Scientist reveal what type of lips are most attractive after conducting new study

A scientific study has revealed the type of lips that are considered the most attractive.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so the saying goes, though one new study has sought to challenge that theory by defining, in scientific terms, what makes for a perfect pout.

When we think of the the most luscious lips, we might instantly thing of celebs like Angelia Jolie, Scarlett Johansson or Megan Fox, and we're not wrong in thinking that.

Researchers from the American University of Beirut invited 200 people to rate their preferences from a series of images of women's lips which found a shocking consensus.

They used an AI-generated picture of the same (fake) woman whose lips had been altered in various ways to find their answers, which determined lip filler is surprisingly out.

Many consider the likes of Angelia Jolie to have perfect lips (Monica Schipper/Getty Images)

The analysis revealed people tend to prefer lips that have an upper-to-lower lip ratio of between 0.618:1 and 1:1, and apparently appear more natural looking.

The top rated lips had an upper lip height of 25 percent of hemi-lip width.

If you're just as confused as I am as to what this all means, the scientists bluntly said lips that are cosmetically plumped up are 'unaesthetic and unattractive'.

"Though social media have an influence on perception of beauty, data provided by the survey confirm that golden standards of aesthetics remain constant and that exaggerated requests of some patients may not be attributed solely to social media influence but probably to social media in combination with additional personal predisposing factors," the team said.

All 200 participants rated the lips on the AI face from the most to the least aesthetic and attractive.

Publishing their findings in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery-Global Open, the scientists noted how beauty standards, seemingly propelled by social media and the rise of influencers, has rocketed demand for surgeries like lip filler and botox.

They now hope their study will discourage women from considering such alterations for a more natural appearance.

The study hopes to deter people from lip filler (Getty Images)

"Many patients at present bring with them pictures of celebrities and demonstrate the interest of not only becoming beautiful but also looking similar to the 'Hollywood star' prototypes, expecting outcomes that are out of proportion with established standards of beauty," they said.

"Unfortunately, overtreated patients and overzealous practitioners are becoming very common.

"Because full lips have historically been a major component of overall attractiveness and a youthful appearance, lip augmentation with soft tissue fillers has become one of the most popular and commonly performed minimally invasive procedures.

"Despite variable lip shape preferences based on ethnicity, country of residence, and profession, and regardless of the influence of other facial features, an 'ideal lip' is characterized by lower and upper lip balance of subtle proportion bringing out the best frame for smile."

They conclude: "Ideally, the objective of lip augmentation is to create smooth lips with adequate volume and natural appearance and not to overaugment."