Universal beauty ?

[Maciamo]

Some very beautiful women seem to have something in common in the way their face is designed, so that even across ethnicities they resemble each others. Compare :

Aishwarya Rai (Indian) :


Belgian woman from a TV commercial :


Miho Nakayama (Japanese) :


Karine Le Marchand (French-Burundese) :


See what I mean ?

[Minty]

All the women you have shown above are all symmetrical. They all have smooth skin, shiny hair, curved waists and symmetrical bodies.

There is a Darwin theory or evolution theory of some sort that talks about that these signals were more successful to reproduce during the evolution era. Hence till today they are still more desirable.

Here are some more examples:


Michelle Monique Reis (Miss HK 1988, actress, model)



Vivian Chow (actress, model, singer).

[misa.j]

Funny, I was just listening to a show about cosmetic surgery on the radio this morning. This writer has had more than ten cosmetic surgeries since she was 27 years old. She made her upper thighs thinner, lifted her forehead skin, cut off fat on her eye-lids, and made her lips bigger, but the only thing she would not do is breast implants. She said that there are a lot of women who suffer from imperfection, use a credit card to get surgery and end up being in debt.

Yeah Maciamo, I do see a resemblance in those women. The trend of beauty, from my observation, seems to change as fast as fashion, though.

[Ma Cherie]

Yes, they're pretty but beauty changes throughout the years. And I've also noticed that lighter skin tends to be more attractive. I guess right now being thin is what's in.

[Minty]

Yes, they're pretty but beauty changes throughout the years. And I've also noticed that lighter skin tends to be more attractive. I guess right now being thin is what's in.

I think having a proportional body and facial features are more important than just being thin. Like Kate Winslet, she is not skinny but pretty. But you're right today's fashion and beauty is thin, people like Zhang zi yi and Eva Longoria both look like size 34, that's very small!

[Mitsuo]

If you notice, they all have high cheek bones and all most likely have long legs in comparison to their torso.

I was watching an interesting program on PBS, and they were trying to match people up (for dating purposes) by face. They say that people are more attracted to others that look like them or resemble them in certain characteristics. They also looked at the face structure by computer imagary and found that the most appealing or good looking people almost matched in bone structure.

[Kinsao]

That's interesting... yeah, skinny (or rather, thin) is definitely the thing (imo it's not necessary to be thin to look good but i mean off fashion show and adverts what's presented as beautiful...).

Symmetry... well... I kinda disagree a bit cos my face is really symmetrical and I'm not beautiful at all... i think if you have good features first, then symmetry looks good, but not only in itself. O_o

[Maciamo]

What I meant is not at all about symmetry. Compare the chin, lips, smile, nose and eyes of the 3 women in the pictures I posted (esp. the first two), and you will see that they are almost identical.

[Minty]

That's interesting... yeah, skinny (or rather, thin) is definitely the thing (imo it's not necessary to be thin to look good but i mean off fashion show and adverts what's presented as beautiful...).

Symmetry... well... I kinda disagree a bit cos my face is really symmetrical and I'm not beautiful at all... i think if you have good features first, then symmetry looks good, but not only in itself. O_o

Hmmm maybe you don't consider yourself pretty but others do? I know Gwyneth Paltrow before she becomes a movie star she actually thinks she is ugly!!!

Several studies have shown that people find people of symmetric faces more attractive than asymmetric ones.

[Minty]

What I meant is not at all about symmetry. Compare the chin, lips, smile, nose and eyes of the 3 women in the pictures I posted (esp. the first two), and you will see that they are almost identical.

I took another look, I see it!

[Kinsao]

Oh yes, I could see that at first, they have a quite 'classical' beauty, don't they? Of course symmetry on its own isn't necessarily attractive at all. :)

[Minty]

Beauty secrets
Faces are often called beautiful because of their symmetry. Symmetry means something that is the same on both sides.

Hold a handheld mirror up to your nose so the mirror is along the length of your nose. Have a look in the bathroom mirror. The mirror divides you face along a line of symmetry. Your face is pretty much the same on both sides. A very symmetrical face, with features that are regularly-shaped, is what many people think of as beautiful.

Flowers also have symmetry. For symmetrical flowers, having petals of equal sizes equally spaced is a sign that there are no genetic defects -- there are no mutant petals of the wrong shape. For the flower, that's a size of good health.

For humans, symmetry can also mean good health. Getting good nutrition while you are growing can actually make you more symmetrical, although it's also important what features you inherit from your parents.

Maybe brussel sprouts might just make you grow up better-looking after all

.

Taken from here:

http://www.abc.net.au/spark/scienceof/beauty.htm

I agree that having pretty facial features is an important element of beauty, but symmetry plays an important role in this.