Eye color is an inherited trait with multiple genes affecting the shade.
A person’s eye color reflects a unique combination and concentration of pigments in theiris.
Hazel/amber is the next rarest color after green.
Celeste Muñoz / EyeEm
However, new classifications have determined that gray is its own standard color.
(In studies, gray and blue have historically been combined.
)With this change, gray and green now rank as the rarest eye colors.
Getty Images / WhitneyLewisPhotography
Dark gray eyes have a bit more melanin in the front layer than pale gray eyes.
Black is not an eye color.
While some eyes may look black, they’re either just a very dark brown or large pupils.
What Determines Eye Color?
More melanin means darker eyes; less means lighter eyes.
Different types of melanin determine the specific hue of the eyes.
Eumelanin is a black-brown pigment responsible for darker eyes, hair, and skin.
Pheomelanin is a yellow-red pigment that’s behind green or amber eyes, red hair, and freckles.
People in countries farther away from the equator tend to have lighter-colored eyes and skin.
Darker eyes and skin are common in locales closer to the equator.
Genetics
At least 10 different genes play a role in eye color.
Most eye color genes have something to do with the transport, production, and storage of melanin.
Countless combinations of these genes produce a continuum of eye colors in individuals.
Getty Images / WhitneyLewisPhotography
you could also develop heterochromia later in life.
In some people, it only affects the eyes.
This is calledocular albinism.
People with albinism may have lighter versions of standard eye colors.
People with albinism often have serious vision problems.
That’s because melanin helps the eye develop normally before birth.
Do Purple Eyes Exist?
The eyes of a person with albinism may appear purple, but purple irises do not exist.
Makeup or lighting may cause the eyes of a person without albinism to appear purple.
Some shades of blue eyes might also look purple or violet with different lighting.
Eye Color and Your Health
Having a rare eye color or appearance may seem special and distinctive.
A review from 2015 suggests people with darker eyes may have a reduced risk ofhearing lossnot related to age.
More research is needed to confirm such connections and associations.
Other times, it’s due to diseases, medication use, or injury and may need treatment.
This is a clouding of the eye’s lens.
Cataracts can affect your vision and may need to be surgically removed.
Let your eyecare provider know if your eyes appear to be turning gray or milky.
Brown freckles can develop in your iris over time, usually due to sun exposure.
Conditions likeFuchs heterochromic iridocyclitiscan lighten your eye color and may lead to serious vision problems.
Fuchs involves inflammation in some of the structures at the front of your eye.
It may cause:
Medications can sometimes cause changes in your eye color as well.
What Is the Most Attractive Eye Color?
Some brands of contact lenses are available in different colors and your prescription can be added to them.
However, you should still see an eye-care professional and get a prescription for them.
Gray eyes and green eyes are considered to be the rarest eye colors.
Your eye color is determined by multiple combinations of genes that produce and distribute pigments.
Some rare conditions can affect your eye color as well.
Some people are born with heterochromia or different colored eyes.
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