A research team led by scientists at the University of Toronto has discovered one of the keys to the ideal female face: dimensions between major features. And now that they can characterize these optimum measurements they have declared a winner of the perfect face.
Is it the much sought after U.S. actress, Angelina Jolie? Nope. How about the British beauty, Elizabeth Hurley? No, she’s not the one either. The woman who possesses the perfect face is…
Canadian pop singer Shania Twain. Coincidence? Actually, yes it is.
The researchers worked with University of Toronto students. Using a photo of a single woman, the team altered the distance between her features with Photoshop and laid out different choices side by side. Based on student assessments of attractiveness, the scientists concluded that the ideal distance between the centers of a woman’s pupils is almost half -- 46% -- the width of the entire face, ear to ear. The most attractive distance between the eyes and the mouth is 36%, about a third, of the length of the face, measured from hairline to chin.
With these ratios in hand, the research team found that Angelina Jolie did not fit either of the ideal dimensions. Elizabeth Hurley fit in terms of length, but just missed the right width.
So, now that we know more about some of the characteristics of the ideal female face, what to do?
The scientists suggested that women don’t need to take drastic measures, such as rushing to the nearest plastic surgeon. Indeed. With current technology, cosmetic surgery cannot easily alter the basic structure of the face anyway. (Just imagine, “Doctor, I’d like you to widen the distance between my eye sockets, please.”)
In fact, the research team acknowledged a couple of considerations to keep in mind. One is that the study examined only Caucasian women. It’s likely that the findings cannot be applied to other ethnic groups. Second, one of the scientists admitted that the appearance of individual features is probably even more important than the distance between them. If the study should tempt you to get out the measuring tape and calculator, keep that in mind.
Think of Angelina Jolie. The fact that the basic geometry of her face may not fit the ideal seems to have little bearing on her overall attractiveness. It’s those full lips, those expressive eyes -- the whole package -- that makes people take notice.