How much does your physical appearance affect your self esteem?

I think that feeling good about yourself is vital for self esteem. But the judgement about how you look should be totally down to you. If you like how you look and are "comfortable in your skin" in all the ways that phrase can be interpreted then you'll have self Esteem

However so often how you look is massively determined by society and culture around you. Anyone who stands out unless they have great confidence and defenses will be made to feel "ugly" which is such a subjective term.