What percentage symmetrical is a normal face?

There is no agreed standard. Symmetry percentages come from each app's own method, so a face can get different numbers in different apps. Researchers usually measure asymmetry in millimeters, and in one study of young adults more than half had over 2 mm of overall asymmetry.

Can makeup make my face look more symmetrical?

Yes, to the eye. Filling and shaping brows to the same height, adjusting eyeliner and lip liner, and placing contour and blush evenly can balance small differences. It changes how your face reads, not its structure.

Do face symmetry apps give reliable results?

They give a reading of one photo. Head tilt, camera distance, lighting and expression all change the result, so the same face can score differently from photo to photo. Take every photo the same way and compare like with like.

Facial Symmetry: Does It Matter, and How Symmetrical Are Most Faces?

Every face is somewhat asymmetrical, and a few millimeters of difference between the two sides is normal. Symmetry does make a face a little more attractive on average, but it matters less than its reputation suggests, and much of the asymmetry people notice in themselves comes from the photo rather than the face.

This post is for anyone who has spotted one eyebrow sitting higher, a smile that pulls to one side, or a low score from a symmetry app. It covers how symmetrical faces usually are, what the research says about symmetry and attractiveness, why photos exaggerate asymmetry, how to check your own face fairly, and what can and cannot change.

How symmetrical are most faces?

Most faces are measurably but mildly asymmetrical: the two sides typically differ by a few millimeters. Perfect symmetry is rare, and mild asymmetry is the norm.

A 2020 study by Lum and colleagues used 3D face scans of 279 healthy young adults in Western Australia (average age about 22). More than half had overall facial asymmetry greater than 2 mm. Asymmetry of 2 to 5 mm, which the authors classed as moderate, was found in 52.3 percent of women and 58.4 percent of men, and 7.1 percent of women and 7.7 percent of men had more than 5 mm.

In other words, a few millimeters of difference is ordinary, not a flaw. Common differences include one eye or eyebrow sitting slightly higher, a nose that leans a little to one side, a fuller cheek, or a jaw that is slightly longer on one side.

Is facial symmetry attractive?

Yes, facial symmetry is attractive, but its effect is modest. On average, more symmetrical faces are rated somewhat more attractive, and the effect is smaller than that of other factors such as averageness.

A 2006 review in the Annual Review of Psychology by Gillian Rhodes pooled the research in meta-analyses. When researchers made a face more symmetrical by blending it with its own mirror image, the symmetrical version was preferred. In ordinary, unedited faces, natural variation in symmetry had a small-to-medium link with attractiveness, and that link held after accounting for how average a face looked.

A smaller 2024 study by Eißing and colleagues, in which 50 people rated 50 faces, some made more symmetrical and some less, found that attractiveness ratings tracked how symmetrical a face looked, with “no evidence that completely symmetrical faces are perceived as less attractive.” The same study found signs of thresholds in perception, meaning small differences tend to go unnoticed. Laypeople judged symmetry less precisely than medical professionals.

For the bigger picture of what makes a face attractive, including averageness and skin, see what makes a face attractive.

Does facial symmetry mean better health?

Not in any reliable way among healthy people. The idea that symmetry advertises good health is popular, but a large direct test did not support it.

Pound and colleagues (2014), in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, analyzed 3D face scans of 4,732 British teenagers from a long-running study, along with detailed records of their health through childhood. Facial asymmetry was not associated with childhood health. The authors concluded that the study “does not support the idea that facial symmetry acts as a reliable cue to physiological health” in this kind of population.

So a slightly asymmetrical face is not a sign of anything wrong.

Why do photos make my face look more asymmetrical?

Photos make faces look more asymmetrical because small changes in head position, camera distance, light and expression shift one side of the face more than the other. The asymmetry in a photo is often partly created by the photo.

Head tilt and turn. Turning your head even slightly brings one side closer to the camera, making it look larger and the other side narrower.
Camera distance. A close camera exaggerates whatever is nearest the lens. Ward and colleagues (2018) found a selfie at 12 inches made the nose look about 30 percent wider relative to the face than an undistorted view, with essentially no difference at 5 feet. Any small turn of the head is magnified the same way.
Side lighting. Light from one side throws shadows across the other, making one cheek, eye or jaw look different.
Expression. Smiles, raised eyebrows and talking are often uneven; a still photo freezes that.
The mirror flip. You are used to your mirror image, so a photo puts your familiar asymmetries on the “wrong” side. Our post on why you look different in photos explains this.

Rhodes’s review makes a related point about “half-face” images, made by mirroring one half of a face: even slight deviations from a front-on view produce unnaturally wide or narrow results. Those mirrored half-faces, common in symmetry filters, are a poor guide to how symmetrical you are.

How can I check my facial symmetry at home?

You can check your facial symmetry at home with a straight-on photo, taken carefully, and a few reference lines. The setup matters more than the tool.

Set up the photo. Prop your phone at eye level a few feet away, use the timer, and face soft, even light from the front. See how to take a good selfie for the distance rules.
Get your head straight. Look directly into the lens, keep your head level (not tilted or turned), pull your hair back and keep a neutral, closed-mouth expression.
Draw a midline. In any photo editor, draw a vertical line from the middle of your forehead through the bridge of your nose to your chin.
Add horizontal lines through the pupils, the brow peaks, the corners of the mouth and the base of the nose, and see whether they are level.
Compare features across the line: eye size, nostril shape, cheek fullness and jawline.
Repeat with two or three photos. If a difference shows up in every photo, it is probably your face. If it changes between photos, it is probably the photo.

Feature	What to compare	Common, normal finding
Eyes	Height of the pupils and eyelid crease	One eye slightly higher or more open
Brows	Height of the brow peak	One brow sitting a little higher
Nose	Tip and bridge relative to the midline	A slight lean to one side
Mouth	Height of the corners at rest	One corner slightly higher
Jaw	Length and angle on each side	One side a little fuller or longer

Our list of the best face symmetry apps compares apps that do this automatically; the same setup rules apply to them.

What can and can’t change facial symmetry?

Styling can change how symmetrical your face looks; it does not change the underlying bone structure, and no home method does. The good news is that perception has thresholds, as the 2024 study above found, so small, normal asymmetries tend to go unnoticed by other people.

What can balance the look of your face:

Brows: shaping and filling both brows to the same peak height is one of the most visible fixes.
Hair: moving your parting, or adding face-framing layers, can soften a higher cheek or uneven jawline.
Makeup: eyeliner, lip liner, contour and blush can even out small differences in eye size, lip shape and cheek fullness.
Posture in photos: a level head and a camera at eye level remove much of the asymmetry photos add.
Your “good side”: if you prefer one side, using it in photos is a reasonable choice, not a trick.

What styling cannot change is the bone and soft tissue underneath. If an asymmetry bothers you, causes discomfort (for example, jaw pain or a bite problem), or has appeared recently, talk to a doctor or dentist, who can explain what is causing it and what the options are.

Where does Beautify fit?

Beautify is an iPhone app whose facial analysis includes a facial symmetry score out of 100, one of eight scores from a single selfie, alongside skin quality, eyes, nose, lips and cheekbones. It asks for the setup described above (face straight and centered, looking at the camera, mouth naturally closed, even light), which keeps photo effects small, and it stores past results in the Scans tab. It also identifies your face shape and eye shape with makeup and haircut tips, which is where most practical balancing happens. The score is an estimate from one photo, not a measurement. For a free check, the midline method above works well, and a doctor or dentist is the right person for any asymmetry that worries you.

What matters most?

Every face is asymmetrical; a few millimeters of difference is normal.
Symmetry adds to attractiveness, but modestly, and it is not a reliable sign of health in healthy people.
Photos exaggerate asymmetry through head angle, distance, light and the mirror flip, so check with several careful, straight-on photos.
Brows, hair and makeup can balance the look of your face.