South Korean plastic surgeon attempts to create world's most beautiful face

An attempt to create world's most beautiful face

A South Korean plastic surgeon has contributed to the endless squabbling over what constitutes a beautiful face.

Merging facial features from some of the world's biggest stars to form five ideal female faces, Dr. Rhee Seung-chul's submission to medical journal Aesthetic Plastic Surgery was meant to portray attractive females of different ethnicities.

But the results have received mixed reviews. To see his composite faces, click here and here.

In creating his hybrid beauties, Dr. Rhee played mix and match with the facial features of 20 Chinese, 16 Caucasians, 14 Japanese, 13 Africans and various models.

Those who had the honor of having their faces rearranged for the Caucasian ideal included Scarlet Johansson, Megan Fox, Jessica Alba and Angelina Jolie.

For the Chinese look, Rhee used features from the likes of Gong Li and Cecelia Cheung.

The Japanese ideal included Ryoko Hirosue and Erika Sawajiri.

Contenders for the African face included Rihanna and Zoe Saldana.

Tepid results

So how come such potentially massive beauty synergy didn't produce blockbuster results?

Perhaps the answer lies in Rhee's unswerving academic approach to his subject, which some might suggest betrays a certain lack of actual first-hand experience with lady hotness.

"The Caucasian attractive face has a somewhat masculine appearance," said a painfully dispassionate Rhee, citing an "angulated and square shaped mandible" and "protruding cheek."

The doctor's paper is titled "Attractive Composite Faces of Different Races."

The Japanese composite face is longish with slanted eyes and chubby cheeks, while the Chinese standard has a slim face and lantern jaw.

The African face has a more "narrow nose and smaller and more acute eyes" than the ordinary African face, Rhee added.

The Korean face was created in 2006 from the faces of 19 Korean entertainers and has an oval shape and somewhat wide nose.

"Although these composite faces are not the standard or most ideal attractive faces, and although many biases occurred during the process of photographic sampling, I regard these as good examples for understanding prior and current configurations, balance, harmony, or the secret of attractive faces of different races," wrote Rhee in his paper.

Netizens' reactions to the study are varied, with some ranking the beauties in their order of preference, and others slamming them as "boring-looking."