Determining your true eye color can be tricky. Many people with brown or hazel eyes may notice specks or rings of different colors in their irises. This can make it hard to pinpoint whether your eyes are strictly brown, amber, or hazel. Looking closely at your eye color in different lighting conditions and learning more about the causes of eye color variations can help provide clarity.
What Makes Eyes Appear Brown, Amber, or Hazel?
The color of your eyes depends on how much of the pigment melanin is present in the iris. People with brown eyes have a lot of melanin in their irises, while people with blue eyes have very little. Hazel and amber eyes fall somewhere in between.
Here are some key things that influence eye color:
- Melanin concentration – More melanin leads to darker eyes.
- Rayleigh scattering – This effect makes eyes appear lighter from light scattering off the stroma.
- Pheomelanin – A type of melanin that adds yellow/amber hues.
- Lipochrome – A yellow pigment that deposits in the iris.
- Tyndall effect – Scattering of light in the stroma that can make eyes appear greenish.
The combination and ratio of these factors gives rise to the range of possible eye colors.
What Makes Brown Eyes Appear Amber or Hazel?
For people with very dark brown eyes, the high melanin concentration overrides the other color influences. But when melanin levels are more moderate, other iris elements can become visible.
Here’s what makes brown eyes take on amber or hazel hints:
- Pheomelanin – Adds yellow/amber hues to the iris.
- Lipochrome – Contributes yellow tones.
- Tyndall effect – Makes eyes look greener, creating hazel appearance.
- Rayleigh scattering – Makes eyes look less dark overall.
The balance of these factors with melanin levels results in the spectrum of brown, amber, and hazel eye colors.
How to Tell if My Eyes Are Amber vs. Hazel
Figuring out whether your eyes are amber or hazel involves looking closely in different lighting for these clues:
| Amber Eyes | Hazel Eyes |
|---|---|
| More solid, uniform yellow/gold color | Patchy mix of brown, green, gold |
| Minimal green or brown flecks | Visible green flecks or rings |
| Light makes eyes look yellow/golden | Light makes eyes look greenish |
| More bright yellow than light brown | More balanced brown and green |
Amber eyes have a more solid, golden appearance while hazel eyes look multicolored. But there can be overlap. Some people may have a hybrid eye color that is not distinctly amber or hazel.
Getting a Better Look at Your Eye Color
Your environment impacts how your eye color is perceived. Here are some tips for getting a clearer view:
- Examine your eyes in natural sunlight – This shows the true colors without optical illusions.
- Look at your eyes up close in the mirror – Check for flecks/patterns across the iris.
- Have someone else look at your eyes – Get an outside perspective.
- Take pictures of your eyes with flash and without – See how light interacts with your iris.
- Look at your eyes against different backdrops – Nearby colors can influence appearance.
Repeatedly comparing your eyes under varied conditions can reveal their true shades.
Factors that Can Change Eye Color Slightly
Your eye color can appear to change subtly due to:
- Lighting conditions – Brightness, color spectrum, angles.
- Clothing and background colors – Contrasting colors stand out more.
- Eye drops – Vasoconstrictors can enlarge pupils, making iris appear darker.
- Lasik surgery – Can potentially affect melanin granule distribution.
- Medications – Some drugs may increase pigmentation.
- Injury – Trauma can disrupt iris pigmentation.
- Age – Iris color may darken very gradually over time.
But these are optical illusions or only slight variations. The concentration of melanin that determines your core eye color remains constant.
Genetic Factors in Eye Color
Genes play a major role in eye color. The key genes involved are:
- HERC2 – Controls OCA2 expression, main gene responsible for eye color.
- OCA2 – Stimulates melanin production, altered expression affects pigmentation.
- SLC24A4 – Helps regulate calcium levels in melanocytes.
- SLC45A2 – Helps transport pigment into melanocytes.
- TYR – Encodes tyrosinase for melanin synthesis.
The variants of these genes you inherit from your parents help shape your eye color. Genetics can also cause eyes to change somewhat from birth to childhood.
Conclusion
Determining whether your eyes are brown, amber, or hazel involves carefully examining them in different lighting conditions. Amber eyes have a solid golden/yellowish appearance with minimal flecks. Hazel eyes appear multicolored with a mix of brown, green, and gold. Your genetics and melanin levels are the ultimate determining factors of your true eye color. But small variations can occur due to lighting, medications, injuries, and age. Looking closely and comparing your eyes to eye color examples online can provide more clarity on whether your irises are amber, hazel, or somewhere in between.
