Contrariety of Beauty

Author : Dr. Jeevan Prakash V.

“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” - Plato. Perhaps very few other sentences have been quoted as much as this when describing beauty. This simply means Individuals have different inclinations on what is beautiful.

Individuals have different beauty standards or that the perception of beauty is subjective. While accepting this to be true, it also means that every individual has his or her own concept of a beautiful person. He/she may have their own set of characteristics that is found to be attractive to a group of people. This also means that the same set of features may not be as attractive to another subset.  Standards of beauty have changed over time, based on changing cultural values. Historically, paintings show a wide range of different standards for beauty. However, humans who are relatively young, with smooth skin, well-proportioned bodies, and regular features, have traditionally been considered the most beautiful throughout history.

A strong indicator of physical beauty is "averageness". When images of human faces are averaged together to form a composite image, they become progressively closer to the "ideal" image and are perceived as more attractive. This was first noticed in 1883, when Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, overlaid photographic composite images of the faces of vegetarians and criminals to see if there was a typical facial appearance for each. When doing this, he noticed that the composite images were more attractive compared to any of the individual images. Researchers have replicated the result under more controlled conditions and found that the computer generated, mathematical average of a series of faces is rated more favourably than individual faces. Evolutionarily, it makes logical sense that sexual creatures should be attracted to mates who possess predominantly common or average features. Facial symmetry has been shown to have an effect of ratings of attractiveness in human faces. More symmetrical faces are perceived as more attractive in both males and females. While symmetrical faces are perceived to be attractive, completely symmetric faces are disconcerting and are not perceived as normal.

The sum total of indivual average facial components may make a face more beautiful.  The face can be broken down into many components or units such as the malar units, orbital unit, forehead, cheeks, chin, lips, the dentition and the nose predominantly. It is not the uniqueness of any one of the units that make a person attractive but the sum total of all in perfect ”Harmony” with other units flowing into each other naturally blending. A unique feature of a subcomponent of the face will be a sore point and will standout rather than blend. Hence when addressing facial aesthetics, we must aim at normalizing the subcomponents rather than make them unique.  To make this easier to analyse and to formulate a treatment plan that works, there have been many templates and guides developed and evolved by many. The rule of thirds, rule of fifths that we so routinely use are just a few examples for chairside assessment.  When speaking of analysis it must be noted that perhaps there is no other component of the human body that conveys human emotions as does the face and the face always has to be analysed and studied in its dynamic form. An average face or a face with a particular quirk may be more attractive when emotive and conversely a well-balanced face on a static observation may throw symmetry or harmony out of gear and may make the face appear un-aesthetic.  Hence, the facial aesthetic surgeon must be an astute observer of not just the static analysis of the facial proportions but also of the dynamics of how the individual units come together when in action. Also it must be taken into consideration that restructuring all the faces on one template would be similar to making clones in a factory and that facial restructuring must take into consideration the psychological need, the prevalent local culture,

There are many systems that come together to make up a beautiful face. The underlying skeletal system, the dental units, the sensory and function units of the eyes, ears, mouth & lips, the nose, the skin covering the skeletal and the musculature and the hair. Though there are experts in each domain, there has also been a constant overlapping of specialties when dealing with the face. The time now has come together to bring together all the expertise in the individual specialties like the Maxillofacial Surgeon, the Dentist, The Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons, The Dermatologists and the Otolaryngologists together in the interest of the patient to approach the problem holistically. The time has come to finally define a niche super specialty called the “Aesthetic Facial Surgery” where there is amalgamation of the said specialties with each one doing at best from their domain.

The times has come to embrace technology like never before. It now, to implement better analytic tools for a more predictable and reliable outcome of results. It is now, to harness the power of Nano technology in designing better instruments, to use the power of laser to decrease the downtime of the patients and to design newer treatment options for hitherto unexplored conditions, to understand the use of biomaterials to have more predictable outcomes of materials used as grafts.

The brotherhood of Aesthetic Facial Surgeons must have the propriety to ensure that the skills are imparted to those who seek, with no bias. This knowledge must not be the property of one or a group but must be available for all, so that it stands the test of scrutiny and makes sure that results are reproducible. All the knowledge thus gained must be kept in a repository which is easily accessible to one and all.  It does good to keep in mind ‘Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone. - Dorothy Parker’