fbpx Book Appointment
Adelaide City Optometrist
Adelaide City Optometrist
127 Gilles Street
Adelaide, 5000
Monday - Friday
9am-5.30pm (Mon-Wed) 9am-6pm (Thurs) 9am-7pm (Fri)
08 8224 0819
Call Us

The Truth About Green Eyes

  • by: Adelaide City Optometrist
  • July 21, 2021

Did you know that green eyes are the rarest in the world?

Only 2% of the population has this eye color and it is most common in Northern, Central and Western Europe.

The iris (the colored part of the eye) comes from a brown pigment called melanin, which is the same pigment that causes skin colour. The concentration of melanin changes depending on the climate you live in.

 

WHAT CAUSES GREEN EYES?

Eye Color Chart

Scientists used to believe that your eye colour was determined by two eye colour genes, one from each parent. Since brown is a more dominant gene over blue, a blue-eyed person would have two blue eye genes, and two-blue eyed parents couldn’t have a brown-eyed child. It is actually more complicated than that and here’s why!

Your eye colour is determined by several genes that control melanin production in your iris. Darker eyes have a lot of melanin, while light eyes have only a little.

The chart about should tell you what colour eyes your baby will have based on the parent’s eye colours. As you can see, the green eyes percentage is lower than a lot of the other colours, even when both parents have green eyes. Since it is likely it will be blue or brown instead.

 

WHAT COLOUR ARE MY EYES?

Part of the reason some people’s eye colour changes over time, is that babies do not have the full amount of melanin that is present once they are adults. This mean’s that majority of the time, babies start off with light coloured eyes or blue eyes and they transition to other colours. Children’s whose eyes change to brown contain higher amounts of melanin whereas those whose eyes change to green or hazel contain less.

 

WHY ARE MY EYES GREEN?

The green eye color is not one color alone. There are a few factors which will determine why your eyes are that colour.

  • The levels of melanin in the iris
  • The distribution of melanin in the iris (whereabouts it shows)
  • How the light scatter’s in the iris and pigment molecules affect colour
  • And lastly, how the iris is perceived in different lighting and contrast to our surroundings.

 

WHO HAS GREEN EYES?

To some, it is unique and special to being in the 2% of green eyes in the world. But to others it may seem weird. However, there are many other people who have them and this includes people familiar to you. Celebrities such as Emma Stone, Harry Styles, Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried all have variations of green eye.

HOW TO GET GREEN EYES?

There is no natural way to have green eyes if your iris’ are already another colour. However, there is a way to temporarily change the colour with coloured contacts. As technology advances, there are better quality lenses as well as a more decent range to choose from. in our range, our Alcon Air Optix contacts come in a gemstone green, green and then a hazel and turquoise if you are after a specific look or shade.

Coloured contact lenses are not limited to those shades though. They are also offered in Amethyst, grey, blues and more. Also it depends on if you want a subtle look or vibrant look. To browse our coloured contacts range, click here.

 

IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE MULTI-COLORED EYES?

Heterochromia Iridium (two different coloured eyes within a single individual) and Heterochromia Iridis (a variety of colour within a single iris) are relatively rare in humans.

ARE EYE COLOR AND HAIR COLOR LINKED?

The reason why these two traits are linked is that the genes responsible for these happen to be close together on the same chromosomes. Which can equal blue eye color and blonde hair. As previously mentioned, if two people with curly hair were to have a child with straight hair, it would be very uncommon, but it is not impossible (especially if it is a mutation or if ancestors had those genes).

 

To trial coloured contact lenses, book an appointment with us today.