We all have one side of our face that we find more beautiful than the other. In German there is a special expression for it: Schokoladenseite, which means chocolate side. Is it a myth or is there more to it?
Story by Franziska Kircher
One half of the face is typically perceived as more beautiful. Dr. Joachim Graf von Finckenstein explains the background to this. He is a plastic and aesthetic surgeon and author of the book Why does beauty turn us on so much? In his book, he explores the phenomenon of why one half of the face appeals to us more than the other.
Most of the time the left part of our face appears more attractive. “That is because it shows emotions more strongly than the other side,” Graf von Finckenstein explains. The majority of people are right-handed and their dominant brain side is the right one. The right side of the brain is mainly responsible for emotions. However, they are expressed on the left side of the face, since the brain operates crosswise, the doctor explains. The idea is that these slightly stronger emotions on the left side of the face are more appealing to the viewer’s eye than those on the right side.
Symmetry is sexy
But not only emotions influence the beauty of a face. Much of it is about symmetries. These are what attract people. Depending, for instance, on
the parting of a person’s hair or whether one eye is slightly higher than the other. As soon as the proportions are balanced through a slight tilt of the face, it becomes more pleasing to look at.
Proportions please the eye
The face can be divided into different parts. Decisive for attractiveness are not necessarily the individual components, but rather their proportions. This theory of relations goes back to Leonardo DaVinci’s golden ratio. For testing your own facial proportions all you need is your hand.
1. Take your fingers and use them to measure the distance in length from your hairline to the middle of your eyebrows.
2. Then take this exact measurement and place it from the middle of the eyebrows to the tip of your nose.
3. Lastly, do the same from the tip of your nose to the end of your chin
If all three lots are equally sized, the face is considered to be perfectly proportioned. According to Graf von Finckenstein, no one is perfectly symmetrical. However, perfection is boring, he thinks. It is our anomalies that set us apart and make us interesting to look at.