The attractiveness of your nose influences how people view your face. An attractive nose actually attracts less attention than an unattractive nose, reports one study. Plastic surgery®the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). This journal is featured in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
Using eye-tracking technology, we found that observers spent less time looking at the attractive nose and shifted their focus to other areas, particularly the eyes. This has a direct impact on plastic surgeons performing rhinoplasty and emphasizes the importance of a holistic assessment to enhance facial balance.
Robert D. Gagliano, MD, ASPS Member, Surgeon, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago
How does your nose affect how others see your face?
Rhinoplasty (rhinoplasty) is one of the most frequently performed cosmetic surgeries. To assess how the appearance of the nose relates to overall facial attractiveness, researchers obtained standardized facial photographs of 34 volunteer models representing a variety of racial/ethnic backgrounds.
Images were viewed by 31 volunteer observers. The researchers used eye-tracking technology to analyze which parts of the model’s face the raters looked at and how much time they spent looking at each part. Eye-tracking data were analyzed in comparison to ratings of nose and facial attractiveness.
Attractiveness ratings had a significant impact on eye-tracking patterns. For models whose noses were rated as unattractive, observers spent longer looking at the nose compared to models with attractive noses: 0.81 seconds vs. 0.72 seconds. Observers also shifted their gaze to the unattractive nose more frequently.
“An attractive nose blends into the face and enhances facial harmony.”
For models with unattractive noses, observers shifted their gaze to the mouth for a longer period of time: 0.65 seconds vs. 0.54 seconds. In contrast, for models with attractive noses, observers spent more time looking into the eyes: 1.92 seconds vs. 1.69 seconds.
In individual images, models with asymmetric noses were rated as having unattractive noses. However, in full-face images, asymmetry was no longer significantly related to nasal attractiveness. Ratings of nose attractiveness were also unrelated to the “neoclassical norms” of angles and proportions traditionally thought to be associated with facial beauty.
According to the authors, the study “highlights the role of nasal symmetry and proportionality in facial attractiveness.” “The most attractive noses attracted very little attention to themselves…while the least attractive noses attracted visual attention for longer periods of time.” This may seem counterintuitive, but it is consistent with previous before-and-after studies of rhinoplasty patients that emphasize “the importance of a comprehensive assessment of nasal aesthetics.”
“Simply put, an unattractive nose sticks out and draws attention away from other facial features, such as a person’s beautiful eyes and mouth,” Dr. Gagliano added. “Many of our rhinoplasty patients focus on specific things they don’t like about their nose, without considering how it affects their overall perception of the nose. By showing how an attractive nose enhances facial harmony by blending into the face, our research has practical implications for cosmetic surgery, especially in guiding patient expectations and surgical planning.”
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Reference magazines:
Melnick, Bradley A. others. (2026) Less is more: Eye tracking reveals how nose prominence influences facial attractiveness. Plastic and reconstructive surgery. DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000012531. https://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/fulltext/2026/05000/less_is_more__eye_tracking_reveals_how_nose.8.aspx
