Canthal tilt is the angle formed between the inner corner of your eye (the medial canthus) and the outer corner (the lateral canthus). When the outer corner sits *above* the inner corner, the tilt is positive; when it sits below, it's negative.
A modest positive tilt of roughly 3–7° tends to read as alert, youthful and open. A strongly negative tilt can read as tired or downturned. This is one of the most-discussed eye-area traits for a reason: the eyes anchor first impressions.
- What's structural: the underlying bony orbit and canthal ligaments set your baseline tilt.
- What you can influence: brow shape and grooming change the *perceived* tilt considerably; adequate sleep and hydration reduce under-eye shadowing that flattens the eye area; makeup and, for some, a lateral brow lift shift the read.
The honest framing: your bony tilt is largely fixed, but the *presentation* of the eye area — the thing people actually notice — is quite responsive.