Have your ever looked in the mirror and thought your eyes look like they’ve changed colour? Maybe they’re brighter, maybe they were green and now they’re looking more brownish. Either way, you might be wondering “can your eyes change colour”?
It’s a strange thought, but can your eyes actually change colour?
The short answer is yes – sort of. While your eye colour doesn’t constantly shift like a mood ring, there are a few factors that can cause noticeable changes.
The Basics of Eye Colour
It’s probably worth covering the origins of eye colour before talking about how it can change.
Eye colour is determined by the amount and type of pigment in the iris (the coloured part of your eye). The more melanin (the pigment responsible for skin and hair colour), the darker the eyes will be.
People with more melanin typically have brown eyes, while those with less melanin can have blue, green, hazel or grey eyes. The variation in how the light hits the iris and the scattering of light also affect how we perceive eye colour.
It is possible to have different colour eyes – for example one brown, one blue – but it’s not common. It’s a condition can’t heterochromia and it only affects around 1% of the population.
Genetics play a big part in eye colour, but a shift in eye colour is usually determined by other things.
Below are some other reasons eyes might change colour.
1. Changes in Lighting
One of the simplest reasons your eye colour might seem to change is lighting. The way light hits your eyes can make them appear a different colour.
Ever noticed how your eyes look brighter or more intense in natural sunlight? Or how they might appear darker in dim lighting? Different types of light can bring out various shades in your eyes, making them seem like they’ve changed when it’s really just the environment around you.
My eyes are a grey/green mix, but in certain lights they can look almost blue. My eye colour doesn’t really change, but it does appear to!
2. Age and Eye Colour
Did you know that eye colour can change as you age?
It’s quite common for children’s eyes to change colour from when they were a baby. This is usually because their irises start off with very little melanin in those early years and gradually produce more until they stop changing altogether around age 3.
As adults age, changes in the iris can also occur, sometimes making eyes appear lighter or darker, particularly in older people if they stop producing as much melanin.
3. Health-Related Changes
Certain health conditions can also cause your eyes to change colour. For example, some medications can have an impact, particularly those that affect hormone levels. A well-known case is the glaucoma medication that can turn light-colored eyes (like blue or green) into a darker shade over time.
In rare cases, conditions like a corneal arcus (which is ring that forms around the iris due to a build up of lipids and is a sign of high cholesterol) can make your eyes looks as though they have changed colour.
4. Emotional or Hormonal Changes
Sometimes when you’re going through emotional or hormonal changes, your eye colour can appear to change. This isn’t actually your iris changing colour but your pupil dilating and making your eye colour look darker in general.
A lot of people think David Bowie had heterochromia (two different eye colours), but he actually had a dilated pupil in one eye after an accident, which makes that eye look much darker than his natural light colour.
5. Environmental Factors
This title is slightly misleading, I don’t really mean things in the environment can change your eye colour. Rather, your eyes can appear a different colour in different environments.
People with hazel eyes notice this a lot. In golden sunlight their eyes can appear brown and in bright lighting they can look green. This is just because the eye has a few different shades of pigment in the iris and lighting changes the way colours appear.
Wearing different colour clothes can also make your eyes looks a different colour in comparison. For example, if your eyes are a blue/green, wearing something blue might make your eyes appear more green and vice versa.
So there you have it! Your eye colour can change, but in most cases, it’s a bit of an illusion! If you want to change the colour of your eyes, it might be worth looking into coloured contacts!