This is what the ‘most attractive woman alive’ looks like, according to science |
For years, magazine lists have tried to answer the same question in slightly different ways: who, right now, is considered the most attractive woman alive? The names change, the photos change, and the arguments restart every year. This time, instead of picking a winner, a data team went the other way, looking across past lists to see what traits kept turning up, again and again.By combing through nearly a decade of Maxim’s Hot 100 lists, researchers at PlayersTime attempted to map what modern “sex appeal” looks like when stripped of names and reduced to traits. The result is not a single woman, but a statistical composite, familiar, specific, and still incomplete.
The traits that keep recurring
PlayersTime analysed Maxim’s annual lists from 2016 to 2025, categorising attributes including age, height, hair colour, eye colour, face shape, body type, relationship status, tattoos, and cosmetic surgery.Across those lists, certain patterns appeared repeatedly. According to the findings, the statistically “sexiest” woman today is most likely to have brown eyes, long brown hair, and a heart-shaped face. She is described as dark-featured, around 172cm tall (5ft 6in), slim rather than athletic, and more likely than not to have at least one tattoo.
Data gathered from Maxim’s Sexiest Women lists between 2016 and 2025 (no list in 2020).Marital status, age, and physical appearance of the women analysed is accurate as of the year they appeared on the list.
Contrary to expectation, the data suggested she has probably not undergone cosmetic surgery. Of the women studied, 44 per cent had body or facial procedures, but the majority had not.Relationship status also emerged as a notable factor. Around 90 per cent of women featured in the lists were in relationships, engaged, or married. Only 12 per cent were single.Age clustered tightly too. The most common age range sat around the late twenties, with 29 identified as the statistical “ideal”, though many close matches were older.
Data gathered from Maxim’s Sexiest Women lists between 2016 and 2025 (no list in 2020).Marital status, age, and physical appearance of the women analysed is accurate as of the year they appeared on the list.
Astrology even crept in: Libra appeared most frequently among the women analysed, followed by Scorpio.
Who comes closest, and why it still falls short
No one fits the profile perfectly. That, arguably, is the point.According to PlayersTime, several high-profile celebrities come close. Dua Lipa and Hailey Bieber reportedly match around 90 per cent of the criteria. Shay Mitchell and Emily Ratajkowski follow at roughly 80 per cent, falling short mainly on age or zodiac sign rather than physical traits.Others land lower on the scale for small deviations. Olivia Culpo and Zendaya each score about 70 per cent, Culpo for lacking tattoos, Zendaya for exceeding the “ideal” height. Kendall Jenner and Lily Collins sit at around 50 per cent, aligning on features but missing multiple data points.Across the dataset, 68 per cent of women had slim body types, 14 per cent athletic builds, and around a third had hourglass figures. Sixty-four per cent had tattoos. Nearly half had heart-shaped faces. Brown hair and eyes dominated.Aleksandra Dimitrova, data analyst and author at PlayersTime, said the findings reflect a broader cultural shift rather than a fixed standard.“What’s striking about 2025’s beauty conversation is how dark, classic features, rich brown hair, deep eyes, and strong silhouettes — are increasingly defining public preference,” she said. “Trendsetting celebrities are driving this shift, pairing these traits with cultural influence, charisma, and effortless style.”The same methodology was applied to People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive lists from 2017 to 2025. The resulting male profile favoured brown hair, brown eyes, an athletic build, a neatly trimmed beard, a height above 183cm, and tattoos. This year’s winner, Jonathan Bailey, reportedly comes close to that composite.
What the data doesn’t solve
Despite the precision, the exercise lands where similar attempts always do: with no definitive answer.PlayersTime itself acknowledged the limits of anatomical reduction. While the lists trace trends, they do not explain attraction in isolation.“Names may change, trends may shift, but certain qualities remain magnetic,” the team wrote. “It makes one wonder: is sexiness simply physical, or is it energy, poise, and presence that actually captivates?”In other words, even after a decade of data, the conclusion remains stubbornly human. Patterns exist. Ideals recur. But no face, however famous, ever quite completes the equation.
