Revealed: The ‘best looking’ breasts, according to science – and size isn’t everything!
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But experts now believe otherwise.
For a new study has claimed to have cracked the code on the ideal breast shape and size.
According to US scientists, who used AI to generate 150 images, those that were moderately sized and had more volume in the area above the nipples — called ‘upper pole fullness’ — were the most preferred.
Perkier breasts also appeared to score higher. But size and symmetry did not appear to be crucial.
Researchers also discovered there were ‘significant differences’ across each race.
Among white women, the ideal shape saw the nipple placed slightly lower on the chest and pointing upwards.
Yet, those rated highly among Black and Asian women were more likely to have ‘straight’ nipples.
Experts today said the results showed beauty ideals are not ‘one-size-fits-all’ and suggested they could be useful for plastic surgeons performing breast augmentations.
Dr Aaron Lee Wiegmann, chief plastic and reconstructive surgery resident physician at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said: ‘As an aesthetic surgeon, I am fascinated by what humans perceive as aesthetic ideals of the human form — be it face, breast, or body.
‘After all, this is what we attempt to achieve with surgery.
‘Much of the plastic surgery literature has been focused on what is aesthetically ideal in the Caucasian population, however, I believe that there are many racial nuances that may vary between different racial groups.
‘AI has immense potential to help patients determine what their goals are for breast enhancement surgery.’
However, he also warned patients to be aware of ‘nefarious surgeons’ who could use AI-generated photos to ‘show potentially unrealistic results leading to inflated patient expectations’.
In the study, the researchers used the prompt: ‘A topless Caucasian [white] woman with perfect aesthetically ideal breasts standing in three-quarter profile view’ to gather photos on the unnamed AI image-generator platform.
This was then modified to obtain images of Black and Asian women and using the prompts ‘African American’ and ‘Asian’. The search was repeated to obtain ‘frontal view’ photos.
They then selected 25 images from each of the three racial groups for both the three-quarter profile and frontal views, resulting in 150 images for analysis.
Using image editing software, the researchers then measured each image to assess breast shape.
Writing in Aesthetic Surgery Journal Open Forum, the scientists said white breasts most closely followed the 45/55 rule — often cited in studies as the formula for a perfectly proportioned breast.
It means that 55 per cent of the breast volume is in the lower pole, below the nipple line, and 45 per cent in the upper pole, above the nipple.
Caucasian breasts had a mean ratio of 45.8/54.2. The nipple also pointed slightly upwards at 21.5°.
In contrast, African American women had a mean ratio of 51.4/48.6 and nipple angle of 10.9°.
Asian women, meanwhile, recorded a mean ratio of 52.7/47.3 and nipple angle of 10.5°.
Black breasts also had larger nipple-areolar complexes (NAC) — the pigmented area of the breast that includes the nipple and areola — compared to white breasts.
The scientists added: ‘Largely, the females were found to have attractively thin and athletic builds, but occasionally had unrealistically muscular body tones.’
However, they acknowledged the study had ‘several limitations’ including not being able to control factors like lighting and exact pose in the AI-generated images.
It was also not known exactly how the AI models were trained, they added.
‘Therefore, we are not able to assess any biases present in their respective datasets.’
Roughly 10,000 women undergo cosmetic breast surgery every year in the UK according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, aiming to enhance their appearance.
In the US, the figure stands closer to 700,000 the study’s researchers said.
Ahead of this many go for aesthetic or reconstructive surgery consultations to help them talk over with an expert what changes they want to their breasts.
Breasts can naturally change shape during a woman’s monthly cycle due to fluctuations in hormones. They can swell slightly and have some texture changes.
Weight changes can also impact the size and shape of a woman’s breasts.
But if you notice a change in the look or feel of the breast or nipple, such as lumps or discharge it could be a sign of breast cancer and you should consult your GP.
