How do we grow two eyes and a nose? 

Even though everybody’s face is different, we all start the same way: as a few tiny mounds of tissue called branchial arches. 

A human embryo’s face forms from the branchial arches, which create the forehead and nose, the cheekbones, the lower jaw, and the mouth. The place where all these parts join together is the little groove under your nose, called the philtrum. 

Soon, the nostrils begin to take shape and the eyes appear on each side of the head. These are later joined by the ears, and as the embryo’s head continues to grow, the face starts to look less like a few lumps and bumps, and more like a face!