As far south as India and as far north as China, the focus of beauty is surrounding the eyes. There are different eye shapes on the Asian subcontinent, ranging from slanted to almond-shaped, and they are typically accentuated by eyeliners and mascara. Eyebrows are often shaped naturally using a method called threading, which is popular in south Asia.
Skin
In Asian culture, the lighter your skin is the more beautiful you are considered. Consequently, many Asian women bleach their skin or use face cream to lighten and even out skin tone. In addition, there are many spa treatments used to give skin an even glow, including green tea steam facials, turmeric paste masks, mud masks and skin cleansers, and soaps that contain milk.
Makeup
North Asian makeup is natural, with the only real color used being blush and lipstick. It is also usually dramatic around the eyes, where eyeliner and mascara, as well as a touch of natural shaded eye shadow, is used. In South Asia, makeup is normally dark colored, as the skin tones of natives there tend to be tan or dark. Lip color is normally nude, brown, burgundy or red, and eye shadow can be any color the woman is wearing that day. South Asians typically use more makeup than their northern counterparts, and they tend to use a mixture of traditional and modern Western styles.
Hairstyle
Asians are trendy and tend to wear modern hairstyles. Women from the north may wear a bun, ponytail, long flowing locks, bob, messy curls, bed head style, mohawk, pixie cut and braids. South Asians prefer to keep their hair long and flowing, so it is normally layered long and kept neat and straight or wavy. Asians have very dark hair, but North Asians have straight hair, and many of the styles reflect this feature. South Asians have wavy or curly, coarse hair, and they often opt to straighten it. Many Asians also color their hair in hues ranging from black to platinum blonde.
Clothing
North Asians tend to favor the latest fashion trends while reserving traditional dress for specific occasions, such as ceremonies or parties. South Asians usually wear salwar kumeez (long blouses and pants) with a matching scarf (dupatta), lengha (long skirt with a short blouse) or a sari (material wrapped around the body to resemble a dress). Although some women in South Asia wear fashions as well, it is frowned upon. Traditional South Asian wear has also become modernized, although the modern versions keep very close to traditional roots.
Hey Imma say goodbay so this will be one of my last posts, hope you enjoy them, see you.
In the West, we have a very fixed idea of what beauty comprises. To have a chance of being considered beautiful, women must be slim, youthful and have long hair. Things are very different in other countries and cultures though. It might surprise you just how different …
1. LONG NECKS
For the Pa Dong tribe, who live along the Thai/Burmese border, beauty is a long, long neck. This effect is produced by circling the neck with brass rings, starting at the age of 6, and gradually adding more and more. The only time they are removed is on the girl’s wedding night.
2. BLUE TATTOO
Tattoos are common around the world. For Maori women in New Zealand, the tattoos are placed on their lips and chins. The ultimate beauty is to have full blue lips.
3. SCARS
Scars are considered ugly in the west, but for Karo girls in southern Ethiopia it will help them get a husband. As young girls, the skin on their stomach is cut to create scars, and when they have enough they are considered ready for marriage.
4. THE BIGGER THE BETTER
The western media might push thinness as desirable, but in many other cultures, big is most definitely beautiful. In many African countries, such as Mauritania and Nigeria, a skinny woman would be pitied. In fact, women are fed as much as possible to make them more beautiful (in the west, this is known as feeding and considered an extreme fetish).
5. NOT JUST FOR GIRLS
This Central African tribe prize hold beauty contests – but this time, it’s the men on display! During festivals, the men compete to attract a wife, and are judged on their beauty and singing and dancing skills. As you can see from the picture, the guys go to a lot of effort!
6. LIP PLATE
We like to accentuate our lips with lipstick, but some African and Amazonian tribes consider that beauty is achieved by stretching the lip. They make a hole, which is gradually increased by inserting larger plates. As if that wasn’t painful enough, they may need some teeth removed to accommodate the plate. Ouch.
7. TEETH FILING
Most of us will avoid going near a dentist unless we really have to, but Balinese people willingly submit to a rather extreme treatment. They have some of their teeth filed, which is meant to remove vices like arrogance. It was also practiced among the Upoto tribe in Africa, and among Aborigines.
8. BOUND FEET
While respecting other cultures is good, this is one ‘beauty feature’ that we can be glad has died out. In China, to achieve the effect of tiny feet, the bones were broken before binding, thus causing the woman lifelong pain and making it difficult for her to walk.
So, beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder! Some of these practices may seem strange, even unattractive to us, but I wonder what the people who do them would think of ourideas of beauty. Would we seem ugly to them?
When talking about beauty one must keep an open mind. What one finds true beauty someone else might find outrageous, weird or even ugly. There is no such thing as ultimate true beauty because you can not compare beauty. We do not live all following the same standards or principles; we do not have the same ideals. We are different, so is beauty.
In Asia for example the standards for beauty differ from country to country, from culture to culture.
In the Far East, in Japan, a century old tradition offers an original beauty recipe treatment: nightingale droppings. These are transformed into a powder, mixed with soap and used as a face wash. The facial is supposed to make the face look young.
The female members of the Kayan tribe (situated on the border between Burma and Thailand) have another ideal of beauty. Also known as “long necks”, they measure a woman’s beauty according to the brass rings wore around the neck. As they grow older they increase the number of rings which gives them an elongated neck appearance. They start this ritual as early as the age of 5 and their neck is absolutely transformed by the heavy rings. The elongated neck is a result of the pressure the rings put on their shoulders, clavicles and chest. The shoulders are being pushed down, that’s how the elongated neck appearance is achieved.
In India the long hair, the jewellery worn excessively especially at weddings, the coloured saris and the home made remedies take beauty to another level.
In Africa the idea of beauty varies from one side of the continent to the other. In Ethiopia, the women of the Karo tribe wear scars on their stomachs meant to attract a husband. The scarring process starts in childhood and once finished it means that the woman can get married and have children.
In Mauritania being skinny is definitely not a sign of beauty. Here a beautiful woman is a woman with curves…big curves. Nowadays forbidden, the gavage is in many cases the way of achieving a true, Mauritanian beauty. Through gavage young girls are being force fed in order to fatten them up. A “heavy” lady is more likely to be desirable and get a husband.
In the Middle East beauty is sometimes not connected with what ones sees, but with one does not see, or with what one smells or catches a glimpse of. From the head to toe black covers women wear (called abaya) that sometimes reveal only the eyes, to the dark eye kohl pencil, henna tattoos, oud and coloured fabrics, scarves and jewellery.
The Polynesian women are considered to be beautiful if they wear traditional tattoos on their lips and on their chins.
In the Western World the standards are different; the means of achieving beauty are sometimes extreme as well. From plastic surgery, implants, hair extensions, hair colour to fitness, diet and cosmetics, the beauty has a different meaning. What ever nature has not given, the knife can solve. The Western ideal of beauty is a skinny, tall, good looking lady (90-60-90 if possible) with perfect teeth, perfect hair and perfect fashion. A 24 hour working lady if possible, who never complaints, who is up to date with the latest fashion trends, is a fighter, considers herself a “Superwoman” because she can achieve whatever she desires, all by herself.
I don’t know which woman is more beautiful. I don’t know which one of the beauty rituals work and I definitely don’t know how one could compare the different types of beauty. One thing is certain: beauty is dictated by the places we live in, cultures we are a part of, traditions we are following.
All I’m saying is that diversity is beautiful and beauty is an individual, subjetive concept.
The standards of beauty in America are pretty different from 50 years ago. Back then, our idea of beauty was a Barbie doll -- a tall and busty blond Caucasian with a pointy little nose. And people used to line up for plastic surgery -- including rhinoplasty -- to achieve that look. But race and beauty standards in America have changed. And that was the topic of discussion at the annual plastic surgeon's conference in Houston last week.
"Lemme get a gander at that there schnozzle under your Stetson, partner" might have been heard during Rodeo Rhinoplasty, four days of physician training on every aspect of the nose job.
Houston's racial and ethnic diversity -- providing an international range of noses -- makes the city an ideal location for a seminar exploring surgical techniques and modern beauty standards, said Dr. Russell Kridel, a Houston plastic surgeon who founded the annual conference last year.
"What we think is beautiful is changing," he said. "We have to know that so we can achieve what that beauty is. You can't think that everyone wants to have a long, thin nose."
Even in international, medically relevant sessions about the art and science of rhinoplasty, a Houston-bred icon's name emerges: Beyonce.
And so did her face and nose, projected beside likenesses of actress Lucy Liu and entertainer Jennifer Lopez during a talk Thursday morning by Dr. Peter Adamson, a renowned Canadian plastic surgeon.
A new aging study reveals that a woman's beauty peaks at the age of 29, begins to show signs of aging at 41, stop looking "sexy" at 53 and are "old" at 55.
The latest study of 2,000 people across the U.S. also put men under the aging magnifying glass. The study revealed that men were considered to reach their peak at age 34, start showing signs of aging at 43, stop looking "sexy" at 58 and are "old" at 59.
A survey conducted by Allure magazine wanted to see how U.S. men and women feel about the changing looks of both sexes. They found that there was a discrepancy between men and women about when a woman looks best. While men believed women to be most beautiful at age 29, women themselves thought their best age was 31. However, both men and women agree that 30 is the most seductive age for a woman.
The survey revealed that 34 percent of men worried about the physical signs of aging compared to 56 percent of women. Researchers also found that both men and women generally start using anti-aging products at the 37, while 42 percent of women and 18 percent of women report they would consider anti-aging injections or plastic surgery."In the past it (the ideal age) may have been a little bit younger. Anti-ageing is such a huge topic now and people want to look younger for longer. You see celebrities who are looking amazing into their fifties," Deputy editor of Allure magazine, Jillian Mackenzie, told The Daily Telegraph.
"Across the board the ages for men were quite a bit older than for women and it's interesting that men get an extra four years," she said.
The survey also revealed that grey hair represented different things on different sexes. On men, the top answer used to describe grey hair was "distinguished" but on women it was "old". However, the survey revealed that more men than women color their hair to look young, with 63 percent of men opting for dyes to cover their grays compared to only 36 percent of women.
For a long time, the pursuit of beauty seemed like women's work; we're more apt to describe men as "handsome" or "attractive" rather than "beautiful." Yet the same beauty industries that sell countless products to women are starting to realize that men might have the same insecurities about their looks. In 1997, $2.4 billion was spent on men's grooming products; by 2009, that number was $4.8 billion [source: Newman]. Men, it seems, are becoming more interested in products such as concealer and moisturizers that will keep them looking their best.
And some men shun makeup, but think nothing of going under the knife. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, men underwent 1.1 million cosmetic procedures in 2010, an increase of 2 percent over the previous year [source: Hendrick]. The most common procedure for men: facelifts. Most cosmetic surgeries are still performed on women, but now the ladies may have some male company as they wait in their plastic surgeon's office.
2: Plastic Surgery Gains Acceptance
A few decades ago, plastic surgery was considered the domain of vain socialites, movie stars and centerfold wannabes. But trends show that cosmetic surgery is becoming increasingly sought after and accepted by the general public. In 2010, we spent $10.1 billion on cosmetic procedures, which represented a 1.2 percent increase over the previous year [source:Hendrick]. And for many years now, surveys have not only shown a rise in the number of procedures performed, but also growth in the percentage of people who approve of such procedures [source: Rosen].
Originally, plastic surgery was a medical procedure reserved for soldiers injured in war or people born with severe birth defects. Now, our society is becoming OK with using surgery as a way to transform parts of our bodies that we don't like. While this article deals with beauty trends that change over time, there are certain qualities that will probably always stay ideal -- no one wants to age, for example, and sizeable breasts are almost always in vogue. Plastic surgery allows people to meet those beauty standards, at prices that are becoming lower all the time and in surgeries that are becoming easier to perform and recover from. While some critics bemoan the extreme method of surgery to improve appearance, Botox, facelifts and liposuction will probably be a growing trend for a while.
3: Beauty Is in the Nose of the Beholder
Beauty might seem like a visual aesthetic, but odors and scents also play a big role in the beauty ideal. If a supermodel didn't shower for months at a time, would we still consider her a supermodel? If she showed up at your door smelling like garbage, would you still find her beautiful?
Cleanliness has been compared to godliness, and somewhere along the way, it became an important prerequisite for beauty as well, which would certainly surprise the generations of people who never bathed. People worried that bathing could lead to serious illness, like the plague, or they were concerned that nakedness was sinful and the devil would catch them during their bath. And though perfume has been used throughout history, it became aggressively marketed in the 20th century as an important part of a beautiful person's regimen. Ditto deodorant -- the idea of "body odor" was one cooked up by advertising men who wanted more people to buy deodorant and antiperspirants [source: George Mason University]. Now, most of us crinkle our noses at the idea of letting our natural scents shine through; to be truly beautiful, we try to smell like baby powder, flowers and fruits.
4: The Hair Down There
The idea that women should shave their underarms and legs came about because of fashion that exposed more skin than ever before. Well, clothes kept getting smaller, and now full female nudity is more common than ever in our society. From skimpy bikinis to the rise of Internet porn to the vast number of movies and television shows that take place in strip clubs, it's no longer very shocking to see lots of skin. And some critics argue that these factors have led to a new standard, in which women remove most or all of their pubic hair. Surveys of Playboy centerfolds reveal that there was plenty of pubic hair in the 1970s and 1980s, but it's been missing in action since the 1990s [source: Featherstone]. Now, for many women, a bikini or Brazilian wax is a necessary beauty expense, though critics debate the virtue of this new standard. Do men who prefer a hairless look down there have a thing for pre-pubescent girls? Should women duplicate a trend that was first observed in pornography, and will it affect their love lives for the better? How young is too young for a bikini wax? No matter your conclusions on these matters, pubic hair seems to have joined the list of types of body hair that most women are desperate to remove.
5: Who Wears Short Shorts? Gals With Shaved Legs
While there's evidence that ancient cultures removed their body hair, it wasn't a must-be-done beauty habit until the beginning of the 20th century, simply because women's fashion until that point didn't reveal any skin. But in the early 1900s, sleeveless evening gowns became popular and razor manufacturers realized they needed more customers than just men. Ads began appearing in women's magazines urging ladies to make their underarms as smooth as their face if they really wanted to dazzle in those new sleeveless dresses. The content of the ads was very instructional, indicating that marketers had to educate women on how and why they needed to do this; it took several years before the ads became competitive, pitching one type of razor over another [source: Hansen]. The campaign to get women to shave their legs followed the one about underarms by a few years. In this case, razor manufacturers were aided by the rising hem lines that were coming into style, coupled with a nylon shortage following World War I.
What was a novel idea -- shaving one's legs and armpits -- is now a rite of passage for many young girls going through puberty. But body hair deserves more than one spot on our list, so read on to find out about other hair removal trends.
6: The Ever-changing Head of Hair
What constitutes beautiful hair is perhaps the most oft-changing beauty definition in history. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the masses would pluck their hairlines, as their monarch did, and employ massive headdresses. Since then, we've seen trends that included short, bobbed hair to long flowing tresses. We'll crimp or perm our hair to get some waves or curls, then go to great lengths to straighten it. Our hair has been piled high in a beehive, bejeweled, braided, teased, spiked, dyed and highlighted. We'll spend hours trying to look like we just fell out of bed, or we'll spend hours on an elaborate style worthy of prom or a wedding. Certain hair colors will go in and out of fashion (though gray tends to remain on the outs, as we fear looking older). Beautiful hair has been a particularly tricky issue for black women. Though some black women opt for hairstyles such as the Afro out of ethnic pride and unity, others have spent thousands of hours and dollars pursuing straightening treatments or weaves.
7: Bye-bye, Blue-eyed Blonde
In 1991, Allure magazine conducted a survey of men and women living in the United States about what constituted beauty. Respondents claimed that the U.S. beauty ideal was a woman like Christie Brinkley -- a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned model. Twenty years later, in 2011, Allure conducted the same survey, but times had clearly changed: Angeline Jolie, with her dark hair and voluptuous lips was now ranked as the pinnacle of beauty. And when respondents were asked to rank the beauty of anonymous models, both men and women picked non-white models as the most attractive.
The 2011 survey findings also revealed that women of mixed race were considered the most beautiful women in the U.S., leading Allure to claim that the blonde ideal had been "dethroned" [source: Peterson]. Participants in the survey believe that increased diversity in the U.S. has led to this change. Still, it will be interesting to see how these findings reverberate around the world. For a long time, "whiteness" has ruled as a beauty ideal, leading many men and women of different ethnicities to bleach their skin with lightening creams. Even in stories and films, white has become associated with good and black with evil. Will beauty standards continue to open up to embrace different races of women? Time will tell.
8: Go Golden, Girl
Pale skin ruled as a beauty standard for centuries. Both men and women applied ceruse, a lead-based white paint, to their skins in an effort to look fairer, and some people would paint delicate blue lines on their face to demonstrate their wealth and status, or their "blue blood." Suntans were for members of the lower classes, who had to spend their days outside, working in the fields.
At the turn of the 20th century, however, bronzed skin became the new fashion must-have. Coco Chanel famously got sunburn on a yachting trip, which spurred her acolytes to start spending more time in the sun. Doctors of the day began prescribing sun therapy, which was quickly adopted by the upper classes, as were outdoor sports (the poorer people had moved into factories, so spending time outdoors was no longer seen as déclassé). Even today, when we know about the dangers of the sun's rays and the risks of skin cancer, people continue to lounge in the sun or visit tanning salons in the hopes of achieving bronzed skin.
9: Makeup is a Must
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans loved makeup -- archeologists have found evidence of cosmetics kits containing primitive versions of mascara, foundation and lipstick. However, these early civilizations were exceptions to the rule, as makeup was mostly shunned in the centuries following. If you saw a woman wearing lipstick in the 1800s, for example, you'd think she was either a prostitute or a stage actress (a profession that was usually considered as awful as prostitution). Queen Victoria went so far as to call all makeup vulgar in a public address, and modesty was the defining beauty trend for many years.
But makeup came back in a big way thanks to the introduction of motion pictures. Max Factor is often called the father of makeup because, not only did he formulate products that looked good on the big screen, but he also had the foresight to market them to everyday women. Today, makeup is a billion dollar industry that can adjust to whatever looks happen to be in style -- you can buy everything from bright, bold colors to products that make it look like you're not wearing any makeup at all!
10: Thin Is In
If you walk around an art museum, you're likely to see lots of curvy, plump female nudes among the models in the artwork. For many centuries, being thin meant that you were poor -- you didn't have enough food to eat and you spent your days burning off calories in the fields. Being a full-figured man or woman, on the other hand, was a symbol of wealth and beauty.
Beginning in the late 1800s, the word "diet" started to creep in to our vernacular, and at first, dieting advice was only aimed at men because women were expected to be voluptuous [source: Vester]. As the decades went on, a little extra flab became something to be ashamed of, and slender became the figure to strive for. While plenty of critics will point out that pictures of models and celebrities are airbrushed and Barbie has impossible-to-achieve proportions, both men and women seek to be thin, sometimes through extreme methods such as disordered eating, unhealthy amounts of exercise and plastic surgery.
Today, who do women have to aspire to as beauty icons? Whilst we still have the icons of old, we women require current idols to advise us on what is stylish, what hairstyles are fashionable and how to wear ourmake-up. I very strongly remember the influence that the Spice Girls had on me whenever I was hitting puberty, particularly the way they dressed and their makeup (it is a vast understatement to say that I was not fashion conscious as a young lady!)
However, our "style icons" of today are ridiculously influenced by the media. Most actresses go blonde at some point in their career as it's seen to be more attractive. We've all read the salacious magazine articles regarding the fluctuating weight of actresses and models and pop stars.
We hear of the "necessity" of airbrushing magazine covers and photoshoots - telling us subconsciously that these beauties are not attractive enough and could always look better. Which leads me neatly to the phenomenal rise in cosmetic surgery. It has become normalized, which I must be honest, horrifies me. Where does it end? Why must we change ourselves physically to such a dramatic extent? The women I listed earlier never had such dramatic surgeries. And we still regard them as beautiful regardless of this face.
Modern Beauty Conventions
One idle day, during a meeting of our Final Year English students, I was suddenly struck with the overwhelming majority of girls with long blonde hair (natural or otherwise - generally otherwise), that were all dressed in a similar vein (Jack Willis meets hobo, on whole) with glamorous make-up.
In the States, a tan is not hard to come by - which means starlets tend to have a healthy "glow" to their skin. Here in the UK, we're lucky to have sunlight long enough to buy t-shirt, nevermind get a tan. So girls apply a lot of fake tan to get that "healthy glow" (a move the goes tragically wrong a lot - but that is not for this hub!!) and it is seen as positively strange to not apply fake tan. It's become an expected beauty act to apply fake tan.
These are just a small portion of what appears to be expected of women today in order to be seen as attractive or beautiful.
It's Not All Bad Though!
Yes, not all women are being pressganged into these conventional ideas of beauty. There are some gorgeous female icons at the moment who are beautiful and curvyor beautiful and with dyed hair and tattoos or beautiful and slightly kooky/alternative.
Dita Von Teese is a gorgeous, curvy figure who screams back to old Hollywood glamour and the burlesque movement.
Christina Hendricks from AMC's "Mad Men" has a positively Monroe-esq figure and is being praised by a lot of magazines for not playing into the Hollywood diet fads.
Angelina Jolie is regularly on the "most gorgeous" women's lists but is covered in tattoos.
As long as we have these stunning women who return to the wide variety of silver-age beauty, I feel that society will be okay. Obviously a relaxing on the beauty standards by fashion publications would benefit the beauty ideals massively but I truly believe that society will eventually return to this recognition of beauty and the wide variety of examples that beauty comes in.
Something I've come to realise over my teenage years and into my 20s is that my personalideasof beauty have changed as I've progressed. Recently, as I was with my family at Christmas, my father pointed out an article in "The Sunday Times." The article wasn't earth-shaking but it did provoke thoughts within my mind. The article was about howsocietywas lacking because of our standardisation of societal ideas of beauty.
Who can disagree when such a thought unwinds in your mind? Think of the screen stars of the '30s, '40s and '50s. Consider all the icons of the silver screen. There was Bette Davis, Mae West, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo and Vivien Leigh. Think of Marilyn Monroe. Such variety in their looks! Dark haired beauties, red-heads, blonde haired ladies - tall and elegant or curvy and busty women.
How Have Things Changed?
Consider the list of images posted alongside this text.
These women today wouldn't fit with the "Hollywood" look that seems so popular. It's a strange mix because women today are so fixated with a particular Barbie-esq, synthetic image but whilst admiring the iconic looks of these old Hollywood starlets. There is a fixation with the red carpet glamour that hearkens back to the "image" of these actresses.
How many women still list Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe as style icons?
Yet the rules for what is "attractive" and "beautiful" have become much stricter over the years. If they were actresers in the Hollywood community today, it's not beyond speculation that Marilyn Monroe's luscious size 14 frame would be the subject of subtle passive-aggressive comments on Monroe's eating habits or her cellulite. The distintive heavy-set eyebrows of Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall and Elizabeth Taylor would not exist, instead being waxed to fine sculpted shapes. It's even conceivable that the heavy-eyed beauty of Marlene Dietrich's femme fatale look would be "unconventional" in modern day Hollywood.
"The quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit : loveliness" Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Whichever way you look at this phrase, it's very true. People tend to see beauty in something or someone that is pleasing to the eyes. The stereotype that Hollywood, or the organizers of the Miss Universe and Miss World, are setting, may not necessary be what other people considers as 'beautiful'. Think about it: that concept of judging, a handful of people setting the rules, and then claiming 'World's most beautiful Women', might just have a tad bit of falsity to it.
Regions around the world have different perceptions of what beauty is. What is beautiful to us in the US may not be accepted as beauty in Senegal. What is considered beauty in India, may not be considered to be beautiful by the people in Japan.
Japan: smooth skin, and straight black hair is very desirable.
The Padaung women of Southeast Asia puts metal rings around their necks from an early age to stretch their necks, this increases their desirability.
In India, on the other hand, sharp features, long nose, fair skin, long hair, and big eyes are perception of beauty. Out of all these characteristics, fair skin seem to have the highest preference.
In Iran they love small noses, and the plastic surgery that take place there just for nose jobs is phenomenal!
So, all these countries that send their women to the Miss World pageant, or Miss Universe contest, why are they all skinny, tan, long legged, tall girls like what America considers beautiful? Or should I say what Hollywood thinks beauty to be?
The answer is pretty simple, actually; these contests have set up certain criteria to enter, and they are based on..... You guessed it right, HOLLYWOOD, or the stereotypical American perception of beauty. Even Americans themselves all have different tastes, and find beauty in various features being prominent or refined. These general claims of "most beautiful" are just the collective, watered-down opinions that require the least thought to appreciate..
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! In China, the attractive woman is someone with a very slim figure (size 4, 5), flat chested, pale skin, and they like big eyes. They are apprehensive about getting a tan, they make sure they are covered when going out during the day, and an umbrella is used quite often. Pale skin is not only sought out by the women, but is also desired in men. It shows your status. Wealthy people are pale, working people are tan.
Interestingly enough, in old English culture, pale skin was also recognized as a feature of women of status. Whitened skin free of freckles or marks, eyes set far apart, plump with a big chest, narrow waist and big hips were regarded as feminine loveliness, along with the practice of plucking hair line to make the forehead wider. It was brunettes that caught the eyes of men.
Africa is a vast continent divided into north, south east, west, and central Africa. How one looks at beauty differs from region to region. Their definitions of beauty might be different but there are some common features that are preferred around Africa. .....
In many parts of Africa, big women with large breasts and big hips are desirable; a sign of beauty – it is associated with abundance and fertility.
Its hard to believe that once upon a time, women were actually celebrated for their natural god-given bodies. Thats right– thin hasnt always been in. In fact, the female standard of beauty has gone through many drastic changes over the last several hundred years. Weve compiled a timeline of all the major trends over the past 600 years, starting with the Renaissance up until the last decade. As we track everything frombody types tohair and makeup, you may be surprised to see how the definition of sexy has changed so drastically over the years.
Renaissance (above): From the 1400s to the early 16th century
Body Type: The ideal Renaissance woman was more voluptuous then any other time in history. Paintings from this era depict women who would be considered overweight by todays standards– but at that time, these full-figured ladies were the epitome of sexiness. For the first time in recorded history, women were prized for their natural bodies. Could you imagine someone telling you that eating more would make you sexier? Sounds great to us.
Beauty: The term blondes have more fun may have stemmed from the Renaissance, because they believed that the lighter the hair color, the better. As for makeup, pale ivory skin was considered sexy, and vermillion was used to tint the lips to a deep red color. Pale complexion and blood red lips– it seems like the Renaissance era may have originated the popular vampire-chic look.
Victorian Era: From 1837 to 1901 (named after Britains Queen Victoria) Body Type: Unlike Renaissance women, Victorian women were very body conscious. Sexy meant having the smallest waistline humanly possible– in order to achieve this look, women wore corsets. Some corsets were wound so tight that women could hardly breathe, to the point where sitting down was completely out of the question. Many women would even break ribs trying to get their waistlines down to an inconceivable 12 inches. Layered petticoats, hoops, and bustles became very popular, all of which magnified the largest parts of the body– can you say, Baby got back?
Beauty: Modesty was the operative word when it came to Victorian makeup. High-class women were expected to use makeup sparingly. Bold colors were considered trashy, and reserved for prostitutes. Some religions at the time even proclaimed beauty products to be the look of the devil.
The Roaring 20s: The era that brought us Coco Chanel, shorter hemlines, and flappers. Body Type: The 1920s was a decade when women didnt want to look like women at all. We can’t imagine that men today would find this sexy, but some women of the ’20s era would even bind their chests with strips of cloth to achieve a little boy look– quite contradictory to some of the measures that todays women take in order to amplify their chests. The loose silhouette of the flapper dress was in stark contrast to the corseted waist of the Victorian era. Elastic webbed girdles replaced corsets and gave off the look of a flat boyish abdomen.
Beauty: Going right along with the boyish look, the hair bob or finger wavewas a big trend.Bold makeup, which had once been considered trashy, was now considered sexy. Powder was applied to make the skin look as pale as possible and eyebrows were lifted and penciled in to appear thin and bold. Kohl was used to line the eye and achieve an overall dramatic look.
The 1930s to 1950s: Hollywoods Golden Age Body Type: As they became more body conscious, women started to pay attention to what they ate. Fashions accented the arms and legs, so women lifted light weights to build muscle tone. The new padded stretch cotton bra was introduced– something were sure all men and women are very thankful for. Designers like Chanel (credited as the originator of the “little black dress”), Dior, andElsa Schiaparellistarted designing glamorous attire that allowed women to show off their feminine curves.
Beauty: Hairstyles became more feminine than they had been in the 1920s. Hair color varieddepending on which movie star one was trying to emulate. Jean Harlow made platinum blond a trend, meanwhile, Rita Hayworth (above)made being a redhead popular. Last, but not least,Marlene Dietrich represented for all the brunettes out there.Makeup became a little less drag, and more girl-next-door than in the ’20s. The pasty white skin trend was finally pass, and women started opting for foundations closer to their natural complexions.
The 1950s: A Step Back to Conservative Body Type: The desired shape in the mid-century was the hourglass figure popularized by movie stars like Marilyn Monroe andGrace Kelly(above). Women were told that their primary goal was to catch a man and have a family– so they were taught to dress to allure. Rule number one of the 50s was that women were never supposed to leave the house looking sloppy– meaning that our convenience store runs in sweatpants and sneakers would have been deemed completely unacceptable.
Beauty: Hair was usually kept short at just below the shoulders, and was worn in soft, curly, or wavy styles. Straight styles were considered undesirable– so rollers became a girls best friend.Women began to focus more on having flawless skin than anything else. The goal was a peaches and cream complexion.
The 1960s: The era that brought us hippies, Twiggy, and bell-bottoms Body Type: Mimicking the popular skinny models of the day, like Twiggy (above), women became obsessed with being rail thin. In terms of fashion and beauty, two polar opposites emerged: the hippie flower child and the modern swinging 60s woman. The hippies put more of an emphasis on peace and love, than on style and beauty. On the other hand, the Twiggy-girl put some time into her appearance and body. Luck for all the guys out there, mini skirts became popular again.
Hair: Hippies went for low to no maintenance hairstyles. As far as they were concerned, the natural way was the best way. Needless to say, these flower children usually avoided makeup all together.More modern girls also went for low maintenance ‘dos, but they opted for short pixie cuts as opposed to long hair.The big emphasis was on the eyes — bigger and wider the eye appeared, the better. Fake eyelashes were a must-have, and mascara was applied to achieve the popular tarantula lashes.
The 1970s: Its all about the Farrah Fawcett hair Body Type: The 60s forever changed the way women viewed their bodies. By the 1970s, the thinking-thin phenomenon was in full force– we all know the tragic story of Karen Carpenter. It was official– being thin equaled being sexy. Clothing was loose and flowing, but the mini skirt of the 60s gave rise to the micro mini of the 70s.
Beauty: The late Farrah Fawcett (above) revolutionized the way women styled their hair. Her long, layered, feathery haircut became the look that every woman wanted to have.This decade also marked the beginning of the bronzed beach look and with it, the popular tanning booth trend. Women began relying on bronzers and self-tanners, things many women (and some men) still cant do without.
The 1980s: The decade of big hair and The Material Girl Body Type: The aerobics exercise craze of the 80s further emphasized fitness for women. Women were expected to maintain a certain weight, but still appear toned– all without being too muscular. With all these body stipulations, its no wonder that the prevalence of eating disorders skyrocketed in the 80s. This decade also epitomized over-the-top fashion. Bright neon, matching suits with football player-sized shoulder pads, and spandex were just a few of the quintessential trends of the decade.
Beauty: There are only two words to describe ’80s hair– big and hairspray. The mantra of the decade was the bigger the better– with all of those aerosol cans, were sure the ozone took a big hit right around this decade. We can’t imagine how men found this sexy, but over-the-topmakeup was the look of the day– just check out Madonna above. Women opted for brighter colors, like the infamous blue eye shadows and liners. Also, thanks to Brooke Shields, bushy eyebrows were considered very sexy.
The 1990s: The era that brought us Beverly Hills, 90210 and Saved by the Bell Body Type: Models likeKate Moss further perpetuated standards of extreme thinness. The heroin chic trend also came about in the 90s– a strung-out and emaciated appearance was the coveted look. Thanks to a few rebellious kids in Seattle, the 90s also gave rise to the popular grunge look– evidenced by flannel shirts and an overall unkempt look. On the other side of the spectrum, the spandex and fluorescent color trends of the 80s stuck around for a good part of the 90s. Lycra was introduced, becoming perhaps the biggest trend of the decade. Midriff-bearing tops also became fashionable– which coincided with the rise of pierced belly buttons.
Beauty: One of the most popular 90s hairstyles was the Rachel cut, named for Jennifer Anistons character on Friends. Other popular hair trends included the bob, bangs (a la Brenda Walsh), and bleach blond color (remember Donna Martin?).Kate Moss epitomized the androgynous ideal, which led many women to take a minimalist approach to makeup.
The New Millennium (2000 to present): An era of choice and expression Body Type: Although were currently in an age where women have more choice than ever before, women are still expected to live up to an impossibly thin body shape. The fact is that now, more then ever, the price of beauty is extremely high. This is evident in the huge surge in plastic surgeries that have taken place in the last decade– Heidi Montag anyone? Were seeing a re-emergence of almost every major fashion trend of decades past– from shoulder pads and menswear-inspired attire, to florals and wild prints. We aren’t all copy-cats though, the emergence of low-rise, super skinny jeans is unique to our generation.
Beauty: When considering hair and makeup, there is not one big trend. For possibly the first time, the definition of beauty doesnt seem to be so concrete. Hair extensions are a big trend today– allowing women the freedom to have virtually any hairstyle they desire.Makeup can range anywhere from the new coral makeup trend to subtler nudes. Many women opt for a more natural look or go for a bolder smoky eye– the choice is theirs.
Body Type: The 1920s was a decade when women didnt want to look like women at all. We can’t imagine that men today would find this sexy, but some women of the ’20s era would even bind their chests with strips of cloth to achieve a little boy look– quite contradictory to some of the measures that todays women take in order to amplify their chests. The loose silhouette of the flapper dress was in stark contrast to the corseted waist of the Victorian era. Elastic webbed girdles replaced corsets and gave off the look of a flat boyish abdomen.
Body Type: As they became more body conscious, women started to pay attention to what they ate. Fashions accented the arms and legs, so women lifted light weights to 
Body Type: Mimicking the popular skinny models of the day, like Twiggy (above), women became obsessed with being rail thin. In terms of fashion and beauty, two polar opposites emerged: 
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