Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Right? This is what we are told at least and I'd say it is generally accepted as truth. There are certainly times that friends have been attracted to someone and I just haven't seen it. I'm sure it goes the other way too. But, the whole eye thing aside, what really makes someone beautiful? I've heard that studies have been done (those darn unreliable and so un-scientific studies that I still glean information from) that found that across cultures one of the aspects that consistently contributes to one's perception of beauty is facial symmetry. This comes as no surprise to me considering I think that someone with level eyes is more attractive than someone with one eye two inches north of its partner.
Or do I?
All of the Disney heroines/princesses/what have you, have all been beautiful, there is no doubt of that. But they have also been extremely dull in that face department. Big eyes plus full lips, a small turned up nose, and flowing, slightly curled tresses gives us the basic formula for a Disney princess. Read through that description again. While I would love to have hair like Sleeping Beauty, I can't deny that this formula leaves something to be desired: imperfection. With imperfection comes interest. John K. had a post a while ago that got me thinking along these lines (I must give credit where it is due). It was a post about caricatures and undertures (the latter term may have been coined by John). He astutely pointed out that caricatures are much more exciting than undertures. The princesses and prince charming's were categorized as undertures. Rightfully so.
Why? Simply put: they are boring.
I tire of handsome animated characters. Now before you jump to defend your beloved Disney characters, take note that I am not really insulting beauty. I know from experience that beauty can certain be a burden. In Snow White's case it made her nice to look at but lacking in character compared to her short, goofy, seven dwarf friends. I gather then that it must be really hard to be both lovely and intriguing (as an animated character). Why though? The real life people we consider pretty are usually interesting as well (this ties back into the eye of the beholder thing). What do some people miss in the translation from real life to ink then? Ever since I talked with Michael, a volunteer at the archive, on Saturday about how easy it is to make animated people dull and lacking personality, I have been wondering how anyone manages to make a drawing both angelic and stimulating.
This brings me back to my previous query about whether I do find level eyes more attractive than lopsided ones. I have found many of Picasso's paintings to be lovely, and they are anything but symmetrical or boring. Betty Boop is also considered to be appealing, but she is also quite interesting. In fact, she is just plain strange looking. The sheer size of her head aside, it is also an extremely odd shape.
This only proves to me that reality certainly is overrated. I must conclude that while beauty is valued very highly, I think that interest should come first. So if Britney Spears wants to shave her head, while it might not make her more beautiful, I have to admit that it does make her much more interesting.