Glossary · Eye area
Eye separation ratio (ESR)
The eye separation ratio, ESR in forum shorthand, compares how far apart the eyes are with how wide the face is, usually the distance between the pupils divided by the width of the face at the cheekbones. It describes whether eyes read close-set, balanced or wide-set. It is a photo proportion, set by the bone of the orbits, not a grade.
Eye shape, spacing and the surrounding frame.
Explore eye areaAlso called: ESR, eye spacing ratio, eye spacing
How ESR is measured
Forums use two versions. The common one divides the distance between the pupils by the width of the face at the cheekbones, the bizygomatic width, which is why it is sometimes quoted as a percentage. The older one, from portrait drawing and clinical practice, compares the gap between the inner eye corners with the width of one eye; in the facial fifths rule that gap equals one eye. Both describe the same thing from two directions: how much of the face's width sits between the eyes.
On a photo, both versions move with head turn and lens distance. A slight turn narrows one side and shifts the pupils; a close lens enlarges the centre of the face and changes how far apart the eyes look. That is why ESR figures quoted in threads rarely agree to the second decimal, and why BecomeTen reports it as a band. The eye spacing test measures both versions from one photo and compares them with real frontal photos.
What is a good ESR?
The forums treat a value near the middle of the range as ideal and both ends as flaws. The research is gentler. Faces near the population average are rated as more attractive than faces far from it, and eye spacing matters through that averageness rather than through any single ideal number. Slightly wide-set eyes are common among fashion models and are often read as youthful; slightly close-set eyes are often read as intense. Moderate departures either way are barely noticed in person. The interpupillary distance entry covers the absolute pupil distance, which matters for glasses rather than for looks.
Can eye spacing be changed?
Not the bone. What changes how spacing reads is framing: brows that start closer to the nose pull wide-set eyes together visually, glasses with a narrow bridge do the same, and eye makeup concentrated at the inner or outer corners shifts the apparent gap. BecomeTen does not recommend surgery for eye spacing.
Questions
What does ESR mean in looksmaxxing?
ESR stands for eye separation ratio, sometimes eye spacing ratio. It is the distance between the eyes, usually pupil to pupil, divided by the width of the face at the cheekbones. Forums use it to call eyes close-set or wide-set. It is a photo proportion that moves with head angle and lens distance.
Is a wide ESR bad?
No. Slightly wide-set eyes are common among faces rated highly, including many models, and they often read as youthful. What the research supports is closeness to the average face overall; a single proportion leaning one way on an otherwise balanced face makes little difference in real ratings.