Facial beauty in the eye of the beholder

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Researchers say the facial aesthetic ideal of people living in Brazil differs from traditional North American standards of beauty.

Researchers asked a group of Brazilian health professionals who work with facial aesthetics, artists and sculptors and general citizens to evaluate three nasal root height variations produced with computer imaging from the profiles of six women ages of 18-30.

Fifty-three percent of the study participants said those who were the most beautiful had the low position of the nasal root -- between the upper eyelid crease and the pupil level.

The middle "regular" position was favored by 36 percent and 73 percent agreed the high position was the worst profile, the study says.

North Americans appear to prefer the middle position, the researchers say.

Dr. Geraldo Augusto Gomes and colleagues said the researchers said it is very important for health professionals who work with aesthetics to know the preferences and standards of their patients since subjective satisfaction was the main goal of facial plastic surgery.

The researchers presented their findings at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery Foundation being held in San Diego.