Beauty is in the Eye of the Be-Holder of Makeup
Jenny Galvao
According to research by Mulhern and associates, Pineau of Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, the use of cosmetic products does indeed have the ability to make Caucasian woman look more attractive.
When the pictures of women were judged by women, they found that faces in full make-up (foundation, eye make-up, as well as lip make-up) were the most attractive. Men determined that foundation as well as eye makeup contributed most to the overall beauty.
As Mulhern explains “some cosmetic products contributed to attractiveness more than others. For women, eye make-up was judged to enhance looks most effectively. For men, both eye make-up and foundation have a significant impact on facial beauty”.
The results show that make-up clearly has an effect on a woman’s physical appearance and not only in the eyes of men, as women also find a ‘made-up face’ to look more attractive than a natural female face.
In this simple experiment, the faces of 10 Caucasian females volunteered were photographed under five very different conditions. The conditions were as follows:
1. No make-up
2. Foundation only
3. Eye make-up only
4. Lip make-up only
5. Full facial make-up
In the make-up conditions a professional beautician applied make-up in order to amplify each woman’s attractiveness to the best ability possible.
Heterosexual male and female participants then viewed the photos under each condition. For each individual woman’s set they were asked to rank the photos in order of attractiveness, with each choice of photo only being used one time per rating.
The results showed that the faces which were fully made-up were most often given the highest ranking. Eye make-up was the second most attractive condition as rated by women whereas the ‘foundation only condition’ was the second most attractive to men.
Interestingly enough, the faces with no make-up were actually rated as slightly more attractive than the faces with lip make-up only, by both genders. This tells us that lips contribute very little to overall physical attractiveness.
Mulhern raises an excellent point. He says that “foundation created an effective mask that increased facial symmetry and improved skin texture and tone. These two factors have been argued as indicators of health and fitness, and have been found to influence the perception of female facial attractiveness.”
This could very well explain why men found the foundation alone to create a prettier face than the eye make-up alone. However, it’s no surprise that the made-up faces were viewed as more attractive than the make-up free faces. Make-up is designed to conceal, cover, enhance, and improve an individual’s features, so this study is merely confirmation that it is in fact doing its job!
A face is often the first thing you notice about a person, and even before they have a chance to speak, you have already judged their face and determined whether you find them attractive or not. Thankfully, there are many ways that women can improve the look of their faces in order to be perceived as more attractive.
So ladies, if you’re on the prowl for a man (or wish to compete against rival women), trade in that red lipstick for a good foundation. As shown in this study, men don’t care what you’ve smeared on your lips, only what’s on the rest of your face!
About the Author: Jenny Galvao is an undergraduate student at the University of Guelph studying psychology.
Resources
Mulhern, R.; G. Fieldman; T. Hussey; J.-L. Lévêaque and P. Pineau. Do Cosmetics Enhance Female Caucasian Facial Attractiveness? International Journal of Cosmetic Science. 2003. 25: 199-205. DOI: 10.1046/j.1467-2494.2003.00188.x