A Complete Guide to Hazel Brown Eyes: Color, Causes, & Rarity

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Plus expert tips on making hazel eyes pop with hair or makeup
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Hazel eyes are undeniably beautiful, but it can be hard to decipher just what color they are. Are they a shade of brown? Are they really green? And why do they sometimes look gold, or like they’re changing color from room to room? Fortunately, we’ve got the answers to all these questions in this ultimate guide to hazel eyes. We’ll explain what hazel eyes look like , where they come from , how rare they are , and which ethnicities tend to have them . And, if you have hazel eyes, we’ve included special bonus content from makeup artist Devorah Kuperland on how to make your hazel peepers pop .

What color are hazel brown eyes?

Hazel brown eyes are a mix of brown, green, and gold. Some hazel eyes only have two of these colors, while others have all three. The shades are not always balanced, so one person’s hazel eyes might look more brown while another person’s look more green. Sometimes, hazel eyes will even contain amber or blue flecks.

Section 1 of 8:

What do hazel eyes look like?

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  1. Hazel eyes blend green, gold, and brown to create a rare and beautiful eye shade. These three colors don’t necessarily appear in a balanced mix—some hazel eyes only contain two, while others include all three. Beyond this, some hazel eyes appear more brown, while others appear more green or gold. In some cases, the irises will even have flecks of gold, amber, or blue. In other words, there’s a lot of variation in hazel eyes, with their overall hue ranging from golden brown to bright green with golden flecks. [1]
    • You can see what hazel eyes look like for yourself, since there are many celebrities who have hazel eyes , including Rihanna, Zendaya, Lady Gaga, David Beckham, Sofia Vergara, Dianna Agron, and Mila Kunis.
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Section 2 of 8:

Hazel Eyes vs. Brown Eyes

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  1. Hazel eyes have brown pigment, but they also contain other colors. Some people believe that hazel eyes are simply a variation of brown eyes , but that’s actually not the case. Hazel eyes and brown eyes can both include a large amount of brown pigment, but brown eyes generally have a more uniform color. Hazel eyes, on the other hand, contain multiple tones of other colors like green, gold, and even blue, and they sometimes appear much more green or gold than brown. [2]
    • This difference in colors and shades is largely attributed to the amount of melanin in the eye. Brown eyes have a higher overall concentration of melanin in the iris than hazel eyes do.
    • Brown eyes also contain mostly eumelanin, a type of melanin that creates a darker, browner shade. Hazel eyes, on the other hand, contain pheomelanin, which gives lends a yellow or red tint that ends up giving hazel eyes their gold or greenish hue. [3]
    • Hazel eyes are also more likely to (seemingly) change colors in different settings, while brown eyes typically have a more consistent shade, no matter the lighting.
    • Aside from color, brown eyes and hazel eyes also differ in their rarity—brown is the most common eye color in the world, while hazel is one of the rarest. [4]
Section 3 of 8:

Hazel Eyes vs. Green Eyes

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  1. Green eyes have a very low amount of melanin in the iris, creating a solid green appearance that’s mostly uniform across the eye. While hazel eyes may contain some green pigment, they also contain more melanin, which adds brownish tones to the mix. This combination of brown, gold, and green gives hazel eyes a truly unique and dynamic look! [5]
    • Green is a rarer eye color than hazel, but it’s a tight competition—approximately 2% of the world’s population is believed to have green eyes, while just 5% of the world has hazel eyes. [6]
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Section 4 of 8:

What causes hazel eyes?

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  1. Hazel eyes are caused by genetic factors and melanin in the iris. Like nearly all eye colors, hazel eyes are determined by a combination of genetic factors. Specifically, eye color is determined by the genes that control melanin production, and melanin is a brown pigment that can vary in concentration. In general, a person’s eye color is based on the amount of melanin (or dark pigment) that is in their eye, and that amount is decided by their genetic code. [7]
    • Hazel eyes have a moderate amount of melanin, which is why the color is neither very light (like blue eyes, which have low melanin) nor very dark (like brown eyes, which have high melanin). [8]
    • The melanin in hazel eyes is also unevenly distributed throughout the iris, which is what creates the mix of colors (i.e., gold, green, brown) that’s unique to hazel eyes. [9]
Section 5 of 8:

What ethnicity has hazel brown eyes?

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  1. Most commonly, people with hazel eyes have Spanish ancestry or descend from other areas in northern and western Europe. However, hazel eyes may also appear in individuals with Middle Eastern, North African, or Latin American (specifically Brazilian) heritage. In rare cases, hazel eyes can appear in people with Asian heritage. [10]
    • In general, hazel eyes are determined by genetic variations, not by ethnicity alone, so it’s technically possible for hazel eyes to appear in people of any ethnicity.
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Section 6 of 8:

How rare are hazel eyes?

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  1. Hazel eyes are very rare—only 5% of people in the world have them. This statistic makes hazel the second-rarest eye color worldwide, just after green eyes (which appear in only 2% of the global population). After hazel, the next rarest eye colors are blue, and then brown (which is the most common). [11]
    • Some would argue that gray eyes are rarer than green and hazel ones, but gray is often considered to be a shade of blue when it comes to eye color. [12]
    • You could also argue that red or violet eyes are the rarest eye color, but this idea is often dismissed, since red and violet eyes generally result from a condition like albinism, so they don’t occur the way other eye colors do. [13]
Section 7 of 8:

Do hazel eyes change color?

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  1. Hazel eyes don’t actually change color, but they may appear to. A person’s eyes can’t change color from minute to minute, and the same goes for people with hazel eyes. However, depending on environmental factors like light, clothing, hair, and makeup, different colors within hazel eyes may be brought out or appear more prominent. As a result, hazel eyes might look brown one minute and green or gold the next! [14]
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Section 8 of 8:

How to Enhance Hazel Eyes with Hair & Makeup

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  1. “Purples and greens [are] great for accentuating” hazel eyes and making the “eye color pop,” says Kuperland. She suggests getting “a beautiful deep plum or deep purple eyeliner and applying that where you’d normally apply your black or brown liner. The same goes for a green eyeliner color—just little hints of purple or green can really make that hazel eye just come to life.”
    • If you want to stay in a more neutral territory, Kuperland suggests “play[ing] with browns.” Cool brown tones like ash and chocolate can bring out the green undertones in hazel eyes, while warm brown shades like caramel and copper can bring out the gold flecks.
    • Ultimately, when doing makeup for hazel eyes , you should “try to shift your focus from black eyeliners into different colors, even if it’s just a subtle hint [of color], like eyeliner inside the inner rim,” concludes Kuperland.
  2. 2
    Apply green, purple, or warm-toned eyeshadows to your hazel eyes. Choose eyeshadow shades that will bring out the green and gold hues in your eyes, just like the above eyeliner colors would. If you want your eyes to appear greener, use a green eyeshadow . If you want your eyes to look more golden, use gold or bronze eyeshadows . If you want your eyes to really pop and stand out, use a contrasting color like a purple eyeshadow . [15]
    • For a more daring look, use a blue eyeshadow to bring out the cool, honey tones in your hazel eyes.
  3. If you want to bring out your hazel eyes via your hair color, there are a few options you can go for. If you want a warm-toned and golden look, try a chestnut brown, golden caramel brown, or a honey blonde. If you want a brighter, sunnier look, try strawberry blonde or copper red. If you want a more subtle (but still striking) option, try a dark ash-blonde to complement and brighten your eyes. [16]
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      References

      1. ↑ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/21576-eye-colors
      2. ↑ https://www.visioncenter.org/conditions/hazel-eyes/
      3. ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/pheomelanin
      4. ↑ https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/rarest-eye-color/
      5. ↑ https://www.visioncenter.org/conditions/hazel-eyes/
      6. ↑ https://www.worldatlas.com/society/the-world-s-population-by-eye-color.html
      7. ↑ http://labs.plantbio.cornell.edu/wayne/Light+and+Life+2016/2315+Iris+color+and+heredity.pdf
      8. ↑ https://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mytheyecolor.html
      9. ↑ https://www.allaboutvision.com/eye-care/eye-anatomy/eye-color/hazel/
      1. ↑ https://www.zennioptical.com/blog/hazel-eyes-separating-fact-from-fiction/
      2. ↑ https://www.visioncenter.org/conditions/hazel-eyes/
      3. ↑ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/21576-eye-colors
      4. ↑ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/21576-eye-colors
      5. ↑ https://www.visioncenter.org/conditions/hazel-eyes/
      6. ↑ https://www.charlottetilbury.com/uk/secrets/best-eyeshadow-colours-hazel-eyes
      7. ↑ https://www.hair.com/best-hair-color-for-hazel-eyes.html

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