How the attractiveness test works
The attractiveness test looks at the geometry of your face, the same measures that artists, orthodontists and researchers use to describe proportions. It does this from one photo, and every step runs on your own device.
- Your photo stays on your device. It is read by your browser and never uploaded.
- Your face is mapped. A face model running in your browser places hundreds of points on your eyes, brows, nose, lips, jaw and outline. A second small model finds your hair, so the tool can see where your hairline is.
- Your head is straightened. The points come with depth, so the tool turns your face to look straight at the camera before it measures anything. It also checks the mirror image of your photo and averages the two, so the result does not lean to one side.
- Your face is measured. The tool compares the left and right halves of your face, splits it into thirds from top to bottom and fifths from side to side, and works out a set of classic ratios.
- You get your score. Five parts are combined into one number from 1 to 10, and every part is shown so you can see where it came from.
What goes into the score
The score is built from five parts, each worth a set share of the total.
- Symmetry, 40 percent. How closely the two halves of your face mirror each other, measured across hundreds of matching points. Research links symmetry with how attractive faces are rated, so it carries the most weight. See your mirrored halves with our face symmetry test.
- Typical proportions, 30 percent. How many of your measures sit in the range we see most often in real faces. Faces close to the average of many faces tend to be rated as attractive, one of the most repeated findings in face research.
- Facial fifths, 15 percent. How evenly your face divides across, from the side of your face to each eye and the gap between your eyes.
- Facial thirds, 10 percent. How your face divides from hairline to brows, brows to the base of your nose, and nose to chin, compared with the balance most real faces have.
- Golden ratios, 5 percent. Four proportions compared with the golden ratio of 1.618, such as face length to width and mouth width to nose width. Our golden ratio face test shows each one in detail.
The golden ratio gets a small share on purpose. Studies of real faces find little support for it, and we explain why below.
How to get the most accurate result
Pose and expression change face measurements more than anything else.
- Look straight into the camera. The tool asks for a new photo if your head is turned or tilted more than a little, because the two halves of your face would not be comparable.
- Hold the phone at eye level, about an arm length away. A camera held low stretches the chin, and a camera held close makes the nose look bigger.
- Keep a relaxed, closed mouth. A smile widens the mouth and lifts the cheeks, which changes several ratios.
- Pull your hair back from your forehead. The tool reads your hairline to measure the top of your face. A fringe hides it, so the tool has to estimate.
- Use soft, even light. Strong shadow on one side of the face can move the points the model places.
- Take off thick glasses if you can. Heavy frames can hide your eye corners.
Understanding your result
Your result shows a score out of 10, a short note about what it means, and a full breakdown.
- The score has one decimal. In our tests, 8 in 10 faces scored between 6.1 and 8.4, so differences of a few tenths are small.
- Your breakdown shows each of the five parts out of 100, with a line about what it measures.
- Your measurements lists each ratio and your eye tilt next to the typical range, so you can see which sit inside it and which sit just outside, which is common too.
- Show what was measured draws the points on your photo, so you can check the tool found your eye corners, nose, mouth, jaw and hairline.
- Tips appear when your mouth was open, you were smiling or your hairline was hidden, with what to change next time.
Every result carries the same reminder. The score measures the geometry of one photo. It says nothing about your worth, your charm or how people feel about you.
Accuracy, limits and the science
Attractiveness research has found a few patterns that hold up across many studies. Faces close to the average of many faces, and faces that are fairly symmetrical, tend to be rated as more attractive. Even so, these features explain only part of why people find a face appealing. Expression, skin, grooming, familiarity and personality matter a great deal, and people often disagree about the same face.
The golden ratio has much weaker support. When researchers measured real faces, people preferred proportions close to the average face rather than exact golden ratios. In our own tests, the average face length was about 1.35 times the width, nowhere near 1.618.
We tested the attractiveness test on 912 public portraits from two licensed sets, with people of many ages, backgrounds and both sexes. 201 were straight on enough to measure. Their scores had a median of 7.6, and 96 percent landed between 5.5 and 8.5. Women and men scored within 0.2 points of each other on average. A mirrored copy of a photo changed the score by about 0.1 on average, and a half size copy by less than that. Read the full results, including how each group of people scored, on our methodology page.
Some limits to keep in mind.
- One photo is one moment. Camera lens, distance and expression all move the points a little.
- The hairline is read from your hair. With a fringe, a hat or very short hair, the top of the face is estimated.
- The face model places points on the surface of the face. It cannot see bone, and it smooths small details.
- The score describes geometry only. It does not judge skin, age, beauty or anything about who you are.
Privacy
Your photo never leaves your device. It is read by your browser, measured there and forgotten when you close the page. We do not upload it, store it or see it, and the points found on your face are never sent anywhere. The share card is made on your device too, and your photo appears on it only if you tick the box.
Read our privacy policy for the full details, or learn more in our guides to symmetrical faces and facial thirds.