Glasses for Green Eyes: How to Care for and Showcase Your Eyes

When you meet someone for the first time, it’s often their eyes that stand out first. Your eyes have a huge role to play in expressing both your personality and your emotions. And green eyes can be especially expressive.

It’s true that green eyes are sometimes associated with envy — but in this case, it’s more likely that other people will envy you. Green eyes are also associated with creativity and passion, and in fact, they’re often considered to be the most attractive color, perhaps in part because they’re quite rare.

So how unusual are green eyes exactly? Let’s find out, and also learn where your green eyes get their color from. Then we’ll have a look at some gorgeous glasses designed to help your green eyes sparkle as only they can.

Is Green the Rarest Eye Color?

The answer to that question is yes!

Only 2% of the world’s population has green eyes, making it the rarest human eye color — with the exception of very usual conditions like heterochromia, which results in two different eye colors, or albinism, where the eyes can sometimes appear red or pink.

In the U.S., a 2014 survey by the American Academy of Ophthalmology showed that 9% of Americans have green eyes. The immigration of green-eyed people from Northern and Central Europe may well have contributed to this.

People from countries like Germany, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Ireland, and Scotland are very likely to have either green or blue eyes. And in fact, more than 75% of green-eyed people in the world are born in Scotland or Ireland.

As an outlier, there’s a village in China called Liqian, where about two-thirds of the people who live there are born with green eyes and blonde hair. This eye and hair color combination is rare anywhere but especially in that area of the world, where most people’s eyes are brown. Scientists are still researching the origin of their green eyes.

Where Do Your Green Eyes Get Their Color?

The colored part of the eye is called the iris, and it surrounds the black pupil. The color of your irises depends on the amount of melanin they contain. This brown pigment absorbs light, making your eyes look darker. So the less melanin you have, the lighter eyes you’ll have.

For example:

• If your irises have a lot of melanin, you’ll likely have some variation of brown eyes, anywhere from dark brown to amber eyes.

• If your irises have very little melanin, you’ll have blue eyes. This isn’t because of a blue pigment, but because the irises reflect the shorter wavelengths of light — which lie in the blue spectrum, making them appear blue.

• If your eyes have low levels of melanin but a lot of collagen, the light is reflected slightly differently and you’ll end up with gray eyes.

• And if your irises have a small amount of light brown melanin, it interacts with the blue light, and your eyes will be green.

Although your genes have a big influence, they don’t necessarily predict exactly what color your eyes will be. For example, the blue-eyed gene is recessive (or less dominant) so two blue-eyed parents don’t always result in a blue-eyed child. Researchers now believe that around 16 different genes are involved in eye color, so it’s by no means an exact science yet.

In fact, a baby’s eyes are often blue when they’re born. Then as they develop, sometimes their eyes change color to green, usually stabilizing at around one year, although some kids’ eyes take longer.

And of course, if you don’t have green eyes but wish you did, you can always try some green contact lenses.

What’s the Difference Between Green Eyes and Hazel Eyes?

Green and hazel eye colors are sometimes confused, but they’re quite different. People with green eyes usually have a solid green iris. Hazel eyes, on the other hand, contain several different colors. Because the melanin in hazel eyes isn’t consistent across the iris, they can look speckled with different colored flecks or like a sunburst with one color toward the center and others moving out from there.

Looking After Your Green Eyes

There doesn’t seem to be a link between eye color and visual acuity, so you’re just as likely as anyone else to suffer from nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. This is easy to address with the right prescription or — for a more permanent solution — with a treatment like LASIK eye surgery.

However, because green eyes contain less melanin — which protects your eyes from the sun — they can suffer from increased light sensitivity. They may also be at greater risk from UV damage and conditions like ocular melanoma.

So be sure to wear sunglasses anytime you’re outside, and be proactive about your eye health, scheduling regular eye examinations so you can catch any issues early on. It’s a good idea to check your visual acuity regularly anyway, as this changes with age and is also influenced by other health conditions.

Tips for Showcasing Your Green Eyes

Let your green eyes shine by making sure people can see them and choosing the right frames for you.

Cut the Glare

Invest in anti-glare — or non-reflective — lenses. They’ll minimize distracting reflections, whether you’re face-to-face or in a virtual meeting, so observers can see your beautiful green eyes clearly.

Pick the Right Frames

Your green eye color is incredibly versatile and you can wear many different colored frames.

For example:

• You could go neutral with black glasses that frame your eyes, like The Black, or clear frames that disappear and let your eyes take center stage.

• Or try an earthy frame that draws out the gold undertones in your eyes, like The Tortoise or The Sunflowers.

• Or choose a light or dark green frame to match or tone with the color of your eyes. Try The Green Splatter or The Butterflies and Poppies.

• Or go with contrasting shades like red, pink, or purple to help your eyes pop. How about The Ruby Sparkle, The Terrace Floral, or The Metamorphosis?

You’ll find all of these and more at Pair Eyewear. Our high-quality Base Frames come in a range of flattering styles to suit different face shapes and sizes. Use our Virtual Try-On feature to see which works best for you.

Then you can mix and match the colors with a pair (or two or three) of magnetic Top Frames. Top Frames are extremely light at just 2 millimeters thick, so you can even carry around a couple of pairs in a Top Frame case for a quick change during the day — or to shift into an evening look.

We cater to all your prescription needs, whether you need single-vision, progressive lenses, or reading glasses. Simply upload your prescription or point us to your eye doctor and we’ll get the prescription from them.

You can also add any extras you need depending on your lifestyle. For example, if you spend a lot of time on your device, especially at night, you may want to add blue light filters to your lenses. Or if you move between indoors and outdoors during the day, our transition lenses automatically darken as you move into brighter spaces — or you can pop on a pair of Sun Tops.

Your Green Eyes Deserve Beautiful Eyeglasses

Green eyes are rare and beautiful. They help you stand out from the crowd (in most places in the world, anyway), and radiate your passion and creativity.

Because they’re light and UV-sensitive, you do need to take extra precautions in the sun and get your eyes checked regularly, but that’s good practice anyway.

Now pick a gorgeous pair of glasses from Pair Eyewear to show off your green eyes and enjoy the admiring looks that come your way.