As Dr. Michael Yaremchuk writes on The Huffington Post, the age-old expression of “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a bit misleading. The sentiment implies that what makes a person “attractive” varies on a case-by-case basis, determined entirely by each individual’s perceptions of what is or isn’t beautiful. While that is true to some extent, research has deduced some common physical attributes that can be found in the average, attractive face — indicating that there may be some kind of objectivity to beauty after all.

Here are some of the universal characteristics typically found in faces considered attractive:

• Balanced attributes: Even if your face has a feature that lies outside of the norm, or the average look, it can be balanced out by making some other attribute more prominent. For example, plastic surgeons may enhance a relatively weak-looking chin to create a stronger balance with the face’s nose or cheek bones.
• Symmetrical features: As Dr. Yaremchuk points out, no single face is ever perfectly symmetrical and any tiny asymmetries in a person’s features usually go unnoticed anyway. But for more significant disparities between the two halves of a person’s face, research points to greater symmetry being associated with what is considered to be more attractive.
• The average look: Doctors have compiled together the pictures of faces within a given group of people, producing an “average” composite image. More often than not, what people find most attractive is this final “averaged” result than the individual faces that made up the population.

Whatever your reasons for undergoing plastic surgery, and whichever features you would like to enhance or accentuate, make sure to only use board certified plastic surgeons who will treat you with the utmost care and expertise. Contact Dr. Christopher Craft, one of the best plastic surgeons in Miami, for a consultation on your procedure.