The next time you notice a pretty face, note the symmetry of it. Almost always, a pretty face is symmetrical. Also, a pretty face would have the following features:

  • Clear skin,
  • Large, widely spaced eyes,
  • Deeper, sunken eye area,
  • High nose,
  • High cheekbones, and
  • Full lips.

And if you know a little bit about cosmetics, you’d realise that there are products to address or enhance those aspects above if you are not born with those features:

  • Foundation for an even appearance of the skin,
  • Eye shadow and mascara for the appearance of larger and deeper set eyes,
  • Blush around the nose and under the cheekbones to emphasise them, and
  • Lipstick and lip liner to give the appearance of full and bigger lips.

And if you got the money and are so inclined, there’s also cosmetic surgery. But then hang on a minute, aren’t those the ideals of a pretty Caucasian face? What about non-Caucasians? As you’d notice from the following pictures, what constitutes a pretty face is almost universal across races.

Some of the photos have been airbrushed, and some of the faces may have undergone surgery but the principle still holds.

And this is why I appreciate beautiful women of all colours. Why limit yourself when the whole world is your smorgasboard? :mrgreen:

For more about the science of a pretty face, read Wikipedia’s entry on Physical Attractiveness.

Pretty female faces
Top row: Scarlett Johanson (American), Zhang ZhiYi (Chinese), Aishwarya Rai (Indian)
Middle row: Rihanna (Jamaican), Shakira (Colombian), Monica Belucci (Italian)
Bottom row: Anggun (Indonesian), Kathaleeya McIntosh (Thai), Penelope Cruz (Spanish)