ReThink Beauty

By inviting people to reflect on their views on beauty we contribute to their wellbeing. With these two questions the project started out in 2007.

"Project Beauty" is an international research and awareness project that explores what people from different backgrounds perceive as beautiful. While doing so project survey also provides it´s respondents with space for reflecting on their individual experiences with "beauty". The survey has already been carried out in 8 countries and more than 12.000 people worldwide had a chance to respond to it

06/07/2026

DEAD, BUT BEAUTIFUL.

There’s a problem with a rather large pool in Washington, DC: it wants to become a pond.

A pond relies on plants and biological balance to maintain water quality. It is often green and contains algae. Pools don’t. They are not meant to be green, but blue—hence the tiles and the chlorine.
The Reflecting Pool seems to want to evolve. Whether that is positive or negative is open for discussion.

The New York Times recently asked a biologist and algae enthusiast for his view on what’s happening to the Reflecting Pool, and on the (presidential) preference to recreate it in the image of a pristine swimming pool. His response was striking:
“The scale of what you would have to do to keep it dead but beautiful, the scale of the toxicity, is just horrendous.” Dead, but beautiful. Talking about an intriguing comparison...

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” as Margaret Wolfe Hungerford once wrote. It’s a convenient phrase—useful when we want to sidestep uncomfortable conversations about how this complex and subjective phenomenon should be interpreted.
But that apparent neutrality can also mask something deeper. It can conceal the uneasy realisation that someone else’s idea of beauty doesn’t resonate at all—and may even feel disturbing. What someone perceives as beautiful can reflect a set of values that others find difficult, or even unsettling.

According to the latest US edition of Project Beauty, 68% of Americans say they are sometimes (or often) surprised by what others find beautiful. When asked a more probing question—whether they ever feel insecure or even uneasy about others’ notions of beauty—31% admitted they do.

A biologist looks at a blue pool and feels unease. A president looks at a green pond and may feel the same. They probably also differ in their understanding of "shallow" and in their ability to look deeper.
Experiencing beauty is deeply personal and often joyful. But the intensity of that experience can also reveal where we fundamentally differ from others.

And that can be confronting — but also a fascinating opportunity to meet someone to meet 'a stranger' across a divide.

04/07/2026

04/07/2026

AMERICA 250:
BEAUTY IN THE USA HAS MANY COLORS | FREE E-BOOK COPY

In 2019, as part of the 1st and, so far, only version of Project Beauty in the USA, we asked over 2,000 Americans how they experience Beauty.

The outcomes are summarized in a small multimedia book: Seeking Beauty | USA.

It contains 4 types of data:
A. Quotes about the most beautiful things Americans experienced
B. Stats about how Americans view beauty,
C. Images of what Americans see as beautiful and
D. Clips of pieces of music that Americans feel represent beauty

On the occasion of the 2026 CELEBRATION OF THE 4th of JULY,
an online copy of the full version of ‘SEEKING BEAUTY | USA’
IS AVAILABLE FOR FREE.

The e-book contains over 50 clickable links to inspiring content in the connected Beauty Cloud.

Click on this link to open the book and travel through America’s Beauty:
https://www.b-u-t.net/projects/USA/2019/refs/seeking-beauty-USA-2019_ISSUU.html ,
and enjoy this beautiful journey in all its diversity!

(Acknowledgment photography: Philip Folsom)

18/05/2026

BEAUTY TODAY: YOUR DIARY WITH A BEAUTIFUL FOCUS 💐

Join our test! We are re-developing an old idea: Beauty Today.

Beauty Today will be a diary app with a very special focus:
to collect and save the moments you do not want to forget.

It asks just one question:
"What is the most beautiful moment you experienced today?"

We are now in Pilot Mode and looking for English speaking en Nederlands sprekende testers.

Want to join our test panel?
Send us a quick DM!

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The re-creation of Beauty Today is made possible by Craze Enterprise (https://www.crazeenterprise.com/) and the wonderful cooperation within COMMONworks.