Abstract
Attractiveness is a part of our daily lives. We attribute positive and negative qualities to those who we perceive as either attractive or unattractive (Symons, 1979). In most cultures women apply makeup to enhance their facial attractiveness; in particular, makeup is commonly applied to the eye and mouth regions of the face. In recent studies, increased luminance contrast in these regions has been found to increase attractiveness for females but not males (Russell, 2009). In this study we examined different regions of increasing luminance contrast in female faces using computer manipulations. The data showed that not all increased contrast within the eye region is attractive. When the sclera and iris are included, raters do not find these faces to be significantly more attractive than the same face with no increased contrast. This could be attributed to the contrast as an indicator of good health, in addition to its relationship to attractiveness.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2012