Describing Attractive Characters

Human attraction is a funny thing. A good deal of it is driven by subconscious factors-- our genetics, our cultural upbringing, our sense of smell, our body chemistry-- but a lot of it is plain old personal taste. Because of this, it's hard to write a universal hottie.

One approach is to tell the reader how appealing this character is in vague terms, like 'sexy', 'beautiful' or 'stunning', with a few minimalist descriptions of things like skin colour. On one hand, this allows the reader to fill in the blanks with their own fantasy, which is better for that specific reader than whatever the author could conjure up. In a genre such as romance or action-adventure, which is focused on reader wish-fulfillment, this may be a good solution, because it encourages the reader to actively immerse themselves in the fantasy rather than being a passive recipient. On the other hand, readers in other genres, in which the specifics of a character are more in focus, it may leave the reader with a fuzzy mental picture and the feeling of an underdeveloped character.

The other approach, which I favour, is to show the attractive character through another character's eyes. Notice the specific things which the PoV character finds particularly alluring. These are features specific to both the observer and the observed, and tell us a lot about the psychology of the PoV character as well as the love interest. It's certainly a more realistic portrayal of how we feel attraction, although it's then harder for the reader to project themselves into the romance.

Personally I don't think there's a general 'right' or 'wrong' way to do this, just what's best for your story and your intentions.