Nasolabial Angle: Columella, Upper Lip, and Profile Balance

The nasolabial angle is the profile angle under your nose. The vertex is subnasale, where the columella meets the upper lip. One line follows the columella. The other follows the upper lip or soft tissue labrale superius. A smaller angle reads more closed. It can make the tip look downturned or the upper lip more projected. A larger angle reads more open. It can make the tip look rotated or the upper lip more retrusive. Nose and lip both form it. The angle never belongs to the nose alone.

Mark subnasale. Draw one tangent through the columella and one through the upper lip. The internal angle where they meet is the nasolabial angle. Keep the lips relaxed and teeth gently together. Lip strain changes the second line.

Methods differ. Some use a short columellar tangent and a line to labrale superius. Others fit longer soft tissue tangents. A curved philtrum can make the result depend on which segment you choose. Report the exact definition.

The angle does not isolate tip rotation. A forward upper lip closes it. A retrusive upper lip opens it. Orthodontic movement, maxillary position, and lip thickness can change the angle even when the nose is unchanged.

A broad clinical descriptive band runs roughly from 90 to 110 degrees. Male reference values often sit toward the lower part. Female reference values sit toward the higher part. Overlap is large. This is not a rule for attractiveness or sex classification.

A systematic review and meta analysis of lower face and lip anthropometry found substantial variation across adult Caucasian samples and methods (PMID 38467850). A direct aesthetic study that altered the angle in profile images found that ratings changed. People notice it. That does not prove one global optimum (PMID 26688942).

The same value can come from a rotated tip, a projected lip, or both. Figure out which arm of the angle created the result.

A perception study that varied facial components found that nasal and lower face changes alter attractiveness ratings as parts of a combined profile (PMID 36031510). Specialists and lay observers do not always pick the same profile. Balanced component relationships matter more than one isolated target (PMID 36823034).

This is preference evidence, not a biological norm. Viewers notice the relationship. That does not mean you score every face against one surgical template.

Orthodontic extraction and incisor movement can move the lip and therefore the nasolabial angle. A study of lip changes after extraction treatment tracked nasolabial and labiomental relationships because tooth movement changes the soft tissue profile (PMID 35461792).

Maxillary movement can also change nasal base geometry. Before and after, you need to tell a nasal tip change from an upper lip or jaw change. The angle alone cannot identify the cause.

Smiling raises and tightens the upper lip. Lip pursing projects it. Mouth opening drops the jaw and changes the philtrum. Any of these can move the angle by more than the anatomical difference you are studying.

Use a true side profile with relaxed lips and a neutral expression. Keep camera distance and head pitch constant. Trace the same columellar and lip segments on every image.

Solar estimates the angle at subnasale and reads it beside tip projection, facial convexity, upper and lower lip position, and chin projection. The profile score reflects balance. It does not reward the largest or smallest angle.

A scan can report surface geometry. It cannot diagnose the dental or skeletal reason behind the value. Clinical decisions still need examination and imaging.

The nasolabial angle captures a visible relationship that people notice on your face. It is also easy to misread, because two moving structures form it.

Measure it with relaxed lips. Record the tangent method. Read it beside tip rotation, lip projection, maxillary position, and the rest of the profile.

Read it against the rest of the measurements series. Trait context: what facial dimorphism is.

Want this measurement read across your own facial structure? Run the Solar facial analysis.