The results vary dramatically from country to country and are a real eye-opener about what different cultures consider is beautiful. Check out the results...
ARGENTINA
For the project called “Perceptions of Perfection”, designers were invited to alter the image to fit the idea of beauty in their country. Some retouched images were only slightly changed, while others were hardly recogniseable as the same woman.
They amended the image from top to toe - from the colour of her hair to the shoes she wore, and from the colour of her nail varnish to the size of her waistline. The Argentinian designer kept the same underwear, the same pink wedges, hair and makeup, but gave the woman a more slender frame and a tighter tummy. CHINA
The Chinese designer altered their image dramatically from the original. They kept the same underwear and shoes, but darkened her hair, slimmed her down and gave her a v-shaped face. In fact, they made her so thin that she qualified as anorexic for her height under Britain’s National Heath Service (NHS) guidelines.
As part of the project, people were asked to guess the weight of each of the retouched models, then her Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated based on the weight data. China’s “ideal” woman weighted only 102 pounds and had a BMI of 17.0. The NHS considers adults with a BMI below 17.5 as being anorexic.COLOMBIA
The project was inspired by a 2014 experiment by journalist Esther Honig who posted an image of herself in her undies online and asked artists to digitally alter her face, hair, skin and makeup. While designers in this study in European and Asian countries made the “perfect” feminine body much thinner, designers in South and Central America created traditional seductive bodies with hourglass figures.
Colombia’s idea of beauty couldn’t be more different to China’s. The designer keeps the curves of the original image, but gave her longer, lighter and wavier hair.ITALY
What is considered beautiful can vary wildly around the globe. This was shown by the digital airbrushing by the Italian designer. Drastic changes were made to the original model’s physical attributes and her underwear. Next to China, Italy was the country that slimmed down their model the most.
She is given thin arms and legs, a new hairstyle, bright red, sexy underwear, different skin tone, long legs and different shoes – even a naval ring. And weighing 108 lbs with a BMI of 18.00, she is considered dangerously close to anorexia in real life. EGYPT
Digital whizz kids from five continents were involved in the airbrushing experiment. Their mission, if they chose to accept it, was to make the model more attractive, in their opinion, to people in their culture.
Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, which is illustrated by the Eqyptian designer, who changed their model’s hair colour and texture, also her makeup, made her curvier and bottom heavy with wide hips and a “booty”.MEXICO
A question explored in the study is what is an ideal body and the diverse results reveal that there is not one single ideal. What the perfect woman looks like depends on where you’re from. If you’re down Mexico way she’s volumptious and curvy.
Unlike China and Italy, her body-weight ratio is healthy, although she has a tiny waist, curvy hips and large breasts – a shape prized in her country. Her face was also slimmed and made more v-shaped and her hair and make-up altered.NETHERLANDS
What people find attractive in one country, doesn’t necessarily translate to another. Many of the designers from South American countries gave their models exaggerated hourglass figures, while the artists in Asian and European countries made theirs much thinner.
The Netherlands designer kept the original model’s curves, but made her much thinner with a wider thigh gap. They also made drastic changes to her hair and attire. She was given bight red hair, purple underwear and ankle boots. Her weight was estimated at 127 lbs giving her a BMI of 21.1. PERU
Women today are under a lot of pressure to look beautiful. From 0-sized models to super hot celebrities, they are bombarded from all directions with pictures of the ideal woman in magazines, on billboards, on TV and in the movies – even shop mannequins have perfect bodies.
Superdrug said an important part of their study was to find out how pressures vary from one country to another. The Peruvian designer kept the original model’s natural shape, the same hair colour and style and clothing. However, they made her thinner and more shapely with thinner arms and legs, smaller waist and curvy hips.PHILIPPINES
Superdrug originally wanted all female designers because they valued their input about pressures women in their country faced. They ended up with 14 women and four men because they had “issues” finding women artists in some countries because of the amount of skin exposed by the model.
The men were instructed to seek the views of women and use that information to make any alterations. The Philippines designer created a similar shaped woman to the original, but opted to make her slimmer. She has thinner arms and legs and a nipped waist. Her hairstyle is the same, but is darker and has the same underwear and shoes.ROMANIA
Superdrug’s goal was to gain a better understanding of what could be considered “unrealistic standards of beauty”. They say that beauty cannot be judged objectively because it is in the eye of the beholder. Attributes that one person finds attractive, may not be prized in other countries.
They state this is confirmed by the various changes made to the original photo. Some images are almost unrecogniseable from the original, others, like Romania, are largely similar. The Romania perfect body form is kept in the same underwear and shoes, but has better muscle tone and is slightly slimmer, weighing in at 146 lbs making her the third heaviest. SOUTH AFRICA
Not every country prizes the ultra thin look painted by the designers in China and Italy. At first glance, the photoshopped image created by the South African artist doesn’t seem to vary vastly from the original. Their ideal body type is wearing the same underwear and shoes and has identical hair.
She is slimmer and has a wider thigh gap, which is favoured by many of the designers. But take a closer look and you can see they have opted for a more boyish shape. The retouched model’s waist isn’t as nipped making her less curvy than the original. She weighs in at 131 lbs, with a healthy BMI ratio of 21.8.SPAIN
China and Spain and many miles apart and their images of what is the ideal woman couldn’t be much further apart. While China is the lightest entry, Spain is the heaviest of the bunch. The Spanish submission image is slightly slimmer than the original, but clearly shows that Spain appreciates curves and a full figure.
At 153 lbs and with a 25.5 BMI, she is classed as overweight in real life. This has to raise interesting questions, particularly in Europe, where dieting is big business and women pride themselves on keeping trim.SYRIA
Superdrug tried to choose as wide a spread of graphic artists as they could across the globe to shed as much light as the could on the subject of beauty. The artists were told they could alter clothing, hair, shape and form.
A handful chose to change the model’s clothing, but it was in the body shape that the changes were most noticeable, particularly in the waist-to-hip ratio. This was the case in Syria where the artist gives their ideal body form a very small waist compared to their hips. They have also thinned her face from the fuller face of the original model. A weight of 129 lbs and a a 21.5 BMI, puts Syria’s vision of perfection in the middle of the worldwide chart. UK
The UK designer chose to give their image a body overhaul. She keeps the same underwear, shoes and hair, but is slimmed down all over. They present their ideal woman with a slightly bigger bust and a wider thigh gap.
She weighs in at 126 lbs with a 21 BMI. making her fourth lightest on the Superdrug chart behind China, Italy and the Ukraine. Her body shape leans slightly towards a boyish frame compared to the volumptious silhouettes favoured by some of the South American designers.UKRAINE
Beauty comes in many different forms – and it seems that clothing plays an important part in what some people find attractive. While some graphic designers who took up the challenge used their digital skills to change their ideal woman’s shape, they kept her clothing the same.
However, the Ukraine was one of a few that drastically changed the model’s attire. Like Italy, they chose to put their “ideal” woman is sexy red underwear with matching red heels and gave her flowing red hair. The jazzed up underwear covers a much thinned down body to the original. She has a boyish rather than curvy shape and weighs 120 lbs with a 20.00 BMI.VENEZUELA
Cultures around the world are vastly different and so are people’s ideals of what makes a person attractive. If we didn’t know it before, the array of images confirms that beauty standards are very different the world over. What you will see in a magazine in Peru will vary drastically to one in China.
The talented designers had free range to come up with their country’s vision of the perfect woman. The Venezuelan artist is very different to China’s or Italy’s ultra thin models. She’s a woman with volumptious curves and such a well-toned body, it looks like she works out. She has a large bust and a wide thigh gap to die for. She is wearing slightly different underwear, light blue shoes and has a cascade of gorgeous dark locks. USA
Not surprising, the US designer opted for movie star/celebrity looks. Their model has a youngish face, well toned body and long luscious locks. The model isn’t super thin, but is much skinnier than the original. She has a very small waist compared to her hips and long, long legs.
Her thigh gap width is enormous. Well, I guess that’s so she looks stunning in her skinny jeans. She shares the spot on the height-weight ratio chart with the Philippines and Mexico with a weight of 128 lbs and a 21.3 BMI.
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