An Objective System for Measuring Facial Attractiveness

Historical Tools of Anthropometric Facial Assessment: A Systematic Raw Data Analysis on the Applicability of the Neoclassical Canons and Golden Ratio

BACKGROUND

The fundamental tenets of facial aesthetic surgery education have not changed in centuries. Research is beginning to demonstrate that the Neoclassical Canons and the Golden Ratio, Phi, have limited utilization in populations other than those of White European extraction.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to analyze comparable raw data in the literature to determine (1) if there is interethnic variability in Neoclassical Canon and Phi measurements, and (2) if the measurements in these representative samples differ from the "ideal."

METHODS

A PubMed/Scopus search was performed. Manuscripts with raw data and individuals aged ≥16 were included. Measurements were extracted and employed to calculate the Neoclassical Canons and Phi. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted to compare mean measurements across 6 ethnic groups (P < 0.05).

RESULTS

Twenty-seven articles were included. Every continent was represented except Antarctica and Australia. Men were less commonly studied than women. Participant ages ranged from 16 to 56. Averaged Canons 2, 6-8 measurements had significant interethnic differences in males, whereas Canons 5-8 had significant differences across ethnicities in females. For men, there was significant interethnic variability in measurements of Phi 2, 5, 8, 10, and 17. For women, Phi 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, and 17 varied across ethnicities. No ethnic/gender group showed consistent approximation of the "ideal" for both the Neoclassical Canons and Phi.

CONCLUSIONS

Today, the utility of the Neoclassical Canons and Phi is limited. It is incumbent on our field to systematically study and define the anthropometric measures that define the "ideal."

Biometric study of eyelid shape and dimensions of different races with references to beauty

BACKGROUND

There are few studies that evaluate the differences in the perception of beauty and attractiveness of different races or ethnicities. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are any actual differences in the configuration of beautiful eyes among different races.

METHODS

Using seven composite faces of different races or ethnicities, photogrammetric measurements were performed to determine the relative differences in the average and attractive configuration of the eyes. Fourteen distance measurements and five angular measurements were performed for analyzing the morphological differences in the configuration of attractive and average faces.

RESULTS

The results of our study found that attractive Korean faces have relatively wide-set eyes and that the medial and lateral eye fissure height is greater than that in average Korean faces. Attractive Korean faces have larger but not ptotic eyes than those in average Korean faces and they have a narrow double fold line; however, attractive Asian faces have a slightly higher double fold line. Attractive Korean or Asian faces do not have an epicanthus and there is a lot of exposure of white in the medial and lateral area of the eyes. Attractive Caucasian and African faces have an acute or keen shape to the eyes like the jaguar's eye. Attractive Asian faces have a less steep slant of the palpebral fissure compared to that of the average Asian face, but attractive Caucasian and African faces have a steeper palpebral slant than that of average Caucasian and African faces. Attractive Caucasian and African faces have a relatively narrower palpebral fissure height and width than average Caucasian and African faces. Regardless of race, attractive faces have wide-set eyes and a lower brow position than average faces.

CONCLUSIONS

"Beautiful eyes" can be defined as youthful, brilliant, vivid, and attractive. We found that there are some common and some different characteristics in the configuration of beautiful eyes according to racial background.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE I

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article.

Photogrammetric facial analysis of attractive Korean entertainers

BACKGROUND

The authors have developed a new digital photogrammetric method of facial analysis known as balanced angular and proportional analysis (BAPA). Using BAPA, the authors analyzed the faces of attractive Korean entertainers.

METHODS

The BAPA approach involves 28 landmarks and 14 measurements (10 proportional and 4 angular measures). Standardized mean angular values of famous entertainers are referred to as recommended aesthetic mean angles (RAMA) and the mean proportional values as the recommended aesthetic mean proportions (RAMP). In this study, 30 frontal views of famous Korean entertainers (15 men and 15 women) were collected from Internet Web pages, and the data analyzed using V-ceph. A t test (with the significance level set at a p value of 0.05) was performed to analyze male versus female comparisons.

RESULTS

Significant between-group differences (p < 0.05) were found for P-lower face, P-eye height, P-lip, P-interangle, and the mandibular contour in the frontal views. Famous Korean female entertainers differ from famous male entertainers. The women have a shorter lower face, larger eyes, smaller lips, and a more slender and oval shape of the mandibular soft tissue contour.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors insist that facial analysis should take into consideration racial, ethnic, and gender differences. The BAPA approach is a new practical and simple method for photogrammetric facial analysis. Using the authors' method, more advanced and automated computer systems for analyzing human faces may be developed.

Numeric expression of aesthetics and beauty

Debate over what constitutes beauty, particularly beauty of the human body, has raged since philosophy began. Interested scholars have debated the meaning of beauty for centuries. However, it seems that numbers and the resulting numeric relationships play a fundamental role in the classification of the human body, and that a harmonic profile or body shape is produced only at certain definite numeric relationships. The beauty of individual features depends on "ideal" proportions, and it is suggested that expressing beauty in terms of geometry is possible. As the demand for aesthetic surgery has increased tremendously over the past few decades, it is becoming essential to be able to assess the possible satisfaction that can be expected after an aesthetic surgery procedure and to determine the beauty of the final result as precisely as possible.