When it comes to the laws of attraction, it tends to seem like there is no real explanation. My friends and I will constantly disagree about people we find good looking or not.
Of course, they say the key to a good friendship is the same sense of humor and different taste in men (or women depending on what you're into).
That being said, there are some special people in the world that everyone can agree are, without question, absolutely stunning.
Sometimes you can pinpoint a defining feature like her cheekbones, his jawline, or their face shape in general.
Turns out, our feelings aren't totally spontaneous or without explanation. In fact, people have been calculating what makes a face "mathematically beautiful" since the Ancient Greeks.
Alas, math cannot be escaped, no matter how long ago you took high school algebra — and according to those equations, Reese Witherspoon is the most ideal example of beauty.
So, what exactly makes the talented actress so universally attractive?
Thumbnail Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Powerinthelines
According to Daily Mail, researchers at Temple University found that having cheekbones as wide as your eyebrows is the key to what many consider to be a "perfect" female face.
Like I said, this is not new science. Live Science explains that a number called the Golden ratio has long been used to determine ideal facial proportions.
For the mathematically inclined, the golden ratio is, "a special number found by dividing a line into two parts so that the longer part divided by the smaller part is also equal to the whole length divided by the longer part."
The even more mathematically inclined calculated this Golden ratio to be: 1.6180339887498948420…
The Great Pyramid of Giza, for example, was built according to this ratio discovered by the Ancient Greeks.
Leonardo Da Vinci's Virtuvian man, shown above, was also drawn in proportion with the Golden ratio to create the "perfect" male body.
When it comes to faces, the Golden ratio is most similar to what most of us know as a heart shaped face.
This is the same shape shared by stars like Reese Witherspoon, Halle Berry and Scarlett Johansson.
To put things in perspective, there are a whole lot of "rules" when it comes to the measurements of the perfect face.
In fact, figuring it out is sort of like learning how to draw a portrait.
This photo was adjusted in proportion with the Golden ratio.
It depends on personal taste again, but most people would consider the after shot to be more conventionally attractive.
Plastic surgeon, Thomas W. Loeb explains some of the "rules" on his website.
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The distance between our nostril’s outer edges should be equal to the distance between the inner and the outer corners of the eyes
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The distance from the top of our nose to the center of the lips should be 1.6 times the distance from the middle of the lips to the bottom of our chin
Additionally:
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The distance between the forehead hairline to the upper eyelid should be 1.6 times the distance between the top of the upper eyebrow to the lower eyelid
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The width of a single eye is equivalent to the distance between both eyes
Of course, finding these ratios in nature is a rare occurrence. However, it does happen and the people blessed with them are usually in a line of work like acting or modeling that is helped by their mathematical beauty.
Back in 2016, US Weekly reported that rather than Reese, a study found actress Amber Heard to be the most mathematically beautiful women in Hollywood, or maybe even the world.
So, the next time you're looking at a face you like, keep the Golden ratio in mind.
Or, if you don't like math, just enjoy the view.
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