Women Use More MakeUp When Fertile
Christopher Philip
Curiously, while women are known to be able to increase their attractiveness with make-up, no study has been done to link peek fertility around ovulation to use of cosmetics.
Previous studies have shown that women undergo a great variety of changes as they near peek fertility at around mid-cycle including choosing clothing that was more revealing, sexy and provocativ. Other research has found that women will wear red more often and that these women are rated as more attractive.
French researcher Nicolas Guéguen, Université de Bretagne-Sud conducted two studies looking specifically at make-up use and fertility.
He first evaluated the quality of make-up of participants who volunteered for the study with the help of two female professional makeup artists. Coupled with this evaluation, the subjects reported an estimate of the length of time they spent putting on make-up that day.
The results showed that as women neared ovulation, they spent more time putting on makeup and makeup artists rated their level of use to be higher and of better quality.
In the second half of the study, cosmetic use by women in nightclubs were evaluated to provide additional support. The results were replicated in that women near ovulation used more makeup than their non-fertile female counterparts.
In summary, “The results of the first study indicate that the participants estimated that they spent more time putting on makeup near ovulation. In addition, the evaluation performed by professionals revealed that, near ovulation, the estimated level of cosmetics use and the level of attractiveness of the makeup were higher,” says Guéguen.
The results suggest that women, whom are nearing ovulation, are actively working to increase their desirability and physical attractiveness to solicit attention from men.
Studies like this clearly demonstrate the mediational affects of hormones on behaviour.
Estrogen peeks near ovulation and this provides sexual desires and importantly, sexual motivation. In turn, women realize, at some level (conscious or subconsciously) that applying make-up makes them sexier and more desirable, thus they apply make-up to increase their chances of attracting desirable mates.
Working on one’s external attractiveness has been shown to be very effective in attracting men and the women who use these tactics will receive not only more offers, but chances are good that they will also come from more desirable potential partners.
In turn, women who use physical attractiveness, including makeup, will better their chances of attracting men near their highest potential.
Image Credit: Courtney Rhodes
Resources
Guéguen, Nicolas. Makeup and Menstrual Cycle: Near Ovulation, Women Use More Cosmetics. The Psychological Record. 2019, 62, 541-548.