Landmark glossary

Definitions

TrichionBoth

The centre of your hairline, where forehead skin meets hair.In FaceBaseline: Top boundary of the upper facial third. You place it manually because no detector can find a hairline reliably.

GlabellaBoth

The smooth spot between your eyebrows, just above the bridge of the nose.In FaceBaseline: Reference point for forehead projection and the nasofrontal angle.

NasionProfile

The deepest dip at the root of the nose, roughly level with the eyes.In FaceBaseline: The vertex of the nasofrontal angle.

Pronasale (nose tip)Profile

The most forward point of the nose tip.In FaceBaseline: One end of the E-line, and part of nasal projection.

SubnasaleBoth

Where the base of the nose meets the upper lip.In FaceBaseline: Boundary between the middle and lower facial thirds, and the vertex of the nasolabial angle.

Alar baseFrontal

The outer edge of each nostril wing.In FaceBaseline: Defines nose width for the mouth-to-nose width ratio.

PhiltrumFrontal

The vertical groove running from the base of the nose to the upper lip.In FaceBaseline: Described in lower-third proportion prose.

Vermilion borderFrontal

The visible edge where lip tissue meets facial skin.In FaceBaseline: Defines lip height and fullness in the lip section.

StomionBoth

The point where the lips meet when the mouth is closed.In FaceBaseline: Splits upper and lower lip heights; also the midline for smile measurements.

Labiomental sulcusProfile

The crease between the lower lip and the chin.In FaceBaseline: The vertex of the mentolabial (labiomental) angle.

PogonionProfile

The most forward point of the chin in side view.In FaceBaseline: Chin projection and the far end of the E-line.

MentonBoth

The lowest point of the chin.In FaceBaseline: Bottom boundary of the face for facial thirds and overall face height.

GonionBoth

The corner of the jaw, where the jawline turns upward toward the ear.In FaceBaseline: Jaw width, gonial angle and jawline definition.

ZygionFrontal

The widest point of each cheekbone.In FaceBaseline: Bizygomatic width — the denominator of the facial width-to-height ratio.

TragionProfile

The small notch of cartilage at the front of the ear canal.In FaceBaseline: Orientation reference in the side-profile flow and ear-prominence measurement.

Canthus (medial / lateral)Frontal

The inner (medial) and outer (lateral) corners of the eye.In FaceBaseline: Canthal tilt is the angle of the line drawn between them.

Cervical pointProfile

The deepest point where the underside of the chin meets the front of the neck.In FaceBaseline: The vertex of the cervicomental (neck-jaw) angle.

Canthal tiltFrontal

The tilt of the line running from the inner corner of your eye to the outer corner.In FaceBaseline: A slight upward tilt reads as alert; flat or downward reads as tired.

Nasofrontal angleProfile

The angle where your forehead turns into the bridge of your nose.In FaceBaseline: Describes how smoothly the brow flows into the nose in side view.

Nasolabial angleProfile

The angle between the base of your nose and your upper lip.In FaceBaseline: Describes whether the nose tip droops or turns up.

Nasofacial angleProfile

How far your nose projects out from the flat plane of your face.In FaceBaseline: Describes an under- or over-projected nose in side view.

Mentolabial angleProfile

The depth of the crease between your lower lip and your chin.In FaceBaseline: Shallow reads as a set-back chin; deep reads as a jutting chin.

Cervicomental angleProfile

The angle between the underside of your chin and the front of your neck.In FaceBaseline: A crisp angle separates jawline from neck; a shallow one softens it.

Facial convexity angleProfile

How straight or curved your profile is, measured brow to lip to chin.In FaceBaseline: Flags a chin that sits back relative to the brow.

Ricketts E-lineProfile

A straight line drawn from your nose tip to your chin; your lips are measured against it.In FaceBaseline: The standard way of describing lip projection in side view.

Gonial angleBoth

The angle at the back corner of your jaw, below the ear.In FaceBaseline: Sharper reads as a defined jawline; wider reads as softer.

Facial thirdsFrontal

Your face split into three stacked bands: hairline to brow, brow to nose base, nose base to chin.In FaceBaseline: Classical descriptions cluster near three equal bands.

Rule of fifthsFrontal

Your face split into five vertical bands, each about one eye wide.In FaceBaseline: Describes how eye spacing and face width relate.

FWHRFrontal

Facial width-to-height ratio — how wide your face is compared with its height.In FaceBaseline: A descriptive trait, not a score.

Tarsal platform showFrontal

How much upper eyelid skin is visible between your lash line and the crease.In FaceBaseline: Low show reads as hooded; high show reads as wide open.

MRD2Frontal

The distance from the centre of your pupil down to your lower eyelid margin.In FaceBaseline: Describes how much white shows below the iris.

Smile arcFrontal

Whether the curve of your upper teeth follows the curve of your lower lip when you smile.In FaceBaseline: Matching curves read as natural and warm.

Dental midlineFrontal

Whether the gap between your two front teeth lines up with the centre of your face.In FaceBaseline: An offset is registered subconsciously as something being slightly off.

Eye-area compositeFrontal

A single 0–100 blend of eye tilt, brow-to-eye distance and how much upper lid shows. Neither end is better — a low score reads more open and friendly, a high score reads more deep-set and intense.In FaceBaseline: Sometimes called the “hunter eyes” axis in online forums; we avoid that phrase because it implies one end is the goal.

Eye areaFrontal

Everything immediately around the eye: lids, brow, inner and outer corners, and the skin between them.In FaceBaseline: Used in place of the clinical word “periocular”.