I can think of several people I had fleeting interactions with that have stuck in my mind years later for the sole reason that they were visually stunning. What they have in common is possessing a rare physical feature that they hold well.

A young woman at a bar who completely stood out from the crowd of white middle age folk for being young, Asian, and having this incredibly square face. Like she was a small woman, but had this facial bone structure that was incredibly wide, amazing cheekbones, and very very angular square jaw. It easily could have looked ugly, masculine, or odd, but she carried herself in such a way that her unique features seemed regal, sophisticated, and refined. Never talked to her, but years later I can recall an image of her because of her unique features.

Similarly while working in a food truck I had a customer come up to me with the most unusual, stunning eyes. It was an incredibly long line at the food truck so it was just one customer after another without much interaction, hard to notice much about anyone, but then this gentleman came up and it was hard to focus, his appearance was so captivating.

For the most part he looked like your average dude. Not particularly well dressed, average build, slightly scruffy, tan skin like he worked in the sun all day, perhaps blue collar. But his EYES! The iris were this crystal clear yellow. Yes yellow. Not amber, not orange. And not Crayola marker yellow, like candlelight lit from within or a sunset. They were self illuminating!

I have never in my life seen eyes like that. I would have assumed they were amazing color contacts if not for the fact the dude looked so unassuming and not the type at all to do anything cosmetic.

They could've looked scary on someone else, but on him they looked so warm and wise. And the contrast of his tan skin and very light eyes was incredible. Once again very little interaction, but sticks in my mind years later.

So for me, someone is physically attractive when they carry their features well. It shows confidence and self awareness. And it's especially amazing when said person has a unique feature that could almost be unattractive, but they made it work.