Lighter- skin was perceived as being more attractive, and associated with four themes about dating: (a) positive personality traits, (b) increased value in dating contexts, and (c) sexual appeal to men.
Attractiveness is highly subjective and influenced by cultural, personal, and societal factors. While some may prefer lighter skin due to beauty standards perpetuated by media and culture, others may find darker skin equally or more attractive.
Average skin colors are seen as most attractive. Typically, tan is the average skin color, making it very attractive to most people. However, the most attractive skin color varies on preference, culture, and sex. A healthy skin complexion and rosy “glow” is always considered attractive.
Gentlemen do not just prefer blondes, but lighter-skinned women in general, a study has suggested. Scientists looking into attractiveness in men and woman suggest that men from all races find fairer-skinned woman most alluring, while women are the polar opposite and favour men with black hair and tanned skin.
Fair skin is thought to be equivalent to beauty. Fairness of skin is related to prestige and attractiveness to both genders, and for women, increased matrimonial prospects. Desire for fairness leads to all kinds of treatments to achieve a desirable skin color.
Some research suggested that among African American males, dark-skinned men may be idealized as “alpha” males, possessing heightened masculine characteristics, such as dominance (Hall, 1995), strength, virility and confidence in their physical attractiveness (Wade, 1996).
As traits associated with darker-skinned women are deemed as less desirable than those associated with Black women, researchers assert that men are less willing to view darker-skinned women as potential partners (Niemann et al., 1994; Rose & Frieze, 1993; Wade & Bielit, 2005).
Natives of Buka and Bougainville at the northern Solomon Islands in Melanesia and the Chopi people of Mozambique in the southeast coast of Africa have darker skin than other surrounding populations. The native people of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, have some of the darkest skin pigmentation in the world.
“Work in our lab has shown that darkly pigmented skin has far better function, including a better barrier to water loss, stronger cohesion, and better antimicrobial defense, and we began to ponder the possible evolutionary significance of that,” said Peter Elias, MD, professor of dermatology.
From previous research, it has confirmed that people are more interested in brighter irises than darker ones, and it seems that the stereotype of blue and green eyes being the most amazing does exist, as the recent research shows that the most scientifically attractive eye color is either blue and green.
1. South Sudan. Topping the list is South Sudan, where some of the world's darkest skin tones can be found. The South Sudanese, particularly the Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups, are known for their exceptionally deep, dark complexions.
An oval face is considered one of the best attractive face shapes for women, but unfortunately not for men. Though, for hair cuts it is a good face shape to have, because many look will look good on you. Men with an oval face can pull off different shapes and lengths because the face is well balanced.
Our average faces of “beautiful” women in each country present interesting contrasts and some telling consistencies. Notably, lighter skin tones seemed to dominate – even in countries where people of color represent the majority of the population.
Researchers have found that men are subconsciously attracted to fairer skin due to its association with purity, innocence, modesty and goodness, while women feel that darker complexions are associated with sex, virility and danger.
While dark skin is better protected from ultraviolet radiation, it does absorb more of the energy in visible light than light skin. But most of the sun's heat comes in invisible infrared radiation. Dark and light skin are the same color in that range. Dark skin absorbs no more heat than light skin does.
Golden skin tones are medium skin tones. This skin tone is usually seen in people of Asian and Southern European ethnic descent. It can also be referred to as olive skin. This skin tone has a balanced neutral beige hue.
Although the high degree of melanin in dark skin can reduce the risk of skin damage from UV radiation such as skin cancer, melanoma, etc., it also greatly increases the risk of developing skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, chronic dermatitis, and keloids.
In some cultures, lighter skin has been associated with privilege, power, and social status, creating a bias towards individuals with paler complexions. This bias is deeply rooted in historical constructs of colonialism, where lighter-skinned individuals were often viewed as superior or more desirable.
Another experiment featured a man in a color photo, dressed in either a red or a green shirt. A pool of 55 women rated the man in red as significantly more attractive -- on average, nearly one point higher on the same nine-point scale.
Most Attractive Hair Colour According to Men
According to the survey, the majority of men (42%) found blonde hair to be the most attractive. This was followed by brunette (36%), red (16%), black (5%), and gray (1%).
Questionnaires were also administered to assess participants, levels of self-esteem and levels of ethnic identity attitude. Furthermore, participants were instructed to indicate the shade of their own skin tone. Results indicated that preference for light skin tones were associated with increased levels of self-esteem.
The sexual dimorphism hypothesis suggests that women with light skin tone are perceived as more attractive than women with dark skin tone, whereas the opposite is true for men (Lewis, 2011). Because Black men, on average, have a darker skin tone than White men do, they are perceived as more attractive.
Further studies have indicated that yellower and redder skin is also more attractive in male faces [37,38]. Skin yellowness and redness are probably linked to health and attractiveness because these colour properties vary with current health [39].