g must-read Why Kate Moss is 2mm short of perfection W ve It takes brains to work out if you ha n. perfect features, says Olivia Falco hat is it about Kate Moss that makes her so darn gorgeous? Is it her perfectly sculpted cheekbones, retroussé nose or almond-shaped eyes? According to plastic surgeon Dr Michel Pfulg, “Throughout history the most seductive women have had precisely proportioned face and body measurements. Kate Moss is nearly perfect, but her mouth is slightly too small. Ideally, it should be 2mm wider.” And Dr Pfulg certainly knows about beauty. His Swiss headquarters, LaClinic, is one of Europe’s most exclusive antiageing clinics and his special interest is the face, which he measures according to mathematical calculations he calls, the “golden grid’ of beauty. “To find the perfect face we must use the Da Vinci code,” he explains. Forget Dan Brown’s novel – this is the real Da Vinci code, which measures beauty by calculating perfect proportions. “Leonardo unlocked the secret of divine beauty when he illustrated a book on proportions in nature,” says Dr Pfulg, “He divided the face into three equal parts: the first goes from the top of the forehead to the eyebrows, the second from the eyebrows to the base of the nose and the third from the base of the nose to the top of the chin.What Da Vinci discovered was that ideally each of these parts should be of equal length. Also, for perfect balance, the distance from the base of the nose to the middle of the lips must be exactly one third of the distance from the middle of the lips to the base of the chin. Symmetry is the key to beauty.” Dr Pfulg uses the golden ration 0.618 – a proportion found in great works of art, from the Pyramids to the Mona Lisa – which supposedly signifies physical harmony. In the human body, for example, divide the distance from the head to the navel by the distance from the navel to the base of the feet – the closer you are to 0.618, the hotter you are. Our eyes are particularly seduced by proportions that respect this magical number; according to tests, babies appear to prefer features judged handsome by adults. Forget about pining for a perfect size 10 or scary size zero; 0.618 is the number we should be aiming for. To find out if you have the perfect features, divide your face into three segments: from top of forehead to the eyebrows, from the eyebrows to the base of the nose and from there to the top of the chin. In a perfect face all segments are of equal length. For the perfect nose, the width at nostril height must be equal to the distance separating one eye from the other. If your eyes are ideally positioned the distance between them should be equal to the width of one eye. The equation a/b=b/a+b should give you the golden number of 0.6198.This is a 15th-century formula that we’ve simplified to marks out of 10 – and if you’re not cross-eyed by the end of that, consider yourself a genius. The most seductive ❝ women have precisely proportioned measure. Kate’s mouth should be millimetres wider. 126 GLAMOUR OCTOBER 2007 ❞ g must-read 910 Kate Moss We’ve done the maths and Kate is a nearly perfect nine out of 10. It’s her mouth that lets her down, as it’s a tiny bit too small in proportion to the rest of her features. But ironically, says Dr Pfulg, this is the secret of her success, as it makes her a human rather than a cold beauty. Kate also has what Dr Pfulg calls the “star’s eye”, super-seductive feline upward-tilted eyes. Kate also has the perfect waist/hip ratio. When a woman’s waist is one-third less than her hips it drives men mad with desire and sex symbols from Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford to Rubens’ voluptuous women have this proportion (in men, the ideal is a waist 10% slimmer than the hips). “The good news,” says Dr Pfulg, “is that weight is not really important. If you have these proportions, you’re off to a good start.” 6 10 Victoria Beckham Try as she might to emulate royalty, Posh has less than regal features. Her broad mid-face is disproportionate to the rest of her features. “This is difficult to correct,” says Dr Pfulg, “but having her nose slimmed might help.” Other areas need to be fattened up. “Dieting is taking its toll – her lower face looks drawn and thin.” On the upside, Posh gets good marks for her profile, which Dr Pfulg finds particularly attractive because her upper lip protrudes slightly over the lower, creating an attractive angle. All the better for air-kissing, daahling. OCTOBER 2007 GLAMOUR 127 g must-read 8 10 Elizabeth Hurley Two weddings, Estée Lauder campaigns and that dress… you have to hand it to Elizabeth. But Dr Pfulg says she’s blessed with pretty ideal proportions anyway. “Of all the women I’ve evaluated, Elizabeth and Kate Moss both measure closest to the golden number with an impressive 0.617. Elizabeth’s face is perfectly in proportion.” 9 10 9 10 Sienna Miller Sonia Mbele With her youthful skin and regular features, Dr Pfulg declares Sienna a great beauty. However, his sharp eye detects that her mouth looks unnaturally swollen; maybe she’s had filler injections in her lips. “If you relax your mouth, you should naturally be able to see the tips of your upper incisors. I would recommend Sienna leaves her lips alone.” You can’t deny Sonia’s stunning features. Her silky skin and wide-set eyes, combined with acting talent and charisma, have made her a popular Generations star and won her roles in the films Mr. Bones and God is African. Dr Pfulg is smitten. “Her proportions average on 0.618 – the golden number!” Her fans would agree! G 128 GLAMOUR OCTOBER 2007 Photography: Gallo Images/Getty Images.com, INPRA Minki van der westhuizen As one of SA’s leading models, it’s no surprise that Minki has won many a heart with her blonde locks, full lips, and green eyes. And she astounded even Dr Pfulg. “She has very good vertical proportions of the face, along with wonderful tilted eyes,” he notes. “The distance between her eyes is also excellent.” 9 10