Deep-Set Eyes?
Yes. If your eyes sit far back in your face and skin above the lid also covers the crease, both labels fit. For placement tips, see our guide to makeup for hooded deep set eyes. A straight-on photo hides depth, so check your profile too.
Hooded Eyes vs. Non-Hooded Eyes
The difference is how much of the upper eyelid crease you can see with your eyes open. That matches the clinical description of a hooded eyelid as one partly covered by skin (National Library of Medicine: Hooded Eyelid).
Hooded eyes: A skin fold covers some or most of the crease.
Non-hooded eyes: The crease and more of the upper eyelid are usually visible.
People often search “hooded eyes vs normal eyes,” but neither type is the normal one. Both are natural variations.
Hooded eyes can also be almond-shaped. Hooded describes the eyelid fold. Almond-shaped describes the outline of the eye opening. So almond-shaped hooded eyes are a normal combination.
Are Hooded Eyes the Same as Hunter Eyes?
No. Hooded eyes describe the upper eyelid fold. Hunter eyes is a looksmaxxing term for a bigger look: low upper eyelid exposure, a slightly upward canthal tilt (the angle of the line between the inner and outer corners of the eye), and a brow that sits close to the eyes. Hooded eyes can be part of that package, but hooding alone doesn’t make hunter eyes.
If that’s the look you’re after, here’s what can and can’t be changed.
Are Hooded Eyes Attractive?
Yes, they can be. No eye shape wins for everyone, and tastes shift with culture and trends.
What shapes how the eye area reads on a face:
Facial proportions: How the eyes fit with the brows, nose, and cheeks.
Brows: Their position and shape change how open or heavy the eyes look.
Expression: Relaxed, alert, and tired faces read very differently.
Style and grooming: Hair, brows, and overall styling change how the eye area looks.
Forums and social media often treat hooded eyes as a problem to fix or say non-hooded eyes are better. That’s opinion, not a rule. Depending on brows, expression, and lighting, the same eyes can look sharp or tired. One eye shape doesn’t decide how attractive you are.
For a bigger picture than eye shape alone, see how facial feature analysis works and what AI face analysis can and can’t tell you. AI results are model estimates, not objective verdicts.
What Causes Hooded Eyes? Do They Change With Age?
Hooded eyes are often just how your face is built. Crease position and the skin around the eyes vary from person to person, and hooding can get stronger over time.
What affects how hooded your eyes look:
Natural anatomy: Where your crease sits and how skin is distributed around the eye.
Aging: Skin loses elasticity and eye-area tissue changes, which can make hooding stronger. This is linked to dermatochalasis (American Academy of Ophthalmology, EyeWiki).
Brow position: Where your brows and nearby tissue sit changes how the upper lid looks.
Individual variation: Hooding can differ between your two eyes, and it shows more in some expressions and lighting.
Do Hooded Eyes Get Worse With Age?
They can get stronger with age, but not at the same pace or to the same degree for everyone.
Two terms matter here:
Dermatochalasis: Extra skin on the upper eyelid, common with age.
Ptosis: The upper eyelid itself droops.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology describes dermatochalasis as redundant skin and ptosis as a problem with eyelid position or function (AAO report on functional indications for eyelid surgery).
Sudden eyelid drooping, or drooping with double vision or pain, needs medical attention. Don’t assume it’s just a change in eye shape (MedlinePlus: Eyelid Drooping). Gradual changes that affect your vision also deserve an eye-care visit.
Can You Get Rid of Hooded Eyes?
It depends on what’s causing the hooded look. Extra skin from aging and true eyelid drooping are separate medical problems with different procedures: upper blepharoplasty is the operation for excess skin, and ptosis repair is a separate procedure (Yang et al., 2017).
Here’s what’s realistic.
Non-Surgical Options
Brows and grooming: Brow shape and position change how open your eyes look. This changes the look, not the eyelid.
Makeup: Eyeliner placement and eyeshadow change how the eyes look, not the eyelid itself.
Eyelid tape: It can hold the skin in a different position for a while. The effect is temporary and depends on your eyelid.
Eye creams: Reviews of eye-area topicals report modest benefits for fine lines and hydration (Pilkington et al., 2015). Those studies don’t cover hooding, so don’t expect a cream to lift it or remove extra skin.
Be careful with products sold as permanent, non-surgical eyelid lifts. A marketing claim isn’t proof of lasting change.
Can You Fix Hooded Eyes Naturally?
No well-established natural method permanently changes naturally hooded eyelids. Facial exercises and massage haven’t been shown to reliably remove extra upper eyelid skin or move the crease. There are no proven exercises that change the look of hooded eyes (All About Vision).
Good skin care supports overall skin health, but it isn’t a proven way to remove hooding. If extra skin or drooping causes the look, an eye-care professional can explain which options, if any, make sense.
Surgery for Hooded Eyes
Upper blepharoplasty, also called upper eyelid surgery, is the operation people usually mean by “hooded eyes surgery.” It removes selected extra skin and can address other upper eyelid tissue, depending on your anatomy. It may be considered when extra skin affects appearance or blocks your field of vision. True ptosis is a separate problem. It needs a different procedure, which can sometimes be done in the same surgery (American Academy of Ophthalmology, EyeWiki: Upper Eyelid Blepharoplasty).
Surgery has risks. Reviews of blepharoplasty complications describe:
Bleeding
Infection
Dry eyes
Difficulty closing the eyes fully
Scarring
Uneven results (asymmetry)
In rare cases, serious complications including vision loss (American Academy of Ophthalmology, EyeWiki; Oestreicher & Mehta, 2012)
A qualified ophthalmologist or appropriately trained oculoplastic surgeon can find the cause of the hooded look, explain benefits and risks, and say whether treatment makes sense.
Not everyone with hooded eyes needs or benefits from surgery. Natural hooding isn’t a medical problem just because it differs from a current beauty ideal.
Celebrities With Hooded Eyes
Hooded eyes show up on all kinds of faces, and entertainment lists often name celebrities as examples:
Blavity’s list names Gabrielle Union, Viola Davis, Oprah Winfrey, Naomi Campbell, and Samira Wiley (Blavity).
Ranker’s reader-voted list includes Gabrielle Union and Robert Pattinson (Ranker).
These are media lists, not medical assessments, so use them as visual references, not final labels. Makeup, lighting, camera angle, and expression change how much of the crease you see. A photo can’t show someone’s exact eyelid anatomy or whether they’ve had a procedure.
Use celebrity photos to see how upper eyelids vary from person to person, not as a template for your own features.
FAQ
Are hooded eyes rare?
There’s no reliable prevalence figure, because definitions and ways of classifying eyelid shapes vary. Hooded eyes are a recognized variation, defined as skin partly covering the eyelid when the eyes are open (National Library of Medicine: Hooded Eyelid). They appear in people with many facial features and backgrounds.
Can white people have hooded eyes?
Yes. Hooded eyelids aren’t limited to one racial or ethnic group. Eyelid anatomy varies widely, and eye shape alone can’t reliably show someone’s race or ancestry.
What ethnicity has the most hooded eyes?
There’s no universally accepted ranking of ethnic groups by how common hooded eyes are. Studies may compare specific facial measurements across study populations, but that doesn’t establish a ranking for hooded eyelids. Individual variation is large, and broad ethnic labels don’t reliably predict eye shape.
Do hooded eyes make you look older?
Not necessarily. Natural hooding can be there from a young age and doesn’t automatically make you look older. Age-related changes, like reduced skin elasticity and extra upper eyelid skin, can make hooding stronger over time (American Academy of Ophthalmology, EyeWiki: Dermatochalasis).
Why are celebrities getting rid of hooded eyes?
Some celebrities may have cosmetic procedures, but a photo can’t show whether someone had eyelid surgery. Makeup, lighting, brow position, camera angle, and aging all change how the upper lids look. Don’t assume surgery based on a change in appearance.
Sources
National Library of Medicine. Hooded Eyelid. MedGen.
National Library of Medicine. Deeply Set Eye. MedGen.
American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dermatochalasis. EyeWiki.
Cahill KV, Bradley EA, Meyer DR, et al. Functional Indications for Upper Eyelid Ptosis and Blepharoplasty Surgery. Ophthalmology, 2011.
American Academy of Ophthalmology. Upper Eyelid Blepharoplasty. EyeWiki.
Oestreicher J, Mehta S. Complications of Blepharoplasty: Prevention and Management. Plastic Surgery International, 2012.
Pilkington SJ, Belden S, Miller RA. The Tricky Tear Trough: A Review of Topical Cosmeceuticals for Periorbital Skin Rejuvenation. Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, 2015.
Yang P, Ko AC, Kikkawa DO, Korn BS. Upper Eyelid Blepharoplasty: Evaluation, Treatment, and Complication Minimization. Seminars in Plastic Surgery, 2017.
Debrowski A. Do eye exercises work for droopy eyelids? All About Vision, 2020.
MedlinePlus. Eyelid Drooping. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Blavity. Celebrities With Hooded Eyes.
Ranker. Celebrities With Hooded Eyes.
