Some say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but there are certain standards and commonalities which are eternal. For example theVenus of the florentine painter Botticelli is very sparkling even nowadays. Even though it represents a young girl of the 15th century her beauty is timeless and could easily be mistaken for one of nowadays's top models.
I beleive as the ancient Greeks did that symmetry and proportion are the basic elements of beauty .
Luckily nowadays thanks to the vast progress in plastic surgery there are many defects that can easily be corrected.
There is only one thing that we cannot change and that is the relentless passing of time. As we age we are not fresh,young and therefore sparkling anymore. This is sad because our society relies more on appearance rather than substance . I regret to say that nowadays beauty is very necessary because you are judged at first by your appearance then maybe if you effect have some substance you can let it out.
The ideal would be to be sparkling external and inside.
Unfortunately it is not always possible and as St Augustine said: "Beauty is indeed a grand gift of God and God dispenses it even to the wicked".
AS for me I must say that I have achieved with tough work and committment a decent appearance. This means diet some exercise and now since I am not a spring chicken anymore, I need a exiguous befriend . In other words I effect try to take care of myself and as I age it is becoming more and more difficult. In our society if you effect not effect this you become an outcast.
I admire women who effect not give up notwithstanding the inexorable passing of time, and I am probably one of those women.
Source: cnn.com