Where's your beauty spot? Dove campaign asks women and their friends to identify their most beautiful body parts (and it seems our pals are much kinder to us than we are)

British women admit they are uncomfortable when complimented
Just 1% of women describe themselves as beautiful
It takes a woman 8 seconds to name something beautiful about themselves
As many as 7 per cent of women said they couldn’t name a single thing
It takes less than half a second to name something beautiful about a friend
Dove's new ad asks women to show their 'beauty spot' from under a sheet

PUBLISHED: 18:11, 29 April 2013 | UPDATED: 18:11, 29 April 2013

A compliment is supposed to make the receiver feel better about themselves, but bashful British women say that they are either 'in denial', embarrassed or uncomfortable when something beautiful is pointed out about them.

New research by skincare brand Dove has found that some women find it so difficult to talk about their bodies in a positive way that they would rather fall over in the middle of a public place than tell people a part of their body they think is beautiful.

In their latest campaign for real beauty the brand has partnered with award-winning photographer Laura Pannack to capture real women celebrating a part of themselves that their friends have helped them identify as beautiful.

Dove's new Beauty Spot campaign asked real women to identify their own most beautiful parts- and found very few women see themselves as attractive

The women were asked to cover themselves with a white sheet- only exposing those parts of themselves they felt were beautiful

The imagery features five real women covering most of their bodies with a sheet, revealing only their own 'beauty spots', while the TV campaign features the real women in the photography being asked to name something beautiful about their friends and themselves.

Dove is aiming to capitalise on the ability of women to help their friends see their own personal beauty in its Beauty Spot campaign which launches today.

When asked what part of themselves they would call beautiful, the range of answers shows just how unpredictable women can be with responses including calves, toes, shoulders, wrists and even ribcages! Sadly 7 per cent of women said they couldn’t name a single thing.

Over half of women make sure they tell their friends what's beautiful about them on a regular basis

Yet while only 1 per cent of British women would call themselves beautiful, they find it easy to see beauty in their friends.

On average, it takes women less than half a second to name something beautiful about their friends, compared to up to eight seconds to name something beautiful about themselves.

Over half of women (52 per cent) make sure they tell their friends what’s beautiful about them on a regular basis, with two thirds (66 per cent) saying they do so because they know the positive impact this can have on how they feel about their bodies.

Commenting on the images, photographer Laura Pannack said: ‘The idea of the image is to represent the power we all have to feel more confident about who we are. By supporting one another we can change our own views to more rational, realistic, and positive ones.

It takes women less than half a second to name something beautiful about their friends, compared to up to eight seconds to name something beautiful about themselves

British women report feeling in denial, embarrassed and uncomfortable when someone points out something beautiful about them

Top ten most preferred body parts

1. Eyes

2. Boobs

3. Mouth

4. Bottom

5. Hands

6. Nose

7. Shoulders

8. Ears

9. Calves

10. Feet

How women describe their own beauty

• Just 1% of women describe themselves as beautiful

• 31% of women describe themselves as average

• 23% describe themselves as ‘natural’

• 12% describe themselves as attractive

'I hope that when people see the campaign they will be encouraged to re-evaluate how they define beauty and compliment a friend on how great her bum looks rather than her new jeans.'

Kate Goodridge, 32 from Coventry, who chose her bottom as her beauty spot, says: 'At first it was hard to think about a part of my body I was happy with, but with people encouraging me to look at the parts of my body I am happy with, I realised my bum was my beauty spot.'

25 year old Miriam Bashorun from London chose her arms as her beauty spot and says: 'They are toned without being overly muscly and the skin is soft. I hadn't said or thought about my body in a positive way in a long time. It was great to have a conversation about our bodies that wasn't just what we hated about them.'

Commenting on the research, Kate Fox, a Director of the Social Issues Research Centre, says: 'This Dove study reveals some of the anxieties experienced by women talking about their own appearance, perhaps especially in this country, where our 'modesty rules' complicate matters by prescribing self-deprecation.

'But for me the most important findings are those showing how readily and effortlessly female friends praise each other's appearance, and the power of such compliments to reassure us and lift our spirits.'

The two portraits, drawn from descriptions by the woman herself and a stranger, were often dramatically different and reveal women tend to underestimate their looks

In the last campaign two portraits were drawn by an FBI sketch artist from descriptions by the woman herself and a stranger, were often dramatically different and reveal women tend to underestimate their looks