Hermosa o belleza

Hermosa o belleza
 

In bobjenkins' sentence 'la vida puede ser hermosa si lo intentas' why is hermosa used for beautiful instead of using the word belleza. Does belleza refer only to a female person?

"Belleza" is "beauty" (noun); the cognate adjectivo is "bell[o|a|os|as]".

To me, "hermoso" feels like a peninsular word: I think a lot of Latin American Spanish speakers would favour "lindo". However, you're better off getting that kind of connotation from a native speaker.

Hermoso is not too common over here either, at least not in everyday speech. It sounds quite formal, even literary. We tend to say guapo or bonito.

"La vida es bella" can be used, too. :) In fact, this is the tittle of a film.

Hermoso/a bello/a lindo/a bonita/o are all commonly used among Latin Americans.
Bonito is also a fish like tuna:)

You can also use belleza o hermosura when referring to somebody or something...

Ese (someone, something) es una belleza o hermosura (beautiful)

Ese edificio es una belleza/hermosura.

Esa muchacha es una hermosura/belleza.

Etc. :)

"Hermosa(o)" (beautiful) is an adjective and "belleza" (beauty) a noun. As pjt, said, "bella(o)" is the adjective the derived adjective.
The noun for "hermoso" is "hermosura".

"Belleza" refers to anything about which you can perceive beauty.

Una mujer bella = a beautiful woman.
Ella es una belleza = she's a beauty.
Admirar la belleza masculina = to admire masculine beauty

"Un hombre bello" (a beautiful man) is rarely heard, but there are people who use those expressions. But "guapo" is the most common adjective I've heard for a handsome man.

I think there is a difference between
una bella persona -- a person beautiful for their deeds (like Mother Teresa
and
una persona bella (Salma Hayek)

Am I right?

Right. (At least something along those lines)

mi bella hermana = my beautiful sister (more intrinsic beauty? no comparisons being made)
mi hermana bella = my sister, the beautiful one, not the ugly one

For me it's the same, maybe in some cases it can depend a little on the context. If you say first bella, you are giving it more importance: first you think about bella, and then you add to it the person; vice versa.

Era una bella persona
Era una persona bella.
Synonyms.

Iré con mi hermana bella a caminar. -> this seems a little strange in this situation
Iré con mi bella hermana a caminar. -> this is the common one
But they mean the same.

If I have to say that a girl is beautiful I use, in order of usage: Linda - Hermosa - Bella/Preciosa
Anothers expressions: "Buen mozo/a" "Es un churro/a" "Guapo/a" but I don't like them.