Women Wear Makeup: From a young age, women are taught that in order to succeed in everything from dating to job interviews to friendships with other popular girls, they have to be pretty, and the basis for this isn’t entirely cultural.
It may not be fair, but according to the Association for Psychological Science, attractive people receive more favorable treatment in every area of life, from dating to work to criminal trials.
But attractiveness isn’t just physical: knowing social skills can earn anyone attractiveness points. Learn with the best social skills course on the market:
How Can Women Use Makeup to Be More Attractive?
Before I go any further, I want to point out that this article ignores the beautiful diversity of people who wear makeup and why they do it. Current research on this topic focuses on heterosexual men and women and is based on the assumption that only women wear it.
That’s not to say that these tips don’t apply if you’re not in that specific group, but the research currently available for multiple groups is limited.
What Biology Says About Attractive Female Faces
Women naturally tend to have darker lips and skin around their eyes, so our brains subconsciously perceive this as a sign of femininity.
The greater the color contrast between a woman’s eyes and lips and her skin tone, the more feminine (and therefore evolutionarily attractive) she will appear. Lipstick and eyeshadow are makeup staples because they enhance these features.
How symmetrical and even her face is
The Association for Psychological Science explains that we also like symmetrical faces, even when we can’t perceive symmetry. You may not realize it, but most faces are slightly asymmetrical:
One side will be wider than the other, the eye shape will have slight differences, a cheekbone may be a little less pronounced, and so on. And the less variation a face has, the more attractive it will be perceive as.
Makeup evens out skin tone and contour, and eyeliner and lip liner can also make these features appear more symmetrical.
Research Shows This is the Most Important Makeup Tip
If putting on makeup isn’t your thing, or if there are mornings when you wake up and feel like you don’t have the time or energy to put on makeup, follow this advice if you’re going to a place where other people’s impressions of you matter:
Wear concealer/foundation
Research shows that foundation is the cosmetic that most influences women’s perceptions. This is especially important in the workplace, as research shows that women who wear makeup have higher incomes and opportunities for advancement. Skin discoloration, under-eye bags, and blemishes can make you look tired or unhealthy.
If you have acne scars or other blemishes, you probably already know that foundation masks don’t always cover them completely.
This means that even with foundation, your skin tone won’t be completely even and you won’t get the full benefits of makeup.
To avoid this, before applying foundation, apply enough concealer to make the blemishes disappear.
Conclusion
In one study, women put on makeup as if they were going to a party, and researchers took photographs throughout the process.
They then showed photos of women’s faces with no makeup or fully made up (with several photos in between) to men and women, and asked them to judge which photos were more attractive.
They found that, on average, women were rated as most attractive with 60% of the makeup they wore on a night out. In other words, most women wear so much makeup that it goes beyond what is considere attractive.
Another study found that when makeup is not excessive, women appear more pleasant, confident and competent.
Keep in mind the impression you want to make and focus on using makeup to enhance your natural beauty.