A study of identical twins suggests that breastfeeding, daily moisturizing and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) enhance the appearance of a woman’s breasts while smoking, drinking, high BMI, large cup size and multiple pregnancies can do the opposite.
The study, called “”Determinants of Breast Appearance and Aging in Twins,” was published this week in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal.
Researchers studied the breast appearance and lifestyles of 161 sets of female twins between the ages of 25-74.
“It’s very rare that both twins have been through the same exact environmental factors throughout life,”said study author, plastic surgeon Hooman T. Soltanian “The idea was that they have the same [breasts] from a genetic standpoint. If we see a difference, it’s more likely to be environmental factors.”
Women were interviewed about pregnancies, HRT, beauty routines, sun exposure, bras and other pertinent issues. Then their breasts were photographed and evaluated by “independent reviewers” for attractiveness. (Though breast attractiveness is obviously subjective, generally speaking they were looking at perkiness, shape, skin tone and areola size.) Then they looked at the data and tried to figure out what was helping and what wasn’t. Moisturizing seemed to come up pretty quickly as a good thing. HRT after menopause seemed to help.
