11 Women Who Transformed Their Most Unusual Feature Into an Epic Beauty Signature

Silent film actress Clara Bow would have celebrated her 111th birthday today. Known throughout the ’20s as the “It Girl”—a nickname that alluded not only to her role in the popular romantic comedy It, but also to that certain something that separates innately cool women from the pack—Bow had a particularly memorable face, with down-turned eyes framed by thinly painted, pantomime eyebrows.

For glittering silver screen starlets and real girls alike, it’s safe to say that an unusual and prominent feature is akin to winning the genetic lottery, ensuring faces stand out from the crowd and make a lingering first impression. Frida Kahlo’s power brows—or brow, as the case may be—communicated a stern and eccentric quality that lifted her self-portraits into the realm of the iconic. Elizabeth Taylor’s violet-hued eyes, eternally rimmed by edgings of kohl, afforded her an effortlessly unforgettable gaze, while Grace Jones’s strong, dynamic bone structure helped to define an ever-expanding genre of androgyny. And from the moment she burst onto the scene, Angelina Jolie Pitt’s naturally voluptuous lips became the stuff of legend, that much more so for having arrived at a time when artificially plumped pouts were the era’s most sought-after beauty upgrade.

Small in size but not proverbial stature, Cindy Crawford’s well-placed mole cemented her status as the ultimate ’90s-era super babe, inspiring many to paint on their own faux rendition. These days, fresh-faced model newbies have their own idiosyncratic signatures that set them apart from the pack: Adwoa Aboah’s smattering of freckles are as charming as they are idiosyncratic, and Gigi Hadid’s baby-faced cheeks read as youthful, all-American, and refreshingly healthy.

Here, 11 women whose unconventional good looks have defined their careers—and shaped the face of beauty.

 

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