Can Cosmetics' Advertisements Be An Indicator of Different Perceptions of Beauty Amongst Countries?

Concepts of beauty are different amongst different cultures and civilizations. The objective of this study was to evaluate beauty perceptions through cosmetic advertisements in an effort to further appreciate beauty understanding amongst lay people in various parts of the world. To achieve these objectives, we reviewed cosmetics' advertisements to study whether the concept of beauty varies amongst different countries.

We used the keywords "cosmetics" and "advertisements" in YouTube search engine in all existing languages in Google translator and came up with advertisements from 18 countries. The faces of the models were compared against Marquardt^® beauty mask template in order to have a mean to objectively test symmetry with a mathematical computer model. The weak point of our study is that we can present no model photographs due to General Data Protection Regulation.

Advertisements retrieved in total were 257. Characteristics with no statistically significant difference (SSD) amongst models in different parts of the world were: symmetry (p = 0.187), high cheek bones (p = 0.325), small noses (p = 0.72), thin jaws (p = 0.98), lush hair (p = 0.54), clean and smooth skin (p = 0.367), and white toothed smile (p = 0.235). Characteristics with SSD were: in Latin America, USA, and Australia tanned models and fuller lips were preferred (p < 0.001), whilst in Asia milky white skin models and small mouth were preferred. Age ratio (p = 0.022) was lower amongst models in Southeast Asia compared to American, European, Indian, Australian, and Arab models. Arab and Southeast Asia women had intense eyebrows (p < 0.001) and used artificial eyelashes.

All the common characteristics noted by the two independent surgeons (GAS and LP) referred to symmetry, youthfulness, and health. Differences noticed reflected cultural influences in the perception of beauty.

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