The PrettyScale test, and a free alternative that marks the points for you.

The PrettyScale face test, step by step

We took the face test with an AI-generated model photo, without an account and without paying. After choosing a gender and uploading the photo, these were the steps, in PrettyScale's own words:

1. Adjust your face in the oval
2. Place the arrow at the outer right eye
3. Place the arrow at the outer left eye
4. Place the line at the inner right eye
5. Place the line at the inner left eye
6. Place the line at the bottom on chin
7. Place the line at the rightmost point on face
8. Place the line at the leftmost point on face
9. Place the line at the hairline on head
10. Place the line at the bottom on nose
11. Place the line at the rightmost point on nose
12. Place the line at the leftmost point on nose
13. Place the line at the middle of mouth
14. Place the line at the rightmost point on mouth
15. Place the line at the leftmost point on mouth

• The result screen shows one percentage, a verdict line and a list headed Prominent Features, with labels such as “Good face shape” or “Normal chin”.
• Its homepage says “Rate my face 1-100”; its help page calls the unit the micro Helen, “a humorous unit based on the story of Helen of Troy”, so 80% means 80 micro Helen.
• The site is free and carries display ads.

How we ran the tries

• We used PrettyScale's own page in a desktop browser, chose Female and uploaded each photo.
• We dragged each of the 14 markers onto the point it names, using the same face map CEVO's calculators use.
• Photo from about 1.5 m, every marker on its point: 79% with “You are pretty!”.
• The same face shown as a phone 30 cm away sees it, same markers: 50% with “You are not bad!”.

Why the same face can get different numbers

Two things move any reading taken from a photo: where the points sit, and how far away the camera was.

• A phone held at about 30 cm draws the nose about 30% wider relative to the cheekbones than a photo from 1.5 m (Ward et al. 2018).
• Shorter lenses make a face read narrower for its height (Třebický et al. 2016).
• People rated the same faces as less trustworthy, competent and attractive when photographed from 45 cm than from 135 cm (Bryan et al. 2012).
• CEVO's selfie study, which compares each width with itself, estimates the nose about 4% wider and the jaw about 3% narrower at 30 cm.

On the photo we ran through PrettyScale, CEVO's free calculators read a face 1.94 wide for every 1 high (about 1.82 from a close-up selfie), outer eye corners about 6° and 5° higher than the inner ones, and face thirds of 30%, 39% and 31%.

This is why CEVO asks for a new photo when the camera was too close. It reads the size of the iris, which is close to the same size in most adults, to tell how near the phone was. It never edits the face to fix a photo. A tilted head can also read as an uneven face, which is why CEVO's face symmetry test levels the eyes first.

PrettyScale's help page says it sometimes uses the golden ratio. In one study, people preferred faces where the pupils sit about 46% of the face width apart and the eyes-to-mouth distance is about 36% of face length, not the 1.618 golden ratio (Pallett et al. 2010), and typical proportions differ between groups of people (Farkas et al. 2005).

Other PrettyScale alternatives

CEVO's free scan and reports

The free scan reads one selfie and takes a few minutes: your face shape in everyday words, up to two strengths, your first tips and a count of the further tips a report unlocks. Reports are paid once, and each one is checked by our team before it opens: yours is ready within 24 hours after your photos are accepted.

Sources

PrettyScale facts: its own pages https://www.prettyscale.com/, https://www.prettyscale.com/help/ and https://www.prettyscale.com/privacy/, and our walks through the face test. We found no Trustpilot page for prettyscale.com and no app store listing. CEVO's readings of that photo come from its face width, eye tilt and face thirds calculators. Measurement science:

1. Ward B, Ward M, Fried O, Paskhover B (2018). Nasal Distortion in Short-Distance Photographs: The Selfie Effect. JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, 20(4), 333–335.

   DOI: 10.1001/jamafacial.2018.0009

2. Třebický V, Fialová J, Kleisner K, Havlíček J (2016). Focal Length Affects Depicted Shape and Perception of Facial Images. PLoS ONE, 11(2), e0149313.

   DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149313

3. Bryan R, Perona P, Adolphs R (2012). Perspective distortion from interpersonal distance is an implicit visual cue for social judgments of faces. PLoS ONE, 7(9), e45301.

   DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045301

4. Pallett PM, Link S, Lee K (2010). New "golden" ratios for facial beauty. Vision Research, 50(2), 149–154.

   DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.11.003

5. Farkas LG, Katic MJ, Forrest CR (2005). International anthropometric study of facial morphology in various ethnic groups/races. Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, 16(4), 615–646.

   DOI: 10.1097/01.scs.0000171847.58031.9e