Researchers have discovered that the human perception of physical beauty is closely related to the Golden ratio. The golden beauty ratio is approximately 1.618. If the distance between certain regions in the face to the distance of another defined region is closer to 1.618, then it’s considered ideal. Seven such calculations are done. If all 7 are ideal, then it looks to be the most beautiful face.
The Golden Ratio is the secret to a perfect face
It really does exist: a formula for the perfect face. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Apple logo or the sports cars of Aston Martin correspond to the proportions of the golden section. While fashion changes from year to year, natural beauty is timeless. This is because one constant in the perception of beauty always remains the same: the ideal harmonious proportion, the ratio 1 to 1.618 - also known as the golden ratio.
Use our online Golden Ratio calculator to determine the beauty of your face. This calculation is used to influence your perception of beauty. It contains seven rules that describe the ratio of the optimal distance between organs in a face to look beautiful. When the golden ratio is approximately 1.618, it is considered ideal.
The seven ratios considered in calculating the Golden Ratio for facial beauty are:
- from the top of the head (1) to the chin (2) VS width of the head (10 to 11).
- from the crown (1) to the pupil (3) VS pupil (3) to lip (5)
- the tip of the nose (4) to the chin (2) VS the lips (5) to the chin (2)
- the tip of the nose (4) to the chin (2) VS the pupil (3) to the tip of the nose (4)
- width of nose (6 to 7) VS tip of nose (4) to lips (5)
- outer distance of eyes (8 to 9) VS hairline (12) to pupil (3)
- the length of the lips (13 to 14) VS the width of the nose (6 to 7)
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what if there was a way to measure it?
And there is: the Golden Ratio of Beauty, officially known as the Phi or Fibonacci number, is a tool some use to determine a person's physical beauty.
This seems unfair - after all, not everyone is born with the "ideal face".
Our perception of beauty changes over time. What we perceive as beautiful and attractive is largely influenced by the media. Before the advent of social media, we developed our myopic view of what makes a person attractive based on what we saw in magazines and movies. The role of traditional media has changed drastically with the proliferation of social media. Celebrities who were once glorified and could only be admired from afar are now chronicling their lives on social media, thanks to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. This intimate relationship that celebrities have with their viewers leads to a distorted perception that they too can be like their "role models."
The theory of the golden ratio
So what makes someone beautiful? The truth is that while beauty is largely defined by race, culture and age, there are some characteristics of physical beauty that people have agreed upon since the beginning of time across all ages and cultures.
The Golden Ratio is a theory often used to explain what makes someone beautiful. The theory states that our perception of beauty can be explained logically and mathematically - we perceive the ratio of 1:618 as beautiful, and that is what we call the "Golden Ratio." Stephen Marquart went one step further and developed a mask. According to him, people whose face fits into this mask are aesthetically beautiful.
The Egyptians built their pyramids and the ancient Greeks their temples with this ratio. The golden ratio is also found in nature, for example in sunflowers, in nautilus shells and even in our faces and bodies. Plastic surgeons have used photos of thousands of men and women to establish the perfect proportions for lips and teeth. Yes, they really got out a tape measure and remeasured.
The ideal face is about 1.5 times longer than wide. The hairline on the forehead to the middle of the eyes, the middle of the eyes to the bottom of the nose and from the bottom of the nose to the bottom of the chin should be in the same proportion. To make a person more attractive, the length of the ear should be equal to the length of the nose and the width of an eye should be equal to the width between the eyes.
Our lips and teeth are as unique as our fingerprint and in most cases this individuality is also good, but not when it comes to attractiveness. Accordingly, the lips should be 1.6 times larger than the lower part of our nose, or so the so-called golden ratio dictates. If we draw a horizontal line from the iris downwards, the lips should be exactly in between. Also, the upper lip should be a tiny bit larger than the lower lip to have a perfect mouth shape. If you thought that with teeth, a dull white was enough to be considered beautiful, you are very wrong.
The golden ratio also plays an important role in teeth.
To fit a "perfect" face into the Marquart beauty mask, you also need a pair of highlighted eyes, a straight nose bridge, really thick lips, a prominent chin, and a strong jawline that frames a V-shaped face.
For example, the upper two incisors should be 1.6 times as long as they are wide. For the perfect smile, the upper six teeth must also be 1.6 times as large as the smaller tooth next to them. While there is agreement on the size of the upper front teeth, there are clearly discernible differences between men and women when it comes to their shape. Women have and prefer rather round, men rather angular contours. Beauty is apparently also a piece of mathematics Who thinks the beauty of a person lies in the eye of the individual observer is unfortunately mistaken! A mathematical law "decides" apparently nevertheless over it, what is beautiful.
Our intuitive sense of beauty is subject to the mathematical relationship given by nature. We all have a natural sense of whether something is too tall, too narrow, too wide, too short or too long - if everything is right according to our sense, we perceive a person as beautiful. So our goal is always to bring this natural beauty to bear. Most of us do not want to stand out, but to be perceived as naturally beautiful.
The rules of mathematics want it this way: some examples
Robert Pattinson ("Bel Ami") is the most beautiful man in the world! Not because editorial offices or juries would have decided so, but because scientists have resorted to ancient Greek mathematics. The 33-year-old Englishman achieves 92 percent perfection according to the "Golden Section of Beauty" and thus relegates Henry Cavill and Bradley Cooper to the ranks.
The "Golden Ratio of Beauty"
This is how the formula of the ancient Greeks works: A person's face is segmented and placed in proportion to others. Length is divided by width, and the closer the result is to 1.6, the more "beautiful" a face is. For example, Patterson's chin, his eye position and his nose each score 95 percent - in the end, he lands with an average of 92.15 percent flawlessness.
This puts him ahead of some of the biggest male celebrities: Henry Cavill (36, "The Witcher") is a close second, with an American score of 91.64 percent. Mathematically speaking, he has an almost perfect forehead (98 percent), but his nose, with 88.2 percent, cost him the top spot.
Perfect - except for the nose
Third is Bradley Cooper (45, "A Star is Born"), whose general facial shape (81.7 percent) denies him a better ranking. Otherwise, only Brad Pitt (56, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood") achieved an overall rating of 90 percent. The creator of the study, Dr. Julian De Silva, according to the Daily Mail, highlights the peculiarity of this positioning: "To end up on this list at 56 years old is incredible and speaks to its timeless beauty."
George Clooney (58, "Money Monster") tops the list of those who make it onto the list with under 90 percent - his "too small" forehead (82 percent) makes for an overall score of 89.9 percent. Rounding out the top ten are Hugh Jackman (51, "X-Men: Apocalypse") with 89.6 percent, David Beckham (44) is seventh with 88.9 percent, Idris Elba (47, "Murdah Loves John") comes in eighth with exactly 88 percent, Kanye West (42, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy") is ninth and Ryan Gosling (39, "First Man") rounds out the mathematically ten most beautiful men in show business.