A sun-kissed glow lends the facial complexion an attractive hue - it makes us look relaxed and healthy for a start. But another route to that pleasant appearance could be right under your nose in the kitchen.
Researchers in Britain have found that coloration of Caucasian skin by carotenoids, which are pigments found in fruit and vegetables, is deemed more attractive than the skin coloration due to melanin, the pigment that gets produced in response to sun exposure.
In a paper called 'Fruit over sunbed: Carotenoid skin coloration is found more attractive than melanin coloration', they note that increased coloration due to both melanin and carotenoids cause a yellowing of the skin. But in their tests, which used digital images of faces with varying coloration, the coloration due to carotenoids was deemed more attractive than coloration due to melanin, particularly in females.
Perhaps that is another incentive to eat more carrots, oranges, spinach and other foods high in carotenoids?