Types of Lips: Every Lip Shape Explained (With Chart & Finder)
There are 9 main types of lips — full, thin, wide, round, heart-shaped, bow-shaped, top-heavy, bottom-heavy and downturned. This guide breaks down the anatomy behind each one, shows you how to identify yours in under a minute, and explains what each shape means for makeup and enhancement.
Find My Lip Type ↓ Try the AI Lip Shape DetectorQuick Answer
What are the types of lips? Lips are classified by four traits: volume (full vs thin), upper-to-lower balance (top-heavy vs bottom-heavy), proportion (wide vs round), and contour (heart-shaped, bow-shaped or downturned). Combining these gives the 9 recognised lip types. Most people are a blend of two — for example, “wide and thin” or “heart-shaped with downturned corners.”
Key Takeaways
- 9 core lip types cover almost everyone; clinicians add sub-types like gull-wing and M-shaped.
- Four traits determine your type: volume, balance, width-to-height, and Cupid’s bow contour.
- Full lips are the most common; heart-shaped lips are the rarest.
- Heart vs bow: a sharp V + rounded lower lip = heart; two soft peaks + flat wide lower lip = bow.
- Lips change — upper lip thins first, so balanced lips often become bottom-heavy after 30.
- No “perfect” shape exists — research points to proportion and facial harmony, not one template.
The Lip Anatomy That Defines Every Lip Shape
Every named lip type is simply a description of how a handful of anatomical landmarks are arranged. Once you can name them, you can describe any pair of lips precisely instead of guessing from a chart. Lips have no cartilage, bone or sebaceous glands — they’re muscle (orbicularis oris), mucosa and skin — which is why they’re so pliable, so expressive, and so quick to change with hydration and age.
- Vermilion & vermilion border
- The pink-red tissue of the lip and the crisp line where it meets facial skin. How much vermilion shows is what people mean by “full” or “thin.” A sharp border reads youthful; a blurred one reads aged.
- Cupid’s bow
- The double curve at the centre of the upper lip — two peaks and a dip. Its sharpness decides whether lips read as heart-shaped (sharp V), bow-shaped (rounded peaks) or round/full (soft dip).
- Philtrum
- The vertical groove between nose and upper lip, framed by two philtral columns. A short philtrum makes the upper lip look fuller; a long one makes it look thinner.
- Tubercles
- The soft mounds of volume: typically one central tubercle on the upper lip and two on the lower lip. Their prominence creates “pouty” or “doll-like” fullness.
- Oral commissures
- The corners of the mouth. Whether they sit level, lift or dip at rest determines neutral, upturned or downturned lips — and how your mouth reads emotionally.
- Upper-to-lower ratio
- The height of the upper vermilion compared with the lower. Roughly 1:1.6 to 1:2 is typical; anything markedly outside that range becomes top-heavy or bottom-heavy.
The 9 Main Types of Lips
Below is every lip type on our lip shape chart, with its identifying markers, a well-known example, and the one makeup move that flatters it most. Volume-based types come first, then proportion-based, then contour-based.
1 Full Lips
Generous, balanced volume in both the upper and lower lip with a soft-to-moderate Cupid’s bow. Full lips are the most common type on most charts and the one most often requested in aesthetic clinics, because they read as youthful and hydrated.
- Identify by
- Equal plumpness top and bottom; lips remain visible when smiling
- Often seen on
- Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson
- Best finish
- Satin or cream — matte works too since there’s volume to spare
Makeup tip: Skip overlining. Line exactly on the vermilion border and use a single shade to keep the natural proportion.
2 Thin Lips
Low vermilion show in one or both lips, giving a delicate, defined look. Thin lips may almost disappear on a wide smile. Thinness can be genetic, or acquired as collagen declines with age — which is why it’s the most commonly treated lip concern.
- Identify by
- Narrow vermilion height; upper and lower both slim
- Often seen on
- Kirsten Dunst, Kate Middleton
- Best finish
- Gloss or sheer satin — matte and very dark shades visually shrink them
Makeup tip: Line a hair (≤1 mm) outside the border in a shade close to your lipstick, then add a dab of gloss to the centre of both lips.
3 Wide Lips
Lips that are noticeably longer horizontally than they are tall, with corners that stretch toward the cheeks. Wide lips produce a broad, radiant smile that shows more teeth and reads as warm and approachable.
- Identify by
- Width clearly greater than height; many teeth visible on a smile
- Often seen on
- Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway
- Best finish
- Sheer stains or gloss — the lips are already a focal point
Makeup tip: Concentrate a lighter or glossier shade in the centre and let colour fade toward the corners to add vertical presence.
4 Round Lips
Nearly equal in width and height, with even, soft curves and little taper at the corners. Round lips look full and “doll-like” with a compact, pouty silhouette. The Cupid’s bow is usually gentle rather than sharp.
- Identify by
- Circular outline; corners barely taper; soft bow
- Often seen on
- Emma Stone, Selena Gomez
- Best finish
- Cream, satin or matte — all work; round lips hold shape well
Makeup tip: Extend liner very slightly at the outer corners to elongate, and keep the centre one tone lighter to avoid a “bubble” effect.
5 Heart-Shaped Lips
A sharply defined V-shaped Cupid’s bow with high peaks, plus a lower lip that is fullest at the centre and tapers toward the corners — together forming a heart outline. Heart-shaped lips are considered the rarest type because central fullness and bow sharpness both fade with age.
- Identify by
- Sharp V bow; rounded, centre-heavy lower lip; naturally pursed look
- Often seen on
- Taylor Swift, Rihanna
- Best finish
- Satin or cream with precise liner to keep the V crisp
Makeup tip: Never blur the peaks. Trace the V precisely, then extend liner a touch horizontally at the corners to balance the vertical shape.
6 Bow-Shaped (Cupid’s Bow) Lips
Two pronounced, rounded peaks on the upper lip that resemble an archer’s bow, paired with a wider, flatter lower lip. Bow-shaped lips are structured and expressive — the classic “old Hollywood” pout — and are among the most common contour types.
- Identify by
- Wave-like double peaks; upper lip volume concentrated at the peaks; broad lower lip
- Often seen on
- Marilyn Monroe, Zendaya
- Best finish
- Matte or stain that follows the natural line to spotlight the bow
Makeup tip: Use a slightly darker liner along the bow itself and a touch of highlighter on the philtral columns to exaggerate the peaks.
7 Top-Heavy (Heavy Upper) Lips
The upper lip is visibly fuller than the lower, reversing the typical ratio. The Cupid’s bow often looks tall and prominent, and the mouth’s focal point sits high. It’s a less common natural type, though it’s sometimes created (intentionally or not) by upper-lip filler.
- Identify by
- Upper vermilion taller than lower; short philtrum
- Often seen on
- Kylie Jenner (enhanced), Beyoncé (subtle)
- Best finish
- Gloss on the lower lip, satin or matte on the upper
Makeup tip: Keep the upper lip within its border in a lighter tone and add a deeper shade plus gloss to the lower lip to pull volume down.
8 Bottom-Heavy (Heavy Lower) Lips
A slim upper lip over a noticeably fuller lower lip. This is one of the most common real-world patterns — it aligns with the natural ~1:2 upper-to-lower ratio, and it’s the shape many balanced lips gradually become as the upper lip thins with age.
- Identify by
- Lower lip clearly taller and plumper than upper
- Often seen on
- Priyanka Chopra, Jennifer Lawrence
- Best finish
Makeup tip: Define the upper vermilion border with a slightly darker liner and keep the lower lip in a lighter or sheerer tone to lift the eye upward.
9 Downturned Lips
The oral commissures (corners) sit lower than the centre line when the face is at rest, giving a subtle frown even in a neutral expression. Downturned corners can be genetic or develop as cheek fat descends and the depressor anguli oris muscle strengthens with age.
- Identify by
- Corners dip below the mid-line at rest; lower face reads “serious”
- Often seen on
- Kristen Stewart, Victoria Beckham
- Best finish
- Non-feathering satin — bleeding into corner creases exaggerates the droop
Makeup tip: Stop your liner just before the corners and angle it slightly upward; a dot of concealer swept up from each corner creates an instant lift.
Less Common & Clinical Lip Sub-Types
Aesthetic practitioners and injectors use a second vocabulary that describes finer contour details. You’ll see these terms in consultations and on advanced lip shape charts. Most of them overlay one of the nine core types above.
Upturned Lips
Corners lift above the centre line at rest, creating a soft resting smile. The natural opposite of downturned lips.
Gull-Wing Lips
An extended, shallow “M” along the upper vermilion border that looks like a child’s drawing of a seagull — an elongated Cupid’s bow.
M-Shaped Lips
A tight, tall Cupid’s bow whose peaks and dip form a crisp letter M. Often overlaps with heart-shaped or bow-shaped lips.
Straight (Flat) Lips
Minimal Cupid’s bow — the upper border runs almost straight across, with little curve or definition.
Rosebud / Petite Lips
Small, compact lips with soft curves and a short horizontal span; fullness is present but concentrated in the centre.
Shelf Lips
Thin lips that protrude forward so the upper appears stacked over the lower, like a small shelf, when viewed in profile.
Sausage Lips
Uniform, tubular volume across both lips with a flattened Cupid’s bow. Frequently the result of over-filling.
Uneven / Asymmetric Lips
One side fuller, higher or wider than the other. Mild asymmetry is universal; pronounced asymmetry is its own category.
Multi-Lobe Upper Lip
Two or three visible tubercles on the upper lip instead of one, creating a segmented, textured pout.
Lip Types Comparison Chart
Use this table to separate look-alike types quickly — especially heart vs bow, and round vs full.
| Lip Type | Defining Trait | Cupid’s Bow | Upper : Lower | Rarity | Best Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | High volume, balanced | Soft–moderate | ≈ 1 : 1.5 | Most common | Satin / cream |
| Thin | Low vermilion show | Faint | ≈ 1 : 1 | Common | Gloss |
| Wide | Width >> height | Shallow | Varies | Common | Sheer / stain |
| Round | Width ≈ height | Gentle | ≈ 1 : 1.2 | Common | Any |
| Heart-shaped | Sharp V + centre-full lower lip | Sharp V, high peaks | ≈ 1 : 1.5 | Rarest | Satin + precise liner |
| Bow-shaped | Two rounded peaks, flat lower lip | Pronounced, rounded | ≈ 1 : 1.3 | Common | Matte / stain |
| Top-heavy | Upper fuller than lower | Tall | > 1 : 1 | Uncommon | Gloss on lower |
| Bottom-heavy | Lower fuller than upper | Low | ≈ 1 : 2+ | Very common | Satin, gloss on upper |
| Downturned | Corners below mid-line | Varies | Varies | Common (increases with age) | Non-feathering satin |
How to Identify Your Lip Type in 60 Seconds
You need a mirror, daylight and a relaxed face. Work through the five checks in order — the first two decide your dominant type, the rest decide your secondary trait.
Relax
No lipstick, no smile, no pursing. Look straight ahead at eye level.
Balance
Is the upper or lower lip clearly fuller? If yes → top-heavy or bottom-heavy.
Bow
Sharp V → heart. Two rounded peaks → bow. Soft or flat → full/round/thin.
Proportion
Much wider than tall → wide. Nearly as tall as wide → round.
Corners
Do they dip below the centre line at rest? → downturned. Level or lifted → neutral/upturned.
Still unsure? A front-facing photo removes the guesswork — our AI lip shape detector maps your vermilion border, bow peaks and commissures and measures the ratios for you.
Quick Lip Type Finder
Answer five questions. Nothing is uploaded or stored — it runs entirely in your browser.
How Lip Types Change With Age
Your lip type isn’t fixed. Genetics set the starting point, but collagen, fat and bone all change from roughly the 30s onward, and the lips follow a predictable path:
- Upper lip thins first. The upper vermilion loses height faster than the lower, so full or balanced lips gradually become bottom-heavy.
- Cupid’s bow softens. As the philtrum lengthens, the peaks flatten — heart-shaped and bow-shaped lips drift toward round or straight.
- Border blurs. The crisp vermilion border fades, which is why lipstick “bleeds” more easily later in life.
- Corners descend. Descending cheek fat and stronger depressor muscles pull the commissures down, adding a downturned trait to any type.
- Vertical lines appear. Repeated pursing etches perioral lines that make lips look thinner than their true volume.
Practical upshot: re-check your lip type every few years and adjust liner and finish accordingly — a technique that flattered you at 25 may work against you at 45.
Is There a “Most Attractive” Lip Shape?
Not in the way social media suggests. The best-known scientific attempt to quantify it — a 2017 study in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery by researchers at UC Irvine — used morphed images of young white women and had hundreds of raters rank them. Faces with about 50% more lip surface area than baseline and an upper-to-lower ratio of roughly 1 : 2 were rated most attractive, while a 2 : 1 (top-heavy) ratio was rated least attractive. You can read the abstract on PubMed (Popenko et al., 2017).
Three caveats matter. First, the sample was narrow, so the numbers don’t generalise to every ethnicity or gender. Second, other studies have found preferences closer to 1 : 1. Third — and the authors said this themselves — whole faces are greater than the sum of their parts. The most attractive lip shape is the one in proportion with your nose, chin and facial width. That’s why our approach at Lip Shape Chart is identification and enhancement of your type, not conversion to somebody else’s.
About the Author
Rizwan Aslam
Founder & Lead Beauty-Tech Editor, Lip Shape ChartRizwan Aslam is the founder of LipShapeChart.com and the developer behind this lip shape detector. He builds and tests face-analysis tools on real, diverse faces, and writes evidence-based guides on lip shapes, facial proportions, and makeup technique so readers get clear answers instead of filters and guesswork.
Types of Lips — Frequently Asked Questions
How many types of lips are there?
Most classification systems recognise 9 main types: full, thin, wide, round, heart-shaped, bow-shaped, top-heavy, bottom-heavy and downturned. Clinicians also describe sub-types such as gull-wing, M-shaped, shelf, sausage, straight and rosebud lips. Most people are a blend of two types.
What is the most common lip shape?
Full lips with balanced upper and lower volume are widely considered the most common, followed by round and bow-shaped lips. Bottom-heavy lips are also very common because they match the natural ~1:2 upper-to-lower ratio.
What is the rarest lip shape?
Heart-shaped lips — a sharply defined Cupid’s bow with concentrated central fullness — are generally regarded as the rarest, partly because bow peaks soften and central volume fades with age.
What’s the difference between heart-shaped and bow-shaped lips?
Both have a defined Cupid’s bow. Heart-shaped lips have a sharp V and a rounded, centre-heavy lower lip that tapers to the corners. Bow-shaped lips have two softer, rounded peaks and a wider, flatter lower lip.
Can my lip shape change over time?
Yes. From the 30s onward collagen declines and the upper lip thins faster than the lower, so balanced lips often become bottom-heavy, the Cupid’s bow flattens and the corners may turn downward.
Which lip shape is the most attractive?
There is no single answer. A 2017 JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery study found a ~1:2 upper-to-lower ratio was rated most attractive on the faces tested, but the authors stressed that whole-face harmony matters more than any single measurement.
What if my lips match two types?
That’s normal. Identify your dominant trait first (volume balance), then your secondary trait (Cupid’s bow, width or corners). “Wide and thin” or “heart-shaped with downturned corners” are perfectly valid results.
Do men and women have different lip types?
The same nine categories apply to everyone. On average, male lips are slightly wider and thinner with a less pronounced Cupid’s bow, so thin, wide and straight types are more frequently observed in men — but every type occurs in every gender.
How accurate is a lip shape detector compared to a chart?
A chart relies on your eye; a detector measures landmarks (bow peaks, commissures, vermilion heights) and calculates ratios, so it’s more consistent — especially for borderline cases like round vs full. Use a relaxed, front-facing, well-lit photo for the best result.
Keep Exploring
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Detect My Lip Shape →Editorial note: This article is for educational and cosmetic guidance only and is not medical advice. Celebrity examples reflect publicly visible features and commonly cited beauty-industry references. Consult a qualified practitioner before any aesthetic procedure.