Do you have a Nubian nose?

What a Nubian nose looks like

The defining feature is width at the base. On a Nubian nose the nostrils are broad and the span from one outer edge to the other is a large share of the face's width. The tip is soft and wide rather than pointed, and it sits a little lower than the nostrils, pointing gently down.

The bridge is the second feature. It is long, running from between the eyes to a tip that sits low on the face, and often low itself, without a sharp ridge. In profile the line is straight or gently curved. There is no bump, so the profile alone rarely tells you much.

From the front, the whole nose reads as generous and well planted: a long centre line with a broad, rounded base. It sits in proportion with full lips and a wide mouth on most faces that have it, which is why the shape looks settled rather than large.

The name comes from styling and beauty writing rather than anatomy, where the shape appears as a type of wide-based nose. It is common in people of African descent and found in many other populations. It is not a variation on another shape; it is a shape in its own right.

How to tell if you have a Nubian nose

You need a front photo, taken at eye level from a couple of metres away, with the head straight. A phone held close enlarges the centre of the face and makes every nose look wider, so step back and zoom in. Even front light is best; side light narrows the base with shadow.

Then use the rule of fifths.

1. Measure the nose. From the outer edge of one nostril to the outer edge of the other, at the widest point.
2. Measure the gap between your eyes. From one inner corner to the other.
3. Compare the two. The old drawing rule says the face is five eye-widths across and the nose base fills the middle fifth, so the two measurements come out about equal on many faces.
4. Read the result. If the nose is clearly wider than the gap, with a long low bridge and a soft tip, the reading is Nubian.

The golden ratio test measures a related number from the same photo: mouth width divided by nose width, against 1.618. A wide base pulls that ratio down, often below 1.5. The number describes a proportion. It is not a score against a standard, and the rest of the test does not move with it.

If your nose is wide at the base but the bridge is short, or the tip is the widest part, read the bulbous and snub pages before deciding. Nubian is about the combination: long bridge, wide base, soft downward tip.

Nubian vs bulbous and Greek noses

Nubian and bulbous are the two wide shapes, and the difference is where the width sits. A Nubian nose is widest at the nostrils, across the base. A bulbous nose is widest at the tip, where the cartilage rounds out beyond the bridge, and the nostrils may be ordinary.

Look at a front photo and find the widest point. If it is the line through the outer edges of the nostrils, the reading is Nubian. If it is the rounded tip above that line, the reading is bulbous. A nose can be both; then the base word is usually the one people mean.

Nubian and Greek noses can share a profile, since both can have a straight bridge. They part company from the front. A Greek nose is narrow, with small nostrils and a bridge you can see the whole length of. A Nubian nose is wide at the base with a low bridge that is less visible.

The Greek page is worth reading if your profile is very straight and your base is only a little wide. The two words then describe the same nose from two directions, and neither one is wrong.

Glasses for a Nubian nose

Two things decide whether frames sit well on a Nubian nose: the low bridge and the wide base. A low bridge lets a standard frame slide down until it rests on the cheeks, and a wide base means the nose fills more of the space between the lenses. Frame choice can handle both.

For fit, look for a low-bridge or universal-fit design. These have a bridge that sits lower and further forward, often with larger nose pads set wider apart, so the frame stays up without a high ridge. Adjustable pads on a metal frame do the same job and can be set to your bridge.

For proportion, choose a frame a little wider than you might first pick. When the frame is wider than the nose, the eye reads the frame as the widest line across the face and the nose sits inside it. A narrow frame does the opposite and makes the nose the widest thing between the lenses.

Lens shape matters less than width. Rectangular, round and rounded-square lenses all work when the frame is wide enough. Avoid very small lenses, which crowd the base of the nose, and avoid thin rimless designs if the frame keeps sliding; a little weight in the rim helps the pads grip.

The face shape guides cover which outline suits your face; whichever it is, look for the low-bridge version.

Contouring, makeup and hair for a Nubian nose

Nose contouring is optional. Many people with a Nubian nose wear nothing on it, because the shape sits in proportion with the mouth and cheeks and does not need adjusting. If you want to narrow the base in a front view, the technique is shadow along the sides and light down the centre.

Run a matte contour shade down both sides of the bridge, from the inner brow to just above the nostrils. Keep the two lines parallel and close together; the closer they sit, the narrower the bridge reads. At the tip, bring the shade in from either side in a soft V that follows the nostrils.

Highlight goes down the centre of the bridge only, in a thin matte line from between the brows to the tip. Do not carry it across the tip, and skip shimmer, which spreads light over the base. If you prefer no contour, a defined brow and lip do more than product on the nose.

For hair, width at the temples balances a wide base. Volume at the sides, layers that flare at the cheekbone, a fringe with some weight at the edges. Hairstyles pulled tight to the head narrow the top of the face and leave the base of the nose as the widest line.

Brows follow the same idea. A brow that extends a little past the outer corner of the eye adds width high on the face. For men, a beard that is fuller at the sides than at the chin does the same lower down. The beard guides for your face shape have the shapes.

A Nubian nose and the rest of the face

A Nubian nose sits differently on different faces. On a round face it is one soft feature among several and reads as balanced. On a square face the base echoes the width of the jaw, and the two together give the face a settled, grounded look.

On a heart face, where the chin is narrow, the base of the nose can read as the widest point in the lower half of the face. Width at the jaw, from hair or a beard, brings the two into balance. The oval face takes the shape without adjustment.

The symmetry test mirrors the nostril landmarks across the midline and scores the nose on its own. A wide base is easy to measure, and most Nubian noses score well here, because the width is even on both sides. A lower score usually means the photo was taken from slightly to one side.

The shape changes little with age. The tip drops a fraction over the decades, as it does on every nose, and the skin of the base thickens slightly. Neither moves the reading. Glasses with a low-bridge fit stay the right answer at every age.

Frequently asked questions