Oestrogen makes women prettier
November 3rd 2005, 12:27 Jeff Sela
Apparently, hormone levels in women at puperty affect how attractive they will be. But make-up can simulate the same effects. It's thought that this attractiveness is an evolutionary thing, so that men can spot women who are likely to be more fertile.
According to the BBC:
Both male and female volunteers rated the faces of the women with the highest hormone levels as the most attractive.
These faces tended to have classically feminine features, such as larger eyes and lips and smaller noses and jaws.
However, when the women in the photographs were wearing make-up, no relationship between attractiveness and oestrogen was found.
They don't say anything about whether the same idea applies to men. Perhaps the ‘ideal mate’ signals that women look for in men are different?
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