Measure your facial thirds
A straight-on photo with the camera at eye level, neutral expression, no glasses, hair off the forehead and your head level. A phone selfie is fine if you hold it level with your eyes, not above them.
Drop a photo here, or
Nothing from this test is sent anywhere; the scan asks for a photo again.
The face-landmark engine runs in your browser. This page sends no request carrying the photo, the points or the result, and keeps nothing when you leave.
What this calculator measures
The facial thirds split the height of the face into three stacked bands. In the neoclassical canon these three bands are equal. Real faces are usually close but not identical, and which band is longer or shorter is where the character of a face lives.
| Band | From → to | Neoclassical ideal |
|---|---|---|
| Upper third | Hairline → brow line | 1/3 of face height (about 33%) |
| Middle third | Brow line → base of the nose | 1/3 of face height (about 33%) |
| Lower third | Base of the nose → bottom of the chin | 1/3 of face height (about 33%) |
Equal thirds are about 33% each; which band runs longest is where the character of your face sits. Your result sits next to that reference: Ideal ≈ 33 / 33 / 33, with the upper share an estimate that reads low (why). The facial thirds guide covers the fifths, the lower third’s own split and the rest of the proportion map.
How the thirds are measured
- Four points down the middle of the face. The same face-landmark engine the SoftMaxx AI scan uses, served from this site, places 478 points on the face in your browser. The calculator reads four of them: the forehead top (point 10), the brow line between the eyebrows, the glabella (point 9), the base of the nose, the subnasale (point 2), and the bottom of the chin, the menton (point 152).
- Pixel space, along the face. The engine reports points as fractions of the image width and height. The page converts them back to pixels, then measures each gap along the line from the forehead top to the chin, so a slightly rolled head does not shorten one band against another. Each third is a share of that whole length, rounded to the nearest percent.
- Head roll. The line through the two outer eye corners (points 33 and 263) against level estimates how far the head is rolled. Above 4° the page says so and asks for a retake with the head level.
- Camera. Hold the phone at eye level, about arm’s length away. Getting too close exaggerates the middle third.
The upper third is an estimate
The upper third is an estimate because the face-landmark engine has no hairline point: its mesh stops at the forehead’s visible top. The calculator starts the upper third at the highest point the engine places on the forehead (point 10), which usually sits a little below where the hair begins; hair over the forehead moves it further. Treat the upper share as an estimate and the middle and lower shares as the firmer two.
How far below: on the 29 test photos we checked the calculator against, the upper share read between 17% and 25% on every one, never near 33%. A low upper number here is the engine’s limit, not a short forehead, which is why the result leads with your middle-to-lower split: equal thirds would put those two at 50 : 50.
The facial thirds guide flags the same band for another reason. It is the most variable of the three because hairline position drifts with genetics, age, and hairstyle, so it is the least reliable band to judge on its own.
What the numbers mean
Read the result as a description, not a grade: a lower third 10 percent longer than the others tells you about your proportions, not your worth.
| Deviation | What it looks like | How it tends to read |
|---|---|---|
| Long lower third | Nose base to chin exceeds the other bands | Longer, often more angular face; can read mature or, if extreme, bottom-heavy |
| Short lower third | Nose base to chin falls short of the others | Softer, sometimes more youthful; can read crowded if the chin is also short |
| Tall upper third | Forehead band is the longest | High hairline effect; the most fixable band, since hairstyle shifts it |
None of these is a defect on its own. The deviations section of the facial thirds guide has the full table.
What a full scan adds
This page measures three distances down the middle of your face. The scan reads the whole face and folds your thirds and fifths into the proportion components of the score. The free SoftMaxx AI scan places the landmarks for you and shows your overall score, four pillar bands and your top priority, no signup; the per-category proportion scores are on Pro.
Questions
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The photo is drawn onto a canvas in your browser and the face-landmark engine, served from softmaxx.io, runs on your device. The page makes no request that carries the photo, the landmarks or the result, and nothing is saved when you leave.
Should the facial thirds be exactly equal?
No. The equal-thirds rule is a reference for balance, not a rule attractive faces obey exactly. Most well-regarded faces are close to equal thirds but not identical, and small deviations are normal. The lower third in particular carries a lot of the perceived harmony, and its own subdivision between upper lip and chin matters more than hitting perfectly equal thirds.
Why is the upper third an estimate?
The face-landmark engine places no point on the hairline; its mesh stops at the forehead’s visible top. The calculator starts the upper third there, which usually sits a little below where the hair begins, so treat the upper share as an estimate and the middle and lower shares as the firmer two. On the test photos we checked, it read between 17% and 25% every time, never near 33%.
Does this use my free scan?
No. This tool is separate from the SoftMaxx AI scan: it measures three distances and keeps nothing. A full scan is a different page with its own consent step and its own monthly allowance.
About this tool
- It measures geometry from points the engine places on your photo. It does not rate, rank or diagnose anything, and it does not suggest any procedure.
- Nothing you upload is sent anywhere. The engine files load from softmaxx.io like any image on a page; the photo, the points and the result stay in this tab and are gone when you close it.
- Analytics on this page records that a photo was measured, whether a face was found, and whether the scan button was shown or tapped; never the shares, the roll or any point.
- For adults 18+. Not medical advice.
More reading: facial thirds and fifths · hunter eyes test