Lovelyish

It’s not makeup. It’s just that attractive people are generally more successful, and makeup (most of the time), makes you more attractive.

@ moon: yes exactly. 

It’s a biological thing, duh. 

First of all in a biological perspective The goal in life is reproduction. And when it comes to reproduction you want the best genes for your offspring, which includes physical appearance. Just take a look at the animal world. Why do peacocks have suchelaboratr feather displays? O attract a suitable mate. In a pride of lions, THe strongest lion takes over and the loser is then an outcast. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that the results came out the way that they did if you ask me. It makes sense. 

I think most girls believe that wearing make up will make them more confident, in a “look how nice my skin is, how big my eyes are with this eyeliner, how seductive my eyeshadow is.” 

but
in my opinion, girls who don’t wear any make up are the most confident ones. they believe in their natural beauty, and believe that they don’t need any make up to enhance their beauty. 

No, makeup does not make you more successful.

You can have a full face of makeup and still be completely incompetent. If you’re so obsessed with your appearance that you’re touching your make up all the time, I don’t see how you’d be getting much done at all.

And as far as being attractive goes, I wish we’d focus less on makeup. I don’t wear makeup and I happen to think I am quite attractive…. my boyfriend thinks so too:)

Perhaps wearing makeup makes you seem more put together or attractive to some people, but just remember… looks can be deceiving.

I agree with the original poster. This study seems silly to me…

@prettykay04@xanga - i agree… i can go out in the rain without worrying that my makeup is smudged. And I’m def confident. 

@lttlegel - True. Looks can be deceiving. 

OP:
Not necessarily. I’ve never really worn make up at work and I turned out to be a great worker. Sometimes it’s not needed.

they only looked for a very short time. it wasn’t exactly a thought out assumption, so I don’t think you can “fix” the attitude here. it’s simply how the women were initially perceived

I think this study was a HUGE waste of time. It seems like scientists are coming out with more “studies” similar to this one, to distract us from our failing economy. Professor Linda Blum got it right.

well i think big picture wise. if they’re putting on makeup chances are their dressing better and caring more about outside things in general. as well as hopefully a good personality. all part of the package. so i do think it increases chances since most people wouldnt hire someone who wont even dress or look the part.

I get kind of irritated when people say things along the lines of “Shouldn’t this research funding be directed somewhere else instead of this useless study?” First of all, in the case of this study, people now know better how to present themselves in interviews or the workplace. But what if it’s not useful? Do you know what science is? We humans use research to understand EVERYTHING about our world, not just the useful ones that revolutionize our society.

@MoonFaeEyryan@xanga - This girl is correct. Looking attractive helps both men AND women look more competent, trustworthy, and a whole bunch of other positive things. It’s just because we evolved to prefer attractive people.

This also just a prime example of a feminist misinterpreting everything in order to find some sort of pro-woman argument against it. When the hell did the researchers state that makeup ruined the economy? WHEN DID THEY EVEN SAY THAT WOMEN ARE JOBLESS BECAUSE THEY’RE UGLY -____-

I wish feminists would just accept that humans can’t help subtly favoring attractive men and women. Even babies and small children favor attractive people. The world’s not out to get you. Really.

@lttlegel - yes! and I have friends who look totally gorgeous with make up , almost model like. but without make up, they look like two different people. I don’t want to others to be like “wow you look better in pictures!” i want them to tell me, “wow you look great in person AND in pictures!” 

and obviously some make up have some horrible chemicals in it to make your face look even more tired without it. and hey, we can at least save a buck here and there to buy other things! 

@LightBlue21@xanga - Oh please. If anything this study told us that people make snap judgements on you based on how you dress and if you want to look successful (even if you are not) just dress up. We already knew that, even before the first scientific study came out that proved it.

@theflowerstem@xanga - My bad. Yeah, it does seem that a lot of psychology research is common sense. It’s not a “real science.” Care to churn out a few new, but obvious theories? I am actually really interested.

@Ashley Nicole Anders@facebook - Mm I guess the results of the study don’t tell us too much since makeup on women simultaneously makes us more attractive and look more put together, both of which lead to good first impressions.

But makeup really does make women look more attractive, albeit having only a minor effect when men use it. I don’t really feel like there is additional pressure on women – they simply have more options when it comes to making themselves look more attractive. The best a man could possibly look would be with minimal makeup, so applying makeup to men would offer them minimal success in the workplace. I don’t think this is a standard set by society, merely a limit of what makeup can do for men.

Jeezus I really need to work on coherent, concise arguments… >:0

I think this is mostly true. I do feel more confident and am treated differently when I am dressed for success with makeup. I even find that strangers try to cut in front of me in line and do other rude things when I look slobby with no makeup. 

What a silly study.  One can have their face painted like a model’s, but can’t even find the power button on her computer.  Knowing how to put on makeup does not make a person more competent (unless she is a makeup artist) at her job.  Succeeding in one’s career usually involves doing many other things well, like communicating, organizing, being resourceful and innovative (among other things).

@Ashley Nicole Anders@facebook - I agree that this “study” is biased because Proctor and Gamble funded it.  Silly notion that makeup makes a person more successful.

Ooooh – a piece lifted from Corporette!  At least you’re not harpooning JUST Jezebel anymore.

Not one thing in this study said “more make-up = greater success.”  The conclusion was that UP TO A POINT, women who wear more make-up tend to be PERCEIVED as more competent/successful.  Past that point, and they’re perceived as overly intimidating.  There is a difference

Note that it said “appeared more competent.” Yeah, the attractive female with makeup on is generally a lot more confident than the shy, virgin-faced girl in the corner. When you’re confident, people think you know what you’re doing. Success!

if I was interviewing people for a job and a woman wore lots of makeup to the interview, I’d think that she is high maintenance and will probably spend on average more time in the bathroom retouching her makeup than the others, so productivity will be disrupted. not necessarily true for all but that’s my first impression my coworker wears makeup and I witnessed her retouching her lipstick, fixing her hair, clipping some of her nails, not even in the privacy of the bathroom, and basically, she spends more time preening herself while at work than the other low maintenance employees. so in some cases, it doesn’t make them necessarily more competent, but they are probably more self absorbed and distracted by their own appearances and it disrupts work productivity and yep, that means they aren’t that competent:D there are exceptions of course. this was just one example. appearances matter to an extent.

is that whole obsession with beauty again. not to say you have to wear makeup to be pretty – i think it just makes you look more noticeable. and alluring i guess. i mean, if it’s shiny, don’t u go towards it. 

i think it’s more the fact that you took the time to get yourself ready and want to present yourself well in front of others.  when you go to an interview, you don’t show up half dressed with wrinkled shirts and pants or skirts.  you show up well dressed and presentable.  

for me, i always want to be presentable.  with my current employer, you never know who’s going to stop by so you always have to be ready.

Yikes, put down the pitchforks everyone! It’s all about perception. First impressions. It’s not that make-up suddenly makes you competent. Of course it doesn’t. Women who wear make-up (key word) APPEAR more competent. Why? Because they look like they GIVE A DAMN. Imagine going to your office job in ratty jeans and sneakers. Are people going to take you seriously when you look like a vagrant? Are people going to believe you give a crap about your job? NO. If you’re dressed nice, but your hair is greasy and tossed up in a sloppy bun, are people going to believe, at first glance, that you can handle responsibility when you clearly can’t even handle a shower?
I’m being facetious here, but the point is, some under-eye concealer and a swipe of mascara can really make a world of difference. You can look more awake. Alert. Refreshed. Polished. You don’t have to be a supermodel to be successful, that’s not the point. But you DO want to put your best self forward, and your appearance is part of that. Not everyone wants to hear it, but it’s true.

@TropicalOceanSunset@xanga - You can look all of these things without makeup, which would make the requirements to be taken more seriously and to be perceived as more competent gender-equal. You can also look really sloppy WITH makeup on as well.

@LightBlue21@xanga - Well these aren’t really new, but people seem to think that those that are fat are automatically lazy and those that are thin are not. Some people think that those that wear designer clothes and drive an expensive car ,live in a nice house, but may not. I also agree and disagree with you when you said, “I don’t really feel like there is additional pressure on women – they simply have more options when it comes to making themselves look more attractive”. It is true that women have more things to turn to when they want to look good, but, at the same time, men are not expected to be hairless on every part of their body sans their head and eyebrows. Men are not indirectly told that they can’t get a pretty think girl if they’re fat. Look at some shows where the thin wife has a fat husband. Men are not made to be a sex symbol and women are; that’s why we have more things to help make us look good. I’m not trying to start an argument, really, I do like to discuss these types of things.  

@Ashley Nicole Anders@facebook - I don’t think this is a Lovelyish problem at all. The problem is, people are funding superficial studies that don’t help us understand human nature. We’re all conditioned to consider certain features attractive and all this study does is say hey, want to look more like societies standard of beauty? Do this! Lol. Another thing is, so many people will believe this is true just because it was a “scientific” study. I’m all for studying human nature and things that humans are naturally attracted too. I remember reading that long hair, flushed cheeks and youthful looking faces are things that humans are naturally attracted too, but in my opinion that’s bull. All of those features just so happen to be features that are considered attractive by western beauty standards. Do you see where I’m going with this? I said this to the other girl so I’ll say it to you, not trying to start a fight, just wanted to discuss, so don’t take anything the wrong way.

@theflowerstem@xanga - Yeah, I don’t think it’s a Lovelyish problem either, but I do think that if they want to report on clearly biased and clearly pseudoscientific studies, they should make it clear that they are doing so to point out its ridiculousness. I’m just so used to seeing scientific studies being shared because I like to browse through io9 a lot haha. But I agree, it’s ridiculous how these companies feel the need to fund such idiotic studies that are clearly being created to benefit the companies in question. I mean, who is surprised that Proctor and Gamble came up with this conclusion? 

There’s actually a pretty high correlation across cultures as to what is seen as attractive. Most view symmetry and baby face features as the most attractive. 

“The consistency of physical attractiveness ratings across cultural groups was examined. In Study 1, recently arrived native Asian and Hispanic students and White Americans rated the attractiveness of Asian, Hispanic, Black, and White photographed women. The mean correlation between groups in attractiveness ratings was r = .93. Asians, Hispanics, and Whites were equally influenced by many facial features, but Asians were less influenced by some sexual maturity and expressive features. In Study 2, Taiwanese attractiveness ratings correlated with prior Asian, Hispanic, and American ratings, mean r = .91. Supporting Study 1, the Taiwanese also were less positively influenced by certain sexual maturity and expressive features. Exposure to Western media did not influence attractiveness ratings in either study. In Study 3, Black and White American men rated the attractiveness of Black female facial photos and body types. Mean facial attractiveness ratings were highly correlated (r = .94), but as predicted Blacks and Whites varied in judging bodies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)” (the closer a ratio is to 1.0, the higher the correlation). http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/68/2/261/

The good thing is though that one’s appearance, behaviour, and interactions with others based on personal self-image can definitely cause others to treat that person as attractive. In one of my psych classes, there was a study or experiment mentioned in which men and women were to talk on the phone with someone they’d never met. Regardless of the experimenter’s attractiveness, the people who were going to be talking to the experimenter on the phone were either led to believe that the experimenter was attractive or not attractive. Those who thought the experimenter was attractive spoke to that person as is the person was attractive, and thus the experimenter started to speak as someone who feels they are attractive would. And those who were led to believe the experimenter was ugly spoke to them in a different manner, leading the experimenter to behave in ways that someone who thinks they are unattractive would. Very interesting stuff.

@ashleynicole - I agree it is very interesting that study you linked is interesting too. Sometimes it is hard for me to take these studies seriously because I think it leads back to companies wanting to make money, but I like that fact that the study you linked was saying hey, there are things that many different cultures seem to like and here is what it is.

@theflowerstem@xanga - Yep, ever since I got into psychology, I’ve been extremely weary of studies unless clearly acquired from academic sources. There are just far too many pseudoscientific studies out there that get taken seriously, it’s irritating!

I would also like to point out something about the picture posted with this. 

Notice the eyebrows, they are shaped in a unnatural way in both the before and after. Which indicates that the ladies in this picture wear make up in their day to day lives and not just for the study. 
So the women of this study don’t reflect women as a   whole. I would love to see a better study done of this. 
I would also like to say some advice with eyebrows… DO NOT DRAW YOUR EYEBROWS ON UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO… This is the most annoying thing a woman can do to her face. I understand doing this or coloring your eyebrows if they are too light to see and you look like a cave man but gezz. It looks so tacky and unnatural. I can rant of this for hours…

brings up the age old question..lol.. why do wemons wear makeup and perfume??.. heh .. because they are ugly and stink lol

@immoral_sensei@xanga - I don’t see the eyebrow connection. A woman can have unnaturally shaped brows even if she doesn’t wear makeup, as wearing makeup is not a pre-requisite or a co-requisite to tweezing your brows. I wear makeup for instance but no longer tweeze my brows other than the strays between them, And my cousin no longer wears makeup but still tweezes her brows quite noticeably. A lot of women just like to keep groomed, even if they don’t wear makeup. Just like how we usually like to remove body hair. 

Something unrelated… Whenever I see women wearing blush, I feel as though it significantly negatively impacts their appearance. Most women wear too much blush, or the shade won’t suit their natural flush. It just looks fake. Even if it’s applied nicely and in small amounts, I always prefer how a woman’s face looks without any face makeup on, or at least without any blush. Same goes for bronzer. 

@beforedawn@xanga - I wonder why trolls are so notorious for their bad spelling. What, are you collectively against the use of spell check or paying attention in your English courses?

I do not wear make up because my eyes water a lot and I have to rub them a lot so there is no point. I end up looking like an owl. Also I do not think I need to wear make up. Since I am so pale it sometimes looks like I’m already wearing make up haha.

Also cover up and foundation makes me break out worse that I already do, so it’s counterproductive.

@theflowerstem@xanga - When I mentioned that women don’t have additional pressure, I meant in the workforce.

But when it comes to the relationships of  normal, average people, women’s looks are by far one of the most important features when a guy is choosing a partner, and men’s ambition, leadership, and access to resources are one of the biggest things women look for. Plus, men basically like to look at hot women more than women like to ogle at hot men – the reason why there are more attractive women on tv in tv shows, newscasts, etc.

it ages you faster. 

Makeup is made to ‘perfect’ one’s look.  I completely understand how someone would instantly judge a woman by how she looks.  We do judge books by their covers.  The same thing is happening here.  That’s why interviews exist: to find out what lies beneath that red lipstick.

To those that disagree with the study…it’s like saying that someone in their pajamas look just as competent as someone in business attire.  If you appear to be put together (and that includes wearing makeup), you look competent.

Someone mentioned that those that don’t wear makeup typically don’t bother much with the rest of their appearance (hair, clothes)…I definitely agree, which can contribute to this belief that “makeup=competent” theory.

I’ve never once put on make-up…I do just fine.

@prettykay04@xanga - or they just don’t really care whether they look good or not. I’ve heard a lot of girls who don’t wear makeup say that.

Some people can go without makeup and look better than some train wreck makeup people running around out there. 

The key is to know how to wear a minimum amount of makeup and or attire to put yourself on the cusp of natural and like you put a little effort into your morning. A touch of makeup also shows that the person is composed enough to allow time to ready themselves for the day vs like you look like you rolled out of the day and simply switched from pajamas to your work clothes.

If you look like you care bout yourself, others will be more inclined to do so as well. & I myself discovered this not long ago as well. 

BTW the before/during/after shots above are pretty shotty and doesn’t at all support makeup improving a person’s look. They’ve gone from bad looking to unnaturally bad looking.

Proctor and Gamble make Newports, which I smoke, so thanks.

Also, yes, makeup makes up you more successful. Obviously success is a subjective word, but I know for a fact that I make way more money serving with makeup on then without. Really, all I do is put eyeliner on. The first day I did it my boss almost died of shock. Now, he makes me put it on which is kind of sexual harassment but also it makes sense so I don’t look like shit.

Does the physical act of putting makeup on your face make you successful? No.

Does the act of taking care of yourself, combined with other healthy life habits make you successful? Hmmm.

@LightBlue21@xanga -  I agree with your statement about what women look for in men, but I kind of disagree with your statemnt about the vise versa. I think a woman’s looks in reference to her body is what men look for the most; at least that’s what I’ve been reading time and time again. I’m not saying you’re totally wrong because an attractive face or a symmetrical face is important. Men are, like you said, visual creatures and would go for the made up woman more than the non made up woman, but for the mating process I think it would be more complex.

@ashleynicole - The eyebrows are indication that they do in fact spend time in the mirror doing something. It also shows that they care about how they look to a point where they will pluck their eye brows in to a unnatural shape. Most women who do that wear make up.

@immoral_sensei@xanga - There are many women who get their brows done and have never worn makeup, while I’ve met women who wear makeup and have probably never touched their brows in their lives. Your assumptions about the subjects cannot be verified, and there really is no proof that grooming one’s brows makes a study about cosmetics and how women are perceived as being poorly executed from a participant/subject standpoint. As I’ve already mentioned, many women care about how they look and never wear makeup. There’s a local singer I love, and I doubt she’s ever worn makeup, and yet her brows are groomed. My mom also grooms here brows, and only wears makeup on special occasions. 

@theflowerstem@xanga - Men are more inclined to prefer a hips/waist ratio or something, I can’t quite remember exactly. I remember the number though was something like 0.6-0.8 (no idea waht that means though). I don’t think that there’s actually any evidence that men would prefer a woman with makeup though. In my social psych class, we were talking about attraction and our prof had us list off in class things that we look for in each gender in order to be attracted to them, and makeup was never mentioned by any of the guys, but plenty of other things that pertain to appearance were. Actually, there were more personality than look items, and there were equal amount of look items for both genders more or less! In cultures in which there is a greater equality among genders, such as with job opportunities, there is more similarity between what both genders want, which could likely explain why a lot of women are also likely to be more concerned with appearances in more developed, equal societies. 

@Kill_GaryLarson@xanga - And did you ever consider that this occurs because you feel that you “look like shit” without it on? I mean, there are plenty of women who clearly feel that they look amazing without makeup on, and wearing makeup won’t really change how others perceive them. You can take care of yourself and do all those other things without wearing makeup if you don’t want to wear makeup.