Different Shades of Blue Eyes
Baby blue Often used interchangeably with pale blue and sky blue, this shade of blue is a light and subtlety bright shade that may be perceived as innocent and pure. In art, baby blue is used to color spring and summer landscapes, radiating warmth, tranquility, and delight. People with baby blue eyes have less melanin than darker blues, like Caribbean blue, aqua, and turquoise.
Electric blue Vibrant and bold, electric blue is close to cyan on the color spectrum, but is less green in pigment. In design, this blue hue is used to draw the audience’s eye to something important, highlighting noteworthy elements with energy and momentum. Electric blue eyes are sometimes viewed as otherworldly or supernatural as an electric blue gaze is hypnotizing and intense.
Ice blue Lighter than steel blue, ice blue eyes maintain a chilling beauty, like arctic waters cresting beneath a frozen lake. Ice blue perfectly encompasses winter’s striking silvery blue tones, typically used to describe a “cold” character’s stern stare in literature. Glacial and penetrating, icy blue eyes can also be found in the animal kingdom, particularly among certain dog breeds, like Siberian Huskies and Weimaraners.
Caribbean blue Synonymous with ocean blue and turquoise, this shade is a darker shade of bright blue, used to describe the color of a Bahamian beach on a hot August day. Caribbean blue is often featured in vacation brochures to advertise clear waters, white sands, and fun in the sun for the whole family. Caribbean blue eyes can appear to me sparkling or beaming due to their glittering blue color.
Cornflower blue Similar to periwinkle, this shade is a medium bright blue, named after the cornflower, which blooms blue. Lightly mixed with green, this hue reflects nature’s vibrant blues with a cool gloss of tranquility. Those with cornflower blue eyes are thought to be sweet and attractive, while maintaining a unique and youthful energy. Cornflower blue is frequently featured in weddings as the “something blue” for brides.
Aqua Close to Tahitian blue, this is the color of swimming pools. Aqua is very bright, found between blue and green on the color spectrum. This lively hue invokes feelings of clarity and revitalization, and people with aqua eyes tend to have piercing gazes. Aqua eyes may also appear to change color in the light, shimmering back and forth between blue, green, and even hazel.
Gray blue Closely related to steel blue, gray blue eyes contain a very specific amount of melanin, as there may just be enough to create a medium-thin film on the iris, responsible for creating the gray-blue effect. Gray blue eyes can appear to change depending on their surroundings, what they’re wearing, and even how they’re feeling, since emotions like surprise or joy can cause pupils to dilate and absorb more light.
Sapphire On the light to dark spectrum, sapphire eyes are some of the darkest shades of blue eyes. This hue is named after the gemstone and is close to purple on the color wheel. This deep jewel tone may not be as distinguishable as some brighter shades, but it still makes for stunning and mysterious gaze in the eyes of their beholder. The term “sapphire eyes” is sometimes used in literature to describe mystical characters.
Blue Eyes Unique Traits
All blue-eyed people are related. Blue eyes actually didn’t exist until about 10,000 years ago, and scientists can trace all blue eyes back to a single common ancestor. This mutation caused a huge genetic shift, as all eyes were originally believed to be brown. In 2008, scientists at the University of Copenhagen discovered that the OCA2 gene in that one distant relative is what resulted in the genetic “switch” which shut off the production of melanin. #*The OCA2 gene accounts for P protein, which is instrumental in producing melanin. This mutation is similar to other ones that dictate specific physical features, like baldness, freckles, and moles, none of which impact a personal negatively.
About 20% of babies are born with blue eyes. Humans aren’t born with the full extent of melanin that they will later go on to produce, resulting in tons of babies with baby blues. About 20% of babies are born with blue peepers, although their eye color is very likely to change as they get older and melanin production starts up. Babies born with blue eyes can go on to have eyes that are brown, green, and hazel. There are 16 genetic variations responsible for determining eye color, which make them very difficult to predict– even if their parents share the same eye color! After a baby is born, their eyes can change colors over the course of a few months up to three years.
Blue eyes play a hand in your health. There’s a few health-related prons and cons to having blue eyes. Since people with blue eyes have reduced melanin, they’re also more vulnerable to light and therefore, retinal damage. If you have very light blue eyes, be sure to wear UV-blocking sunglasses to protect your eyes, along with sunscreen to protect your skin, which is likely also sensitive to light due to lack of melanin. Blue-eyed folks are also more likely to have ocular uveal melanoma, a very rare type of eye cancer. On the brightside, blue eyes are significantly less likely to develop cataracts than their brown-eyed counterparts.
Other Rare Eye Shades and Conditions
Gray eyes Just like blue eyes, gray eyes are a result of very little melanin in the iris. Scientists can’t exactly pinpoint what causes eyes to appear gray, but they think genetics are at play. The iris contains two layers, one in front and one in back, and the connective tissue in the middle is called the stroma. Genetics could explain how a small amount of melanin in the front layer of the iris faintly fogs the blue in the second layer, leading to the gray eye effect. #*Additionally, scientists believe that the fibers in the stroma could scatter light in a unique way, resulting in a totally gray iris.
Red, pink, or violet eyes Albinism is a condition that affects the melanin production in your body, leading to very fair skin, white hair, and often, red, pink, or violet eyes. People with albinism have virtually no melanin in their irises, leading to the lightest colored eyes possible. In turn, opaque gray eyes like these allow the blood vessels in the retinas to become more visible and more prominent, resulting in eyes that appear red, pink, or violet. Due to this lack of melanin, albinos tend to suffer from a number of other eye conditions, like near and farsightedness, poor depth perception, and extreme light sensitivity, or photophobia.
Heterochromia Heterochromia is a health-neutral condition in which each of your eyes is a different color, ranging from bright blue to dark chocolate brown. One iris may either be a completely different color from the other or present in a different variation of the same color. For example, one eye could be green while the other is gray, or one eye could be blue while the other appears to be blue-green. This condition is most commonly a result of a harmless genetic mutation, although it can occur as a result of certain conditions and syndromes, like nerve damage and Horner syndrome.
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