Lip Shapes: Which One Do You Have?

Defined by: Tall vermilion on both lips relative to mouth width

Both lips carry height: the outer lip line sits high on the upper lip and low on the lower one, so the mouth reads as tall for its width. Fullness is a ratio, not a size - a wide mouth with the same lip height reads less full.

Reader names it when: Lip height to mouth width in the upper quarter of measured faces (above about 0.43).

Defined by: Low vermilion height relative to mouth width

Little visible lip between the skin and the mouth line. Often paired with a flatter cupid's bow. Thin lips are common and get thinner with age as the vermilion rolls inward.

Reader names it when: Lip height to mouth width in the lower quarter of measured faces (below about 0.33).

Defined by: Corners far apart relative to face width

The mouth spans a large share of the lower face; the corners often sit under or beyond the pupils. Lip height can be anything - wide is about span.

Reader names it when: Mouth-corner width to cheekbone width in the upper quarter of measured faces (above about 0.40).

Defined by: Tall vermilion on a short span

Full height packed into a narrow mouth, so the outline approaches a circle. The cupid's bow peaks sit close together and the corners tuck in.

Reader names it when: Fullness in the upper quarter with mouth width in the lower quarter.

Defined by: A pronounced cupid's bow with a full upper-lip centre

Two clear peaks on the upper lip with a deep dip between them, and the upper lip carries real height at the centre, so the top edge reads like the top of a heart. The lower lip is usually full and rounded.

Reader names it when: Cupid's bow depth above 3.5% of mouth width, upper lip at least 0.8 of the lower lip's height, fullness above the median.

Defined by: A pronounced cupid's bow on a slimmer upper lip

The same two peaks and dip as the heart shape, but the upper lip is slimmer relative to the lower, so the bow is the feature rather than the fullness. The outline reads like a drawn bow.

Reader names it when: Cupid's bow depth above 3.5% of mouth width without the heart shape's upper-lip fullness.

Defined by: Mouth corners sitting below the line of the lips at rest

At rest the corners fall below the line where the lips meet, so the mouth reads as serious or sad even when the person is not. Often a resting-muscle pattern rather than a lip trait, and it shifts with expression.

Reader names it when: Corner tilt below -5 degrees against the face's own horizontal, corners relative to where the lips meet.

Defined by: Upper lip taller than the lower lip

The upper lip carries as much or more height than the lower. Less common than the reverse: on most faces the lower lip is the fuller one, so a top-heavy mouth stands out.

Reader names it when: Upper-lip height divided by lower-lip height at or above 1.0.

Defined by: Lower lip much taller than the upper

The lower lip dominates: roughly twice the height of the upper or more. This is the proportion the aesthetic literature most often reports as preferred, and it is also simply common.

Reader names it when: Upper-lip height divided by lower-lip height below 0.55.