There is much talk about beauty being completely in the eye of the beholder, but research suggests that certain physical qualities are universally and objectively beautiful. People are naturally drawn to faces whose features are placed in certain arrangements. The ideal proportions are so delicate that a deviation of mere millimeters can be the difference between being beautiful and being plain.
The Golden Ratio
The golden ratio is a number that is found in the proportions of great works of art. People who are considered very attractive usually have face shapes that fit into the golden ratio. A face that meets this standard would be about 1.6 times longer than it is wide. The eyes should form a line of demarcation at the exact point where the face’s length begins to exceed its width, or about one-third of the way down from the forehead.
Symmetry
Symmetry is another mathematical concept that determines beauty. Studies have repeatedly shown that people’s eyes are naturally drawn to faces that are perfectly symmetrical. It has also been shown that given a pair of faces, people tend to select a face that is more perfectly symmetrical mathematically as more attractive to them. This certainly isn’t universal, but most often it tends to be the preference of our eyes.
Innate Narcissism
Studies show that people are instinctively attracted to people who look like them, even if they do not consider themselves particularly attractive. When a man is shown a digitally feminized picture of himself, he thinks he is looking at the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen. It would not occur to him that he is looking at his own altered photograph. Women have similar reactions when their pictures were made more masculine.
The Uncanny Valley
Though society values beauty at all costs, it resists beauty that appears artificial. When a face is technically perfect but has lost its intangible aura of humanity, it has entered the uncanny valley. This happens when people get so much plastic surgery that their features are distorted beyond anything that is found in nature. These people no longer look like real human beings.
Mimicking Celebrities
People who want to improve their looks often visit clinics such as About Face (a Scottsdale plastic surgeon) with the goal of looking exactly like a famous actor or actress. This is impossible to achieve. Acquiring the nose, chin or eye shape of a famous actress will not make a patient look like that actress. It is important to have realistic expectations and to understand that becoming a better version of oneself is better than turning into someone else.
Plastic surgery can adjust the features so that they come closer to fulfilling the balance set forth in the golden ratio, but very few people will achieve perfection. Individual quirks are just as valuable as objective beauty is. However, many people are able to find great satisfaction and happiness in the improvements they can get from plastic surgery options. Each of us is different, but many of us have similar preferences when it comes to what beauty means.
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