The 50 Most Beautiful Women in the World

When Maxim Magazine asked their readers to choose the Maxim Hot 100 for 2012, I was excited. Then I saw the results and I wasn’t so sure I was excited anymore. There are some choices I agree with but there are some I definitely don’t. The 50 most beautiful women in the world according to Maxim readers to cover a pretty wide landscape featuring actresses, models, musician etc but there were some people who didn’t make the cut that sort of left me a little shocked. When we’re talking about the most beautiful women in the world, I would expect to see the following names on the list:

• Alison Brie (Annie, Community)
• Anna Paquin (Sookie, True Blood)
• Ashley Benson (Hannah, Pretty Little Liars)
• Dianna Agron (Quinn, Glee)
• Halle Berry
• Hope Solo (professional athlete)
• Jaime Pressley (Joy, My Name is Earl etc)
• Jamie King (Lemon, Hart of Dixie)
• Karina Smirnoff (professional dancer, Dancing with the Stars)
• Kat Graham (Bonnie, The Vampire Diaries)
• Kate Winslet
• Lucy Hale (Aria, Pretty Little Liars)
• Maggie Siff (Tara, Sons of Anarchy)
• Mary-Louise Parker (Nancy, Weeds)
• Nikki Reed (actress, musician – Rosalie Cullen, Twilight)
• Rachel Bilson (Zoe, Hart of Dixie)
• Shay Mitchell (Emily, Pretty Little Liars)
• Troian Bellisario (Spencer, Pretty Little Liars)

And that’s just the women I could think of off the top of my head. I know I’ve forgotten people. Of course, you can’t really complain when the outcome was decided by the readers. People voted for who they like and that wasn’t always who I voted for. Even so, it would’ve been nice to see these lovely ladies make the cut. No matter who made the list of the most beautiful women in the world, someone would always find someone missing. Things like these are subjective. I decided the fairest way to do this article was to go with Maxim’s list simply because it was voted for by the public. Voting is also now opened for the 2013 Hot 100 so make sure you get your votes in. I know I did. Okay, enough explanation. Let’s get to the list.

image source: heavy.com

50: Sarah Hyland

Born: Sarah Jane Hyland on November 24, 1990 in Manhattan, New York
Age: 22
Profession: actress

image source: thesnipenews.com

49: Emmy Rossum

Born: Emmanuelle Grey Rossum on September 12, 1986 in New York City, New York
Age: 26
Profession: actress, musician

48: Brittany Snow

Born: Brittany Anne Snow on March 9, 1986 in Tampa, Florida
Age: 26
Profession: actress, musician

image source: poptower.com

47: Julianne Hough

Born: Julianne Alexandra Hough on July 20, 1988 in Los Angeles, California
Age: 24
Profession: professional dancer, actress, musician

46: Adriana Lima

Born: June 12, 1981 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Age: 31
Profession: model

45: Zoe Saldana

Born: Zoe Yadira Saldana Nazario on June 19, 1978 in Passaic, New Jersey
Age: 34
Profession: actress

44: Lake Bell

Born: March 24, 1979 in New York City, New York
Age: 33
Profession: actress, model, musician, athlete, host, reality star

image source: epagini.com

43: Ashley Greene

Born: Ashley Michele Greene on February 21, 1987 in Jacksonville, Florida
Age: 26
Profession: actress, model

42: Brooklyn Decker

Born: Brooklyn Danielle Decker on April 12, 1987 in Kettering, Ohio
Age: 25
Profession: actress, model

41: Zooey Deschanel

Born: Zooey Claire Deschanel on January 17, 1980 in Los Angeles, California
Age: 33
Profession: actress, musician

40: Miranda Kerr

Born: Miranda May Kerr on April 20, 1983 in Sydney, Australia
Age: 29
Profession: model

39: Kate Upton

Born: Katherine Upton on June 10, 1992 in St. Joseph, Michigan
Age: 20
Profession: model, actress

38: Kelly Kelly

Born: Barbara Jean Blank on January 15, 1987 in Jacksonville, Florida
Age: 26
Profession: professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet (manager), model

37: Jennifer Lopez

Born: Jennifer Lynn Lopez on July 24, 1969 in New York City, New York
Age: 43
Profession: actress, musician

36: Sarah Shahi

Born: Aahoo Jahansouz Shahi on January 10, 1980 in Euless, Texas
Age: 33
Profession: actress, model

35: Yvonne Strahovski

Born: Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski on July 30, 1982 in Sydney, Australia
Age: 30
Profession: actress

34: Elisha Cuthbert

Born: Elisha Ann Cuthbert on November 30, 1982 in Calgary, Alberta
Age: 30
Profession: actress

image source: fanpop.com

33: Jessica Alba

Born: Jessica Marie Alba on April 28, 1981 in Pomona, California
Age: 31
Profession: actress, model

32: Rihanna

Born: Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados
Age: 25
Profession: musician, actress, designer

image source: fanpop.com

31: Candice Swanepoel

Born: October 20, 1988 in Mooi River, Kwa-Zulu-Natal, South Africa
Age: 24
Profession: model

30: Bérénice Marlohe

Born: Bérénice Lim Marlohe on May 19, 1979 in Paris, France
Age: 33
Profession: actress, model

29: Eva Mendes

Born: March 5, 1974 in Miami, Florida
Age: 38
Profession: actress, model, musician, designer

28: Jessica Biel

Born: Jessica Claire Biel on March 3, 1982 in Ely, Minnesota
Age: 30
Profession: actress, model, musician

27: Naya Rivera

Born: Naya Marie Riveria on January 12, 1987 in Valencia, California
Age: 26
Profession: actress, musician, model

image source: taylorswiftfans.co.uk

26: Taylor Swift

Born: Taylor Alison Swift on December 13, 1989 in Reading, Pennsylvania
Age: 23
Profession: musician, actress

25: Jessica Gomes

Born: September 25, 1985 in Perth, Australia
Age: 27
Profession: model

image source: poptower.com

24: Selena Gomez

Born: Selena Marie Gomez on July 22, 1992 in Grand Prairie, Texas
Age: 20
Profession: actress, musician, designer

23: Anne Hathaway

Born: Anne Jacqueline Hathaway on November 12, 1982 in Brooklyn, New York
Age: 30
Profession: actress

22: Kaley Cuoco

Born: Kaley Christine Cuoco on November 30, 1985 in Camarillo, California
Age: 27
Profession: actress

image source: fanpop.com

21: Emma Watson

Born: Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson on April 15, 1990 in Paris, France
Age: 22
Profession: actress, model

20: Jennifer Love Hewitt

Born: February 21, 1979 in Waco, Texas
Age: 34
Profession: actress, musician, author, producer, director

image source: poptower.com

19: Victoria Justice

Born: Victoria Dawn Justice on February 19, 1993 in Hollywood, Florida
Age: 20
Profession: actress, musician

image source: fanpop.com

18: Katrina Bowden

Born: September 19, 1988 in Wyckoff, New Jersey
Age: 24
Profession: actress

image source: fanpop.com

17: Scarlett Johansson

Born: November 22, 1984 in New York City, New York
Age: 28
Profession: actress, musician, model

16: Charlize Theron

Born: August 7, 1975 in Benoni, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Age: 37
Profession: actress, model, producer, director

image source: fanpop.com

15: Kristen Stewart

Born: Kristen Jaymes Stewart on April 9, 1990 in Los Angeles, California
Age: 22
Profession: actress

image source: fanpop.com

14: Lea Michele

Born: Lea Michele Sarfati on August 29, 1986 in The Bronx, New York
Age: 26
Profession: actress, musician

image source: fanpop.com

13: Blake Lively

Born: Blake Ellender Brown on August 25, 1987 in Tarzana, Los Angeles
Age: 25
Profession: actress, model

12: Kate Beckinsale

Born: Kathrin Romary Beckinsale on July 26, 1973 in Finsbury Park, London
Age: 39
Profession: actress

11: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Born: Rosie Alice Huntington-Whiteley on April 18, 1987 in Plymouth, Devon, England
Age: 78
Profession: actress, model

10: Adrianne Palicki

Born: May 6, 1983 in Toledo, Ohio
Age: 29
Profession: actress

09: Malin Ackerman

Born: Malin Maria Ackerman on May 12, 1978 in Stockholm, Sweden
Age: 34
Profession: actress, model, musician

image source: fanpop.com

08: Megan Fox

Born: Megan Denise Fox on May 16, 1986 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Age: 26
Profession: actress, model

image source: fanpop.com

07: Emma Stone

Born: Emily Jean Stone on November 6, 1988 in Scottsdale, Arizona
Age: 24
Profession: actress

06: Jennifer Lawrence

Born: Jennifer Shrader Lawrence on August 15, 1990 in Louisville, Kentucky
Age: 22
Profession: actress

image source: fanpop.com

05: Olivia Wilde

Born: Olivia Jane Cockburn on March 10, 1984 in New York City, New York
Age: 28
Profession: actress, model

04: Katy Perry

Born: Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson on October 25, 1984 in Santa Barbara, California
Age: 28
Profession: musician

image source: poptower.com

03: Mila Kunis

Born: Milena Markovna Kunis on August 14, 1983 in Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine
Age: 29
Profession: actress

02: Olivia Munn

Born: Lisa Olivia Munn on July 3, 1980 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Age: 32
Profession: actress, model, host

01: Bar Befaeli

Born: June 4, 1985 in Hod HaSharon, Israel
Age: 27
Profession: model

Of course, this is only the top half of Maxim’s Hot 100 list. In my opinion, some of the women I would’ve put in the top 50 for the most beautiful women in the world landed in the back half of Maxim’s list after all the votes were tallied. Some examples:

• Amber Heard (53)
• Katharine McPhee (54)
• Shakira (60)
• Kristen Bell (61)
• Vanessa Hudgens (62)
• Dawn Olivieri (63)
• Maria Menounos (64)
• Sofia Vergara (71)
• Christina Hendricks (77)
• Nicki Minaj (79)
• Stana Katic (80)
• Nina Dobrev (84)
• Lois Griffin (85)
• Paulina Gretzky (87)
• Alexandra Breckinridge (94)
• Kat Dennings (97)
• Poppy Montgomery (99)

Really Maksim readers? Sofia Vergara and Christina Hendricks in the 70s? Maria Menonous at 64? Kat Dennings at 97?!? Madness! I also take issue with Amanda Knox (92) making the list at all. Accused murderesses are celebrities now? Craziness. I would’ve put Dawn Olivieri in the top 30 at least and Maria Menounos in the top 10. Nina Dobrev easily belongs in the top 20 and Sofia and Christina should’ve been there right along with her. And Kristen Bell! I could go on and on. Check out the full list and see what you think.