How People Feel About Women Who Put On Makeup

The research we are going to talk about today is nothing new to those in the west. It already was covered by many news sites last year. They skipped some things in their articles. We will have a take a look at those here. Before we go into that here is the highlight of what the research revealed.

Goal: Finding out what people thought of women who wear makeup.

Research done by: Independent researchers of Harvard and Boston universities, and Dana-Farber Institute.

Financier: Proctor and Gamble

Tool: Pictures of 25 Caucasian, African American and Hispanic women. They were given three different looks-- barefaced (natural), moderate makeup (professional) and extreme/dramatic makeup (glamorous).

Population surveyed: 268 adults (Males and females included).

Rules Applied: The people were asked to see the pictures to come up with their opinions. The first 149 people were given 250 milliseconds. The rest got unlimited amount of time. The mission was to get both impulsive as well as meditated opinions on the question.

Results: Women who wear makeup are more dependable and capable than the barefaced ones. But the first prize winner is the professional look.

These findings are definitely making the cosmetics industry smile. But others, especially women who do not wear makeup are not at all happy about them. We need to include the female professors in this group also. After the research report went live, they were the first ones to share their opposing view. According to them, it is wrong to judge a woman based on what she wears on her face. This is completely true. However, if you analyze the result you will come to know that neither barefaced nor the dramatic look was favored by the population. The winner is professional look whose main intention is to make a woman appear well groomed. Probably, this is how the voters felt also. Their eyes got attracted to the cleanliness. The truth is that a bare face makes acne marks, dryness and other skin problems more visible. The society we live in does not want to accept them. According to its concept, they minimize a woman’s beauty. So we are always searching for the clearer and younger looking facial skin. We don’t even care if it is achieved by temporary solutions like foundations, lipsticks and eye shadows. As long as the beauty is restored we are fine. 

What we just talked about has nothing to do with reliability which has been the main highlight of the research. Women who wear makeup tend to come off as more reliable and capable. This is what the research result showed. But why that is so? Why people thought like that? I have one explanation for this. The credit for it, however, goes to one of my close friends. She basically explained to me the hidden notion back in 2004 when we two were going to high school. Yes, we discussed the topic long before this research took place. However, that specific time, I did not understand anything of what she said. Yes, I used to wear makeup but that was just to make myself feel good. Now I get her points. The research result helped me. Anyways, here is what she told me:

“A woman who wears makeup unintentionally sends down the signal to people that she loves and takes care of herself. People receiving the signal then subconsciously form another belief. They start to think that this lady is happy and stable mentally. Therefore she can be relied on. Moreover, since she loves herself, she will not bear to see the people and environment around her in dismay.”

Makeup basically is not an important or essential thing in a woman’s life. In fact, certain things can totally divert her attention from it. Examples include depression and sadness. The opposite occurs with makeup on. It tells people of her happy mood. Thus, she is taken as more reliable and competent for a task.

None of the news articles published these factors. The female professors were more concerned about how people made the wrong judgement. That is comprehensible. Makeup does not talk about what a woman is mentally. However, we are always driven by the outer decorations. So the professors should have given importance to what kind of thought pattern worked inside those who took part in the research.