What exactly makes one's face handsome or beautiful?

scientists say it's symmetry, combined with a few gender-specific traits. supposedly, these traits are fairly reliable in edging up the percentage of test subjects who considered them attractive (I may be forgetting some):

women: full lips, large eyes, small jaw and nose (all associated with youth/adolescence)

men: squarer jaw, deeper-set eyes, full lips

one interesting oddity - women's perceptions of beauty change throughout their menstrual cycle.

that's what studies have shown, so those may be trends. certainly, the symmetry idea makes sense, since it's been shown that animals also are generally attracted to symmetrical features. but on an individual basis, it isn't so exact, and there are a lot of variables.

Public stereotypes and subjective opinions.

The press and the movies and the people writing reviews for the Worlds Most Beautiful/Hansome/Sexiest People tell us what THEY think or maybe there was a "poll". Scientific no doubt.

Handsome and beauty are different for everyone. As they should be.

Symmetry, attitude, force of personality, personal preference, and let's not forget how much choice of clothes and makeup or lack thereof can affect how your face is percieved.
Oh, and here's one my mom and I were discussing awhile back: bold features, like say wide cheekbones or a 'strong' nose.
Also, the perception of beauty varies from culture to culture and over the course of history. You know how American models are traditionally 'beanpoles'? And how in some of the 3rd world countries really fat woman are the most valued? And that Romans considered big noses to be a sign that a man was going to succeed in life? And that there were times in the French court's history that short and plump were considered beautiful?
Personally, I like interesting faces, but not all of the ones I like best would I classify as handsome or beautiful.

To me (as a female talking about males), at this age it would be flawless skin, captivating eyes/eye colour, and overall the main thing would be a well-groomed, well looked after face.

The eye of the beholder or admirer..........

Opinion it would appear

I actually like a face that is far from perfect. I think Shrek is just lovely because he has a warm, kind glow.

What I find beautiful or handsome can differ greatly from what the next person considers beautiful or handsome.

I think as one person said, we are influenced alot by the media as to what women and men ought to "have" or not have to be considered good looking, and especially to be considered beautiful or handsome. But for me, I make my decisions on this matter on an individual basis from woman to woman and man to man if I consider them handsome or beautiful.

To use some other canned or stereotyped criteria to judge them I think is unfair and probably many times, not even accurate by many other people's standards or opinions.

I forget what it called exactly but there is actually a graph that measures the eveness of someones face. so i guess if it is even in its measurements that person is beautiful. A straight face.

***someone help me out here what the heck is that graph called?

Confidence but not arrogance thats such a turn off. When they are well dressed to suit their body, big or small. A nice smile.

The eye of the beholder

for women i agree that it is: rounded forehead
arched eyebrows, set above the line of the eyebone
large eyes
distance between the eyes same as the width of the eye
small, relatively short, upturned nose, flat or curved,
nasal bone.
full symmetrical lips, with well formed cupids bow
small slightly pointed chin
high rounded cheekbones, concave cheeks(not always)
small soft jawline
These features make a beautiful face, but i dont think women neccesarily need to have ALL of them to make them beautiful, as long as they have atleast 4 of them( and the jawline should always be feminely shaped) then they will be beautiful.
I dont think it really matters what a man looks like, coz luckily for men, their not judged for their looks, as long as their clean and dont have very poor personal hygiene, they can generally get away with being as ugly as sin( lucky them)

symmetry, a study was done on this subject and they found that people with a more symmetric face were thought to be better looking, they also saw the same thing in animals like peacocks

The eye of the beholder!

The opinion of the person looking at it.

squared jaw, with the bottom of the jaw just above the line of the chin, symmetry and good completion are the basis of a handsome face, bear eye colour etc change from person to person.

men with bodily intelligence say in our brain there is an odurless chemical called pheromones that weed out good matches from bad ones,when one meets someone and trigger attraction.

I think its how confident you are if you feel confident then it will reflect your inner beauty outwards


if that makes sense

imperfection

Most people say that symmetry is what defines beauty, symmetrical and probably chiseled features.

NATURAL BEAUTY. NO MAKE UP NEEDED ! ;>)

MAKE UP ;/

Love.

Every year in the UK, we have the Childrens Xmas lectures. A few years ago they showed that Kylie Minogue is naturally beautiful. They did this by using a mirror on her photograph to show she was perfectly symettrical.
I think the real answer - is "in the eye of the beholder". In my case, Kylie Minogue wins again.
My face is definately a lot more handsome in the pitch black, when suddenly I become the spitting image of Brad Pitt, Geroge Clooney and David Beckham all rolled into one. Then someone always turns on the lights and spoils the illusion.

The ratio and distribution of your eyes nose month... relative to the size of your face.

A Smile and the eye of the beholder

..To feel beautiful ,happy from within and to feel contented in life is what makes people look beautiful..

The eyes of others.

the only thing that can make you beautiful is to be happy. but not in a 'i took over the world' way more of a 'that necklace is so beautiful it takes my breathe away' way.

I personally believe it to be the eyes and the smile.

don't look at me!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

We all see different qualities in each other ...

some find beauty that others don't see ...

you can have huge amounts of sex appeal and look ordinary ...

To see sex appeal ... I believe one needs to possess a certain ammount themselves ...

Because people have different thoughts.

I think that (as a female describing a boy) it would be full lips, even skin that tans well and is well taken care of, and a good smile.
For anyone I think that beautiful ofr handsome is also the persons attitude and confidence.

I'm tired of people saying that "everyone has their own idea of beauty", or "beauty is subjective". Everyone knows that. It's ridiculous to argue that someone is wrong to feel that thin women are attractive with the argument that beauty is subjective.

Characteristic features of the female "sexy face":
Suntanned skin
Narrower facial shape
Less fat
Fuller lips
Slightly bigger distance of eyes
Darker, narrower eye brows
More, longer and darker lashes
Higher cheek bones
Narrower nose
No eye rings
Thinner lids

Characteristics of the male "Sexy face":
Browner skin
Narrower facial shape
Less fat
Fuller and more symmetrical lips
Darker eye brows
More and darker lashes
Upper half of the face broader in relation to the lower
Higher cheek bones
Prominent lower jaw
More prominent chin
No receding brows
Thinner lids
No wrinkles between nose and corner of the mouth

BEAUTY is in the EYE of the Viewer.
It really depends on what "you" find attractive,
and what is imporntant to you, I am an eye looker, I look into eyes to see their soul and heart, so I may not even notice a different feature, others like a smoth face some like rugged out-doors type. IT depends on the Person seeing, and what attracts them, what they look at.

Whether it is physiological or rather inner beauty reflection on someone's face, these are all a result of genetic inheritance. no escape:)

A smile!

hmmm eyes (shiny and big), a cute smile, nice shaped ass, good sized with good shaped boobs, slim ( not thick not thin ) legs and body....list goes on

Confidence!

The person within

there face, smile and personality

Broad face and chin with well defined shape like Brad.

Attractiveness in a person depends on the admirer..As far as being beautiful that is universal, and there is actually a science behind it.

http://www.facialbeauty.org/divineproportion.html