This study tested elements of the Circles of Prominence theory on facial beauty through surveys on manipulated images. It found that: the top of the ear is ideally aligned with the second oblique line from the iris to lower lip; lip length is ideally the distance from iris to iris rather than a multiple of iris width; and the nose ideally starts at the horizontal level of the irises rather than above or below. The results support organizing the face along oblique lines from the iris and nasal tip and that simplicity and key features like the eyes guide perceptions of beauty over precise mathematical relationships.

1. Circles of Prominence
New Theory on Facial Beauty:
Ideal Dimensions of the
Ears | Nose | Lips
By
Dr. Philip Young
Aesthetic Facial Body Plastic Surgery 2015
Bellevue, Washington
AAFPRS Dallas Fall Meeting

2. • Hello my presentation is on studying some further elements of
a new theory on facial beauty called the Circles of Prominence
• Specifically we are going to be studying some key dimensions
in the Ears, Nose and Lips
• I’m from Bellevue Washington Home of Bill Gates, Microsoft
and Starbucks

4. • The Circles of Prominence is a theory that was published in
the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery in 2006 and Received the
Sir Harold Delf Gillies Award from the American Academy of
Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

6. • When you ask a group of people if they were to put a circle
within the box in the most pleasing way, most will choose that
circle to be in the center of the box. This subconsciously
satisfies our desire for things to be in order.

7. Eyes?
Nose?
Mouth?

8. • In the same thought as that circle within the box, within the
oval of the face there are objects that must be symmetrically
related to satisfy this same desire of human being’s
preference for order. The iris, nasal tip and lower lip will be
centered much like that circle within the box. When this is
achieved, a basic element of beauty is satisfied which
ultimately promotes the appreciation of beauty within the face.

10. • A Follow up paper supporting this idea was published in the
American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery in March of 2015

12. • The Circles of Prominence hypothesizes that the location of
the iris, nasal tip and center of the lower lip related to this
basic order we just discussed further arranges the face into 3
obliques
• The association of the nasal tip with the iris creates the first
oblique
• The second oblique starts from the center of the lower lip and
is delineated by the upper cheek shadowing and the top of
the ear
• The third oblique starts at the mentum and ends at the
bottom of the ear.
• A part of this study tests the validity of these obliques and
specifically the 2nd oblique

13. 8 Sections studying different examine 4 things
The vertical positioning of the ears
The total width of the lips (comm-comm)
The total width of the puckering of the lips (highlight)
The height and positioning of the nose
1.25 3.57 2.65 2.53
Data Based on 176 Surveys
0 IW 1 IW Sup2 IW Sup 1 IW Inf
Question 1: Ear Vertical Positioning

14. • We created 8 questions 4 made with line drawings and 4
made with morphed pictures
• The first 2 of these questions studied this concept that the
first oblique and in turn the second oblique will dictate where
the ear is positioned in the most ideal manner
• To our knowledge the ideal location of the ear has not been
accurately determined
• We asked 176 participants to judge each picture and assign
a 1 to the most aesthetically pleasing picture and a 4 for the
least aesthetically pleasing picture
• Each picture was thus given a 1 through 4, the lower number
averaged among the 176 surveys would be the most pleasing
picture

15. • In this first question we morphed an actual patient and placed
the top of the ear aligned with the second oblique and the
other pictures were either 1 and 2 IW superior to this point,
and 1 IW inferior to this point
• We varied the pictures by 1 IW to follow our original
hypothesis that beauty is based on multiples of the Iris Width
• Of the 176 participants, the ear aligned with the second
oblique was found to be the most pleasing at 1.25, supporting
this idea that the first and in turn the second oblique dictates
the ideal location of the ear. This also supports the idea that
the face is arranged in oblique relationships in an ideal face

16. P-Value P-Value
Best
Picture(s)
H0 : All Equal H0 : Top 2 Equal
<0 .001 <0.001 1
Question 1:

17. • The Data seemed clearly significant from a statistical
standpoint as the null hypothesis that they were all equal
preferences was rejected at a significant level of less than
0.05 p value
• This was also true when the top 2 pictures were compared.

18. 2.77 3.49 2.19 1.62
Distance from 1st Oblique in Distances of Iris
Widths
Question 2: Ear Vertical Positioning
Line Drawings
0 IW1 IW Sup2 IW Sup1 IW Inf

19. • Using line drawings the 0IW was again found to be the most
pleasing at 1.62 further supporting the idea that the location
of the top of the ear and ear in general is influenced by the
first and ultimately the second oblique
• .

20. P-Value P-Value
Best
Picture(s)
H0 : All Equal H0 : Top 2 Equal
< 0.001 < 0.001 4
Question 2:

21. • Again this reached statistical significance

22. Lip Study Morphed Pictures:
The Length of the Lips were varied between 6, 5, 4, 3 IW
3.76 1.91 1.62 2.8
6 IW 4 IW5 IW 3 IW
Question 3:

23. • Next we studied the total length of the lips and varied the
distances from 3,4,5 and 6 iris widths
• Based on the 176 participants, the 4 IW lip length was found
to be the most pleasing at 1.62
• We had predicted in the original study that 5IW would be the
most ideal so this was surprising but this would be more clear
to me as we looked at the data

24. P-Value P-Value
Best
Picture(s)
H0 : All Equal H0 : Top 2 Equal
<0.001 <0.001 3
Question 3:

25. • Again this reached statistical significance

26. Lip Study Line Drawings:
3.48 1.58 3.13 1.85
The Length of the Lips were varied between 6, 5, 4, 3 IW
3 IW5IW6 IW 4 IW
Question 4:

27. • The line drawing showed something interesting in that the 5IW picture
was found to be the most ideal at 1.58 instead of the 4IW line drawing
which was next most pleasing at 1.85
• This was what we had predicted in our original study
• This result was different from the morphed pictures however
• What this suggested to us for the first time was that the Iris width and
multiples of the iris width may not be what people look at simply because
its too complex to add up visually. But what people really look at is the
complete distance from iris to iris. The lip is likely most ideal when the lip
length is within the iris to iris width and likely the distance from medial
limbus to medial limbus as is seen in both the line and morphed pictures.
• The reason 4 IW was found to be ideal in the morphed pictures is
because the eyes are closer set in the morphed model. But in both
pictures that were found to be most pleasing by our 176 participants the
lip length was around the distance of medial limbus to medial limbus.

28. Area P-Value P-Value
Best
Picture(s)
H0 : All Equal H0 : Top 2 Equal
4 < 0.001 0.048 2
Question 4:

29. • This was also statistically significant

30. The Lip Pucker was then varied from 2IW, 3IW, 4IW, and 5IW
3.79 1.56 1.98 2.71
5 IW 2 IW3 IW 4 IW
Question 5:

31. • Next we studied the length of the pucker in the lips
• Because the pucker is always smaller than the total lip length
we studied 2,3,4, and 5 IW lengths for the pucker instead of
3,4,5, and 6 IW for total lip length
• What we found from 176 participants is that the 3 IW was
most preferred which we predicted in our original study
• Although we predicted the correct answer it is possible that
what people are really visually connecting with is the length
of the horizontal eye aperture and not by multiples of the Iris
Width, much like what we had discussed with the distance
from iris to iris in the previous questions
• In the same vein, the lip pucker may be more related ideally
to the horizontal eye aperture and not multiples of the iris
width as the data analysis would show us

32. Area P-Value P-Value
Best
Picture(s)
H0 : All Equal H0 : Top 2 Equal
5 < 0.001 0.09 2 & 3
Question 5:

33. • The data being equivocal seemed to support this new insight
even though 3 IW seemed to dominate in the all equal null
hypothesis, It was not significant with the top 2 equal
hypothesis
• The top 2 data null hypothesis was not rejected and seemed
to suggest that 2IW and 3IW for lip pucker were both
preferred

34. Lip Pucker Line Drawings: 2,3,4, and 5 Iris Widths
1.51 1.60 2.99 3.90
3 IW 2 IW 5 IW4 IW
Question 6:

35. • In the Line Drawings we found again that the 3 IW Lip pucker
was found to be the most ideal - which we had again
predicted in the original study
• Again instead of multiples of the iris width it could simply be
that the ideal pucker is equal to the horizontal eye aperture

36. P-Value P-Value
Best
Picture(s)
H0 : All Equal H0 : Top 2 Equal
< 0.001 0.7 1 & 2
Question 6:

37. • Again 3 IW and 2 IW seemed to be most preferred and the
data couldn’t differentiate between the top 2 but it was
statistically significant when they were all considered together
• This was the same as the result found in the morphed picture
question
• Hence a further study posing the horizontal eye aperture
length for the pucker against different lengths would clarify
this discrepancy

38. 3.50 2.89 1.91 1.75
Nose Length varied from 0 IW, 1 IW superior, 1IW inferior, 2IW
inferior
0 IW1 IW inf 1 IW sup2 IW inf
Question 7:

39. • Next we wanted to study the length of the nose
• It was the Circles of Prominence hypothesis that the nose
length started at the top of the irises
• Visually people see the iris the most, I hypothesized that the
viewer would then follow the irises over to the central part of
the face and it would be most logical to have the nose start at
that level and proceed downward toward the tip
• We set the length of the nose to start at the top of the irises
labeled 0 IW, and we morphed the picture to have the nose
start 1 IW superior, and 1 to 2 IW inferior to the top of the
horizontal level of the iris
• In this morphed study the 0IW was found to be most ideal at
1.75 as we had predicted

40. P-Value P-Value
Best
Picture(s)
H0 : All Equal H0 : Top 2 Equal
< 0.001 0.1 3 & 4
Question 7:

41. • The data was significant when all the pictures were
compared but lost its signficance when the top 2 were
compared
• What you can conclude is that people may prefer the nose to
start at the horizontal level of the iris but if they were to
consider the next most pleasing it could be a longer versus a
shorter nose

42. Line Drawings Nose Length: 0 IW, 1 IW superior,
1 IW inferior, 2 IW inferior
2.12 2.63 2.45 2.80
0 IW 2 IW inf1 IW inf1 IW sup
Question 8:

43. • The morphed picture results are supported here with the line
drawings as well where the nose starting at the top of the
irises noted to be at 0 Iris widths is the most preferred at 2.12

44. P-Value P-Value
Best
Picture(s)
H0 : All Equal H0 : Top 2 Equal
0.008 0.003 1
Question 8:

45. • The data here seemed stronger in supporting that the nose is
most ideal starting at the horizontal level of the iris as both All
Equal and Top 2 Equal null hypotheses were rejected
• It may have been that the line drawings more clearly showed
the location of the start of each nose compared to the
morphed picture

46. Conclusion:
• The Circles of Prominence states that everything in the face has an
ideal between zero and infinity
• Because humans spend so much time looking at the iris, the size and
shape of the iris dictates this ideal for many objects
• This study looks specifically at the position of the ears, length of the
lip pucker, total lip length, the start of the nose and ultimately nose
length
• What we are seeing is that the iris can dictate shapes that are closer
to its size. But when other distances significantly exceed one iris
width the viewer begins to use:
• 1. the horizontal eye aperture
• 2. the total distance between the irises
• This is based on simplicity. What is the simplest way to make the
face fit all together without being too complex in the mind
• This study further supports the idea that the face is organized into
obliques dictated by the relationship of the iris with the nasal tip.

47. • In Conclusion:
• The Circles of Prominence states that everything in the face
has an ideal between zero and infinity
• Because humans spend so much time looking at the iris, the
size and shape of the iris dictates this ideal for many objects
• What we are seeing is that the iris can dictate shapes that
are closer to its size, such as the width of the nasal bridge,
width of the tip, height of the lower lip, and distance from
bottom of eyebrow to eyelid margin. But when other
distances significantly exceed one iris width it gets too
complex visually to add up, so the viewer begins to use:
• 1. the horizontal eye aperture
• 2. the total distance between the irises

48. • This is based on simplicity. What is the simplest way to make
the face fit all together without being too complex in the mind
• Most Importantly everything is related to the eyes in some
way
• And beauty is based on what we spend the most time looking
at when we see and interact with other faces which are the
iris, total horizontal length of the eye, and iris to iris distance
• This study further supports the idea that the face is organized
into obliques dictated by the relationship of the iris with the
nasal tip and a scientific explanation for the ideal location of
the ear
• The data also has found support for the ideal location for the
start of the nose and ultimately total nose length, the ideal
length and shape of the lip pucker and ideal lip length
• Thank You