Nose width ratio: nose versus eye spacing

What nose width ratio is

Nose width ratio compares the width of the base of your nose, across the nostrils, with the gap between your eyes. The eyes are used as the yardstick because the width of the nose is easiest to judge against the width of the space it sits between.

Nose shape varies widely between families and populations, and it is not a flaw in any of them. LookFlex's range leans toward a relatively narrower base because the proportion conventions it uses favour that. We found no study showing an ideal nose width. Read the number as a proportion, not a verdict.

In the LookFlex app this measurement appears as Nose width.

How LookFlex measures it

LookFlex measures the distance between the two outer edges of the nostril base, then divides it by the distance between the inner corners of the eyes. Both are horizontal widths, so the measure is mostly sensitive to head turn and to how close the camera is.

On the face mesh the nostril landmarks sit slightly outside the true edge of the nostrils, so mesh readings run higher than a ruler on a photo. LookFlex's range is set in the mesh's units, and the penalty for a narrower-than-range nose is deliberately gentle.

The calculation: ratio = width of the nose base ÷ distance between inner eye corners.

Landmarks used

LookFlex reads these points from the 478-landmark face mesh. The numbers are each point's index in that mesh.

• Outer edges of the nostril base: 129, 358
• Inner eye corners: 133, 362

The full pipeline, including how pose and mirror-averaging reduce noise, is on how LookFlex measures your face.

Typical and scoring ranges

LookFlex shows two ranges. The typical range is the middle half of its reference set, from the 25th to the 75th percentile: half of the faces fell inside it. The scoring range is where a reading earns a closeness score of 100; outside it the score falls smoothly, with no cliff at the edge. Both differ for men and women, and LookFlex blends the two if you choose Other or prefer not to say. Unit: unitless ratio.

How to read your result

"The range" here means the scoring range. The impressions below are common styling descriptions, not research findings. What research does show is in the next section.

• Below the range: A narrow nose for your eye spacing: a refined centre of the face.
• Inside the range: Nose width sits inside the scoring range for your eye spacing.
• Above the range: The nose base is on the broader side. Brow shape, hair and glasses can rebalance how it reads.

What the research says

Limited evidence The camera-distance effect on the nose is documented; an ideal nose width is not.

• A camera held about 30 cm away made the nose look roughly 30% wider than one 1.5 m away (Ward et al., 2018).
• Real faces vary widely in their proportions (Farkas et al., 1985).
• We found no study that establishes an ideal nose width, so LookFlex's range leans on convention.

No study we cite tests LookFlex's own ranges. They come from the calibration described on the methodology page, and every source is listed under References below.

What influences it

Mostly fixed

• The width of the nasal bones and cartilage, which varies between people and is not a defect.
• Skin thickness over the nose, which influences how defined the nostrils look.

Things that move the reading

• Camera distance. A close lens magnifies the nose, because it is the part of your face nearest the camera.
• Expression. Smiling, flaring the nostrils or wrinkling the nose widens the base.
• Head pitch. Looking up shows the base more broadly.
• Makeup and lighting, which change how wide the nose looks in photos.

How to improve how it reads

These suggestions change how the measurement reads or how well the photo captures it. Styling tips are common practice rather than tested in research, and none of them promises a change in bone structure.

• Scan from arm's length or further, with the lens at eye level and a neutral face. A close selfie makes the nose look broader than it is.
• Relax the nostrils and the upper lip when you scan.
• Frames with a clean bridge and a brow line that is slightly heavier can shift attention to the eyes.
• A light contour or lighting from the sides changes the visual width in photos, but it does not change the number.

Common myths

Myth: Your nose is the same size in every photo.

In one study a camera held about 30 cm away made the nose look roughly 30% wider than one at 1.5 m (Ward et al., 2018), which is one reason LookFlex asks for a bit of distance.

Myth: Nose width reveals ancestry.

LookFlex never infers ancestry or ethnicity from a face and does not treat any nose shape as a flaw. The range was calibrated on a small, AI-generated reference set and may not represent every population, so a reading outside it is a description, not a judgement.

How it feeds your score

This measurement is one input to one sub-score, which then combine into your Glow Score:

• Harmony: 10% of the sub-score. Harmony carries 22% of the Glow Score.

Precision. Every reading of this measurement comes with a 95% margin, estimated by measuring your photo three times. Across the reference set the median margin was ±0.035: a retake in similar conditions usually lands within that much of the first reading. A change between two scans counts as real only when it is bigger than both scans' margins combined.

Confidence. LookFlex starts this measurement at a confidence of 85% and lowers it when your head angle, the lighting or image quality weakens the reading. The weight of each input in a sub-score scales with its confidence. Details are on the methodology page.