Beautycheck summarizes the results of a large research project on “facial attractiveness”:
Additional surveys showed that attractive female faces are narrower than unattractive ones, and that they possess a brown skin and full, well looked-after lips. The distance between the eyes is larger, eyelids are thinner, there are more, longer and darker eyelashes, darker and narrower eyebrows, higher cheekbones, and the nose is narrower than in less attractive female faces. Surprisingly, more or less the same is the case for attractive male faces: they, too, have a browner skin, a narrower face, fuller lips, thinner eyelids, more and darker eyelashes, darker eyebrows, and higher cheekbones than the less attractive ones. Attractive male faces can furthermore be characterized by a more prominent lower jaw and chin.
The study tested several hypotheses on human facial attractiveness: the attractiveness is averageness hypothesis, the symmetry hypothesis, and the theory of multidimensional beauty perception. Compound (morphed) faces were more attractive than the original faces, but the attractiveness of the compound did depend on the attractiveness of the starting faces. Symmetry showed a clear but weak relationship to beauty; very asymmetrical faces are unattractive, but unattractive faces don’t need to be asymmetrical. The process of morphing faces smooths out skin imperfections, and this process, separate from blending facial shape, can improve attractiveness. The researchers’ summary:
To sum up, our study shows clearly that the most attractive faces do not exist in reality, they are morphs, i.e. computer-created compound images you would never find in everyday live. These virtual faces showed characteristics that are unreachable for average human beings.