Nose Shapes

Type names compress four separate observations into one word. The first is the dorsal line seen from the side: straight, convex (humped), or concave (scooped). The second is tip rotation, which the nasolabial angle puts a number on. The third is tip definition, meaning whether the cartilage reads as a point, a ball, or a soft pad of tissue. The fourth is alar base width, the distance across the outer edges of the nostrils.

Because those four vary independently, a nose can be convex and narrow, or straight and wide, or anything between. That is why the twelve names overlap so much in casual use. Two people may land on different words for one nose and both be defensible. Treat the label as a summary, and the measurements as the thing that holds.

Each type below is defined by one dominant trait. The rest of its geometry varies freely from person to person.

Eight of these are described chiefly by their bridge line, which no front camera angle records.

Nasal index is the one figure in this vocabulary with a century of anthropometric use behind it. Measure the widest point across the nostrils, divide by the vertical distance from nasion (the dip between the brows) to the base of the columella, then multiply by 100. A narrow nose scores low, a broad one scores high.

The three classical bands are leptorrhine (narrow) below 70, mesorrhine (intermediate) from 70 to 85, and platyrrhine (broad) above 85. Population averages differ across ancestral groups, and that variation is ordinary human variation rather than a ranking of any kind.

The index behaves well on a photograph. Both distances lie in the frontal plane, so a square-on shot captures them with little error. The measurements that follow do not have that advantage.

Angles fix the two ends of the nose. The nasofrontal angle opens between the glabella (the flat of the forehead above the brows) and the upper dorsum, and typically measures 115 to 130 degrees. A wider angle means a shallow root, so the nose appears to start low on the face. A tighter one gives a deep-set root and a longer-looking bridge.

At the other end, the nasolabial angle opens between the columella and the upper lip. Male ranges cluster around 90 to 95 degrees, female ranges around 95 to 110. Larger values read as an upturned tip, smaller values as a downturned one. Snub and celestial types sit at the top of that spread; hooked and hawk types sit at the bottom. Both angles need a true lateral view to measure.

Projection asks how far the tip stands away from the face, not how long the nose is. Goode's method draws a line from the alar crease to the tip, then divides that distance by nasal length measured from nasion to tip. Values of 0.55 to 0.60 describe an average result.

Under-projection flattens the tip toward the cheek plane and tends to make the bridge look wider from the front. Over-projection pushes the tip forward and lengthens the shadow the nose casts. Projection and length are independent: a short nose can project strongly, and a long one can sit close to the face. Combine projection with tip rotation and you have described most of what separates the twelve types from one another.

Bridges fall into three families, and every named type belongs to one of them.

• Straight dorsum: Greek, plus most broad low-bridged noses, where the line runs unbroken from root to tip.
• Convex dorsum: Roman, aquiline, hooked and hawk, in ascending order of how sharply the line breaks.
• Concave dorsum: snub, celestial and button, where the bridge dips before rising to the tip.

Bulbous and fleshy types are named for tip and skin thickness instead, so either can sit on any of the three lines. Nubian sits mostly in the straight family with a wide base. Sorting by dorsal family first, then by tip, gets you to a name faster than working through twelve options.

A front-facing photograph measures width and length dependably, and reveals almost nothing about the dorsal line. That is the honest limit, and it matters here more than on most measurement pages, because eight of the twelve types are defined by a curve that only exists in the side view.

From the front you can read alar base width, nasal length, tip breadth, nostril show, and deviation from the facial midline. You cannot read a dorsal hump, a supratip break, tip rotation, or either angle above. A hump viewed head-on hides behind its own highlight.

So treat any front-only reading as a partial answer. The free tools here measure what the frontal landmarks support and stop there. Nothing gets uploaded.

Lens distortion at close range is the single biggest source of error. Phone cameras use short focal lengths, and anything within about 30 centimeters of the lens gets magnified relative to the rest of the face. A selfie at that distance widens the nose and enlarges the tip. Step back to arm's length or further, or better, have someone shoot you from about two meters and crop in.

• Shoot square to the camera for width, index and midline.
• Shoot a true lateral for the dorsal line, both angles and projection.
• Use flat frontal light, since side light carves a false shadow along the bridge.
• Keep a neutral expression, because a smile lifts the alar base.

The same discipline improves any proportional reading, including face shape and eye shape analysis.

Nose shape classification stays a descriptive system throughout. Twelve names, four measurements, three bridge families, and one honest limit: the front camera reads width and length, and the side view holds everything else. Read the nasal index for breadth, the nasofrontal and nasolabial angles for the two ends, the Goode ratio for projection, and a fairly shot photograph for all of it. Then open the type page linked in the table above that matches your side view, where geometry, look-alikes, lighting notes and frame fitting are set out in full.