A  top-notch novel’s characters must stand out. A pug nose is boring, as is a bulbous nose or full lips. Yet, we must describe characters that the reader will remember each time they arrive in a scene.

Try these:

Eyes

• Ferret-like eyes
• Eyes were dark pools of fear
• Flint-eyed
• Dark solemn eyes
• Steely-eyed
• Huge blue eyes that gave her a startled look
• Black circles beneath her eyes had become bruises
• Wide-spread aquamarine eyes
• Beady-eyed
• brown eyes wearing reading glasses
• Piercing stare
• Close set black eyes
• Watery blue eyes
• Memorable only for his bleak eyes
• Nets of wrinkles at the corners of her eyes
• Eyes flat as little pebbles
• long eyelashes
• laughing eyes
• predatory eyes
• Eyes were red-rimmed from allergies
• Under heavy lids; heavy-lidded
• Sensitive brown eyes
• Eyes sunk into his sockets
• Competitive, fixed, dead-eyed, and querulous stare of people who weren’t getting far enough fast enough
• I’ve-seen-it-all eyes
• bedroom eyes, dark hair falling into them
• Crows feet radiated from the corners of his yes

Nose

• Aquiline nose
• Thin, straight nose
• Flattened nose
• Beakish nose
• hawk nose,
• Meaty nose
• Turnip nose scarred by rosacea and alcohol,
• freckles across the bridge of his nose
• Broad, slightly flat nose

Mouth

• Thickish upper lip
• Sensuous lips
• Generous mouth
• One gold tooth
• liverish lips
• impish smile
• huge self-satisfied oddly Miserable expression
• Buck teeth
• gap between front teeth
• engaging grin
• Slight overbite
• One perfectly chipped tooth

Face

• Faced dimpled with acne
• Big bovine face unmarked by any kind of internal life
• A sheen of moisture on her upper lip
• The strange transparent beauty of her face
• White puckered knife scar that interrupted his brows
• High cheekbones
• Pinch-featured man
• Dried apricot face
• angular version of Che Guevara
• Face distorted and white with rage
• Blunt Irish face
• Sculpted face
• Battered face
• leonine face
• Bony features
• Dangerous smile
• Boyish face
• Florid face
• Triangular face
• Hawk-faced
• Blotches of color came and went on his face
• a thin, pale ascetic’s
• Kindly wrinkled face
• Chiseled face