Albinism. Albinism is a genetic condition that causes a reduced amount of melanin in a person's body. It often includes reduced melanin in the eyes. With very low melanin levels in the eye, the iris might appear blue or, in some instances, red or violet.
According to the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation, about 1 in 20,000 Americans has albinism, and not every person with albinism has red or violet eyes. It's a safe bet that less than 1% of the world's population has this eye color.
The real answer: They were not purple at all, but a vibrant dark blue. Her eyes merely appeared to be purple when exposed to certain lighting, makeup, or clothing (and plenty of retouching of her images, we're sure!).
Violet is an actual but rare eye color that is a form of blue eyes. It requires a very specific type of structure to the iris to produce the type of light scattering of melanin pigment to create the violet appearance.
Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor's eyes were famous for being stunningly beautiful and distinct. Widely known for having the most striking eyes in Hollywood, Taylor had what appeared to be rare, natural purple irises.
Unbelievable as it may seem, the answer is yes—natural purple eyes do exist. Purple eyes are also commonly referred to as “violet eyes,” as they are typically a light shade.
It occurs in humans and certain breeds of domesticated animals. Heterochromia of the eye is called heterochromia iridum or heterochromia iridis. It can be complete or sectoral. In complete heterochromia, one iris is a different color from the other.
Colors can range from a lighter chestnut to darker hues that almost seem to blend in with the pupil. While some people may appear to have irises that are black, they don't technically exist. People with black-colored eyes instead have very dark brown eyes that are almost indistinguishable from the pupil.
Less than 1% of the world's population has them, making them rarer than blue, hazel, amber, grey, or green.
Queen Consort Camilla has spoken movingly of Queen Elizabeth II's “wonderful blue eyes” and her ability to carve a role in a “male-dominated world” when she came to the throne.
Close to 3% of the world's population have gray eyes. People with gray eyes have little or no melanin in their irises, but they have more collagen in a part of the eye called the stroma. The light scatters off the collagen in a way that makes the eyes appear gray.
The highest concentration of people with green eyes is found in Ireland, Scotland, and northern Europe. In fact, in Ireland and Scotland, more than three-fourths of the population has blue or green eyes – 86 percent!
We found that green is the most popular lens colour, with brown coming in a close second, despite it being one of the most common eye colours. Although blue and hazel are seen as the most attractive eye colours for men and women they are surprisingly the least popular.
The world of eye color rareness is a fascinating one, with green, amber, gray, hazel, and violet or red eyes being the rarest of them all. These unique colors are a result of a complex interplay between genetic factors and the presence of pigments like melanin or lipochrome in the iris.
Red and violet
Although the deep blue eyes of some people such as Elizabeth Taylor can appear purple or violet at certain times, "true" violet-colored eyes occur only due to albinism. Eyes that appear red or violet under certain conditions due to albinism are less than 1 percent of the world's population.
The most common eye colors depend largely on geographic location. For example, Asians typically have brown eyes, while Europeans are more likely to have eyes of blue or other lighter hues.
Amber eyes are extremely rare. Most sources say that only about 5% of people have true amber eyes. Coming up with a hard and fast number or percentage, though, is not as easy as you might think—there simply haven't been enough large-scale studies done to quantify eye color prevalence with certainty.
Complete heterochromia is definitely rare — fewer than 200,000 Americans have the condition, according to the National Institutes of Health. That's only about six out of every 10,000 people. It's currently unknown how rare central heterochromia is, but we do know that it isn't quite as rare as complete heterochromia.
Can a person's eyes be white? Albinism: People who have an inherited condition called albinism have little or no melanin in their eyes, hair and skin. People with albinism usually have eyes that are very light blue. Rarely, they have pink or red eyes.
Red/Pink Eyes
Two major conditions cause a red or pinkish eye color: albinism and blood leaking into the iris. Although albinos tend to have very, very light blue eyes due to a lack of pigment, some forms of albinism can cause eyes to appear red or pink. Amber eyes are a beautiful honey color!
Permanent changes to eye color can be achieved through iris implant surgery, corneal pigmentation, and laser eye color change. Iris Implant Surgery is a procedure that inserts a prosthetic iris into the eye. It was originally developed to treat iris defects such as albinism and aniridia.
Only 1% of people have pink and pale red eyes; they are typically albinos. Albinism happens when there is a problem with one of the genes inherited from the mother. Like red eyes, heterochromia is rare and effects less than 1% of the population.
Irises are classified as being one of six colors: amber, blue, brown, gray, green, hazel, or red. Often confused with hazel eyes, amber eyes tend to be a solid golden or copper color without flecks of blue or green typical of hazel eyes. Blue eyes have a low level of pigment present in the iris.