Preferences for the White Female Nasal Supratip Break

Abstract

The debate on how to create ideal facial proportions--once the remit of artists and sculptors--has been reignited during the past 5 decades, with the emergence of aesthetic facial surgery. Classic ideals exist, but few individuals actually satisfy these criteria. Aesthetic ideals are culturally and temporally variable. For centuries, the optimum nasal profile, particularly the supratip break (STB), has long been a matter for debate. Little is published on preferences for the STB. We therefore undertook a population study to determine the preferred angulation of the STB. Lateral profile photographs of 10 models were taken under standard conditions in forward gaze. The angulation of the STB was altered in one of the photographs of each model, so that one photograph had a subtle angulation of the STB and the other had a more marked angulation. Participants in the study were shown 2 photographs of each of the 10 models. One hundred male and female participants were recruited to the study and asked to indicate their preference for the nasal tip for each of the models. Statistical analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to determine significance. Both male and female participants in the study indicated an overall, and statistically significant, preference for lateral profile photographs showing a nasal tip with a very subtle angulation of the STB, compared with a larger angulation of the STB. This study provides strong evidence that a subtle STB in the white female subject is most favorable.