# Do green or hazel eyes regularly change hue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947 "2015-09-29T14:18:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/1 "2015-09-29T14:18:36Z")
I saw [THIS](https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlf1/v/t1.0-9/11403489_866021730141413_6939578505146593734_n.jpg?oh=ec191b3ea7ec567ec7a5239e3334be6f&oe=569CD1E6) the other day on Facebook. Now I normally promptly ignore the post then the ‘friend’ who puts stupid things like this in my face, but my wife has said often my eyes change color (my eye color hovers in the greyish-blue-green part of the spectrum). I’ve always assumed it was the light we’re under or the shirt I happen to be wearing mixed with confirmation bias on her part. Green eyes come from deposits of yellow fat in front of blue pignment so I’m willing to believe over decades that can change with diet or just age, but after a quick search I found [THIS CITE](http://www.skintots.com/how-to-change-your-eye-color/why-do-eyes-change-color-mood-age-emotion-season/) which makes some pretty outrageous claims like mood changing your color. What’s the deal? ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/2 "2015-09-29T14:45:23Z")
[Eye Color and Why It Changes](http://www.eye-therapy.com/Eye-Color/) . Anecdotally, my eyes change colour depending on mood and the clothes I’m wearing. FTR, they are usually blue-grey but veer between flat out steel grey to vivid blue to almost greenish. Keep in mind that it would be dependent on light quality and amount, surrounding colours and can also be influenced by eye health and age. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/3 "2015-09-29T14:48:46Z")
I have hazel eyes. Had them all my life. Never noticed a change. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/4 "2015-09-29T14:57:38Z")
I had a girlfriend once with Hazel eyes. They seemed to change shade at times. When she got sick, such as a cold, they would get darker. God I miss her sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/5 "2015-09-29T15:05:54Z")
Keep in mind that color perception is dependent not only on the actual color of an object but on the color of objects around it. Eye color might look different indoors vs outdoors, or when the person is wearing different colored clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/6 "2015-09-29T15:39:56Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I’ve always assumed it was the light we’re under or the shirt I happen to be wearing mixed with confirmation bias on her part. Given what we know about how lighting and the surroundings can have a huge impact on color perception (e.g. [Checker Shadow Illusion – Persci](http://web.mit.edu/persci/people/adelson/checkershadow_illusion.html)), that is certainly a much more prosaic explanation of the phenomenon than to assume that somehow your mood physically changes the pigmentation of your iris. What century are we in again? ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/7 "2015-09-29T16:32:10Z")
I’d put 99% of perceived color change due to clothing. However, some medications will change eye color. Lumigan is notorious for affecting eye color, shifting pigments to brown. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/8 "2015-09-29T16:35:32Z")
I have gray, blue or green eyes depending on who’s doing the looking and when. I haven’t noticed it corresponding to my moods, so much as the ambient lighting and what clothes I’m wearing. But I don’t really gaze into my own eyes that much, so I’m mostly going off what others tell me. Changing when I’m sick or tired sounds more plausible than changing with my moods, although even then I bet it has more to do with my pupils dilating and changing the shape of my iris rather than the pigmentation itself changing. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/9 "2015-09-29T16:37:38Z")
I have bright green eyes. With a weird combination of dark, olive skin which probably makes them seem greener. But they are, and always have been, green. The same shade of green no matter my mood. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/10 "2015-09-29T17:34:03Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > I’d put 99% of perceived color change due to clothing. General lighting on the skin can make a difference too. This [ocular chameleon](http://zam.zamimg.com/images/5/1/51acde57a94dd3ad2474a91a8c028821.jpg) went from blue to green in a half second based just on a camera flash 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Richey84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Richey84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richey84)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/11 "2015-09-29T18:50:37Z")
I have green eyes and I’ve been told that they change color depending on what I’m wearing. They always look the same to me though. _Shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/12 "2015-09-29T21:47:23Z")
Green eyes, mine change. They get greener when I’m in pain. My wife can always tell when I have an impending migraine because my eyes change color. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/13 "2015-09-30T00:20:16Z")
Ms. P’s eyes are usually greenish, but can sometimes get bluish. When she was little they were very blue, I hear. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/14 "2015-09-30T03:01:41Z")
I’ve had very dark green eyes most of my life. In the last ten years or so, they’ve lightened up and parts are blue. First time someone said my eyes were blue, I thought they were joking, but it’s becoming more noticeable every year ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-green-or-hazel-eyes-regularly-change-hue/732947/15 "2015-09-30T03:53:43Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I have gray, blue or green eyes depending on who’s doing the looking and when. I haven’t noticed it corresponding to my moods, so much as the ambient lighting and what clothes I’m wearing. Same here. I don’t really know what color to say for my license so I go with gray since it seems less definite than blue or green!