Hi Kerrie,
This is a very interesting subject. Thank you for bringing it up. I have been thinking about this for some time and I'm grateful to find this thread.
Just to add my couple of cents, actually, I don't believe that planets give beauty BUT I do believe they may amplify the beauty that already exists (or at least give some power of attraction to the less blessed people). Angelina Jolie seems to owe her beauty to her late mother and I think her Venus-Ascendant conjunction is just a final touch to what she already has.
Brooke Shields has her Venus conjoining the Midheaven (MC), which is another example of a placement amplifying beauty. Her beauty (Venus) has been in the public eye (MC) for years since she was a toddler.
Recently I got a great book on astrology for beginners. It is by Rae Orion and the title is "Astrology for Dummies". In Part V, Chapter 19, you will find the aspects that bring talents by category. There is a section on beauty, of course, and I would be glad to share what Orion says about it:
"Venus amplifies beauty, particularly when it is:
Conjunct the Ascendant, the Sun, the Moon, the Midheaven, or the ruler of the Ascendant.
In the 1st or 10th house.
In Taurus or Libra, the signs it rules.
Not everybody with a prominent Venus boasts a gorgeous face. What they do have is even more valuable: the power of attraction. An example is former President Bill Clinton. He’s a Leo (of course) with Venus in the first house in sociable Libra, the sign it rules. His Venus makes four conjunctions and two sextiles. So he easily attracts admirers. Hillary Rodham Clinton, on the other hand, has Venus in Scorpio, the sign of its detriment. With Venus conjunct her ruling planet (Mercury), she can be charming. But her Venus squares Saturn, Pluto, and Mars and makes an irritating (135°) angle to the Moon and Ascendant. Not surprisingly, as a public personality, she has to work harder to make her case."
(End of quote)
Yuliana