Today, I want to focus on specific features that people find attractive. Eventually, I want to conduct a survey among my peers in which I gently manipulate one feature of a person's photograph while keeping the other variables constant. For example, I will show, side-by-side, a picture of an unmanipulated person and a picture of that same person with perhaps larger eyes or higher cheekbones. I would ask each surveyed person which photo is more attractive and possibly draw a conclusion if the results are skewed one way or other.

I found this article, which discusses possible attractive features: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/attractive-facial-features.html

I will be starting my survey on eyes. This is interesting because of the new "circle lens" fad. Circle lenses are contact lenses that create the illusion of larger irises, as shown in the above picture.

I started surveying 14 girls and 14 guys on two trials. I asked each person to look at two pictures of eyes- one with a circle lens and one without, and tell me which was more attractive. The two "trials" refer to two sets with two eyes each.

Results:

Girls Trial One:

-6 girls think the circle lens is more attractive

-8 girls think the regular eye is more attractive

Girls Trial Two:

-7 girls think the circle lens is more attractive
-7 girls think the regular eye is more attractive

Boys Trial One:

-10 boys think the circle lens in more attractive

-4 boys think the regular eye is more attractive

Boys Trial Two:
-7 boys think the circle lens in more attractive
-7 boys think the regular eye is more attractive

Since the sample selection was only 14 people, this data is inconclusive. I will continue to collect data throughout the week to see if I can find a more definitive pattern.