ABSTRACT
Socrates’ question was not what beautiful is, but what beauty is. What makes something or somebody that we call beautiful really beautiful? It is the beauty behind it.
The German cosmetics producer Nivea performed a survey all over the world: “What do women believe beauty is?” The answers were very ambiguous. First, the interviewers found out what women find beautiful. However, despite all cultural, ethnic, and religious differences, the archetype of a beautiful woman is universal: not too tall, and having a symmetrical face, smooth skin, shiny long hair, large eyes, and white teeth. This has been conrmed with facial primes in large cohorts [5,6]. Smooth skin is also a relevant factor for hand attractiveness [7]. The value of beauty for the industry is enormous: the overall sales of the beauty industry were $330 billion in 2010 [8].
