When you purchase through inter-group communication on our site , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .

As the saying goes , stunner is in the eye of the beholder — but multitude powder magazine may play a prominent part , too : The magazine has arguably helped to shape New standard of smasher since launch its annual " World ’s Most Beautiful " inclination in 1990 .

This year , actress Julia Roberts claimed the title for People ’s " World ’s Most Beautiful char " of 2017 for a record - break 5th time . And now , a fresh sketch sheds visible light on howbeauty standards have evolvedfrom 1990 — when Michelle Pfeiffer was named the first " Most Beautiful Person " by masses — to the present Clarence Day .

julia roberts

Julia Roberts was named People magazine’s “Most Beautiful Woman” in 2017.

mind about beauty can vary greatly base onpersonal preferenceand across different cultures . In the subject area , the researchers examined changing standards of beauty agree to People magazine publisher , which has the great interview of any U.S. magazine , with a readership of 43.6 million adults , according to the discipline , bring out today ( Oct. 11 ) in the journalJAMA Dermatology .

The researchers compare the 50 celebrity from the 1990 list with the 135 celebrities from the 2017 list . Specifically , they face at how demographic such as historic period , sex , race , hide eccentric , hair or eye color and any visible dermatologic conditions have changed over the last 27 years . [ 7 Beauty Trends that Are forged for Your wellness ]

To class different peel character , dermatologist apply something called the Fitzpatrick Scale , which look at a individual ’s pelt smell andrisk of sunburn(lower numbers on the musical scale are more likely to sunburn ) . In the study , the researcher found that 88 percent of the celebrities from the 1990 " Most Beautiful Women " list had lighter cutis tones ( Fitzpatrick Skin Types 1 to 3 ) , and only 12 percent had benighted skin tincture ( Fitzpatrick Skin Types 4 to 6 ) . In 2017 , however , 70.4 percent of the candidates had lighter pelt type and 29.6 per centum had darker skin eccentric , according to the study .

An abstract image of colorful ripples

In improver , the research worker found that the average age of celebrities on the list has increased from 33.2 in 1990 to 38.9 in 2017 .

" As manifest by our data and contrary to our speculation , at present , a wider variety of skin color and inclusion of older age grouping are represented among those take for to bethe most beautiful , " the researchers , led by Dr. Mayra Maymone , a dermatology inquiry assistant at Boston University School of Medicine , write in the report .

The study also revealed that the balance of female has increased from 52 percentage in 1990 to 88.1 percent in 2017 . The only men that have earned the title of " World ’s Most Beautiful " include Mel Gibson ( 1996 ) , Tom Cruise ( 1997 ) and Leonardo DiCaprio ( 1998 ) .

An elderly woman blows out candles shaped like the number 117 on her birthday cake

Regarding race , the proportion of nonwhite celebrities also increase from 24 percent in 1990 to 40 pct in 2017 . Furthermore , mixed - race celebrity were represented by only one soul ( 2 percent ) in 1990 , and 14 people ( 10.4 percentage ) in 2017 . However , only four women of people of color — Halle Berry , Jennifer Lopez , Beyoncé and Lupita Nyong’o — have received the form of address of " World ’s Most Beautiful " since 1990 .

" The aggregated spiritualist political platform has for year introducedcertain criteria for what constitutes beauty , " the research worker say . “ Through an testing of the [ World ’s Most Beautiful ] way out of People , we found that these looker criterion are evolving as people take how to incorporate the effects of media with photograph to new cultures and dissimilar norms . "

Originally published onLive scientific discipline .

a reconstruction of a man with dark skin and hair

an older woman taking a selfie

an illustration of a man shaping a bonsai tree

a sculpture of a Tecumseh leader dying

a photo of an eye looking through a keyhole

A collage-style illustration showing many different eyes against a striped background

a woman yawns at her desk

A large group of people marches at the Stand Up For Science rally

An image comparing the relative sizes of our solar system�s known dwarf planets, including the newly discovered 2017 OF201

an illustration showing a large disk of material around a star

a person holds a GLP-1 injector

A man with light skin and dark hair and beard leans back in a wooden boat, rowing with oars into the sea

an MRI scan of a brain

A photograph of two of Colossal�s genetically engineered wolves as pups.

Radiation Detection Manager Jeff Carey, with Southern California Edison, takes a radiation reading at the dry storage area during a tour of the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station south of San Clemente, CA