Is there any such thing as an ideal face shape? On the yes side, there is the support of both classical ideas and modern research. In these arenas, beauty is defined by mathematics and symmetry.
Humans seem to have an innate understanding that balance is beautiful.
The Golden Ratio of Facial Beauty
In Ancient Greece, Pythagoras discovered that the shapes people found most pleasing were all related by a specific geometric ratio. This ratio, 1:1.618, came to be known as the Golden Ratio or Golden Mean. It has influenced design of every kind: architecture, furniture, clothing, and even cosmetic enhancement.
The Golden Ratio was re-discovered at the end of the 20th Century by Dr. Stephen Marquardt, a maxillofacial surgeon. Marquardt was based in Southern California, home to Hollywood’s beautiful people, but he was offering service to a different kind of patient.
“His patients were deformed. They were people who were born without chins or who had taken a speedboat turbine to the face. And they came to him with dreams not of gorgeousness or superstardom but of one day being able to ingest food orally.” – Discover Magazine
As part of an experiment related to helping his needy patients, Marquardt collected photos of beautiful people from all over the world. As he examined the data, he found himself face to face with the familiar ratio again and again. Even the triangle formed by the nose and the mouth was a perfect acute golden triangle.
“(Marquardt) found that on most of these faces, their mouths were 1.618 times wider than the width of their noses. What he found, is that the majority of these faces were full of these golden ratios.” – University of Melbourne
The Ideal Face Shape: It’s Yours!
When aesthetic surgeons perform cosmetic enhancements, they are attuned to the philosophical ideal of the Golden Ratio. The best of the best, however, are more attuned to an individual patient’s natural facial structure and select procedures to enhance a person’s features rather than force them into a generic ideal.
In the end, “ideal” is a totally subjective term. The heart wants what the heart wants, and the ideal face shape is the shape that belongs to the person you love.