In the same way that a scientific study dismantled in its day the popular belief that smiling makes us look more handsome, there is also research that affirms that the belief that makeup makes us beautify in the eyes of others is not accurate either.
The results of the same revealed that people (usually women) who apply an excessive amount of cosmetics that does not correspond to their individual preferences or those of the average men and women , moved by a false ideal of beauty.
The team of scientists from the University of Bangor, in the United Kingdom, set out to investigate whether makeup really makes women more beautiful in the eyes of those who observe them, or if their beautifying potential has been exacerbated, as it was. intuiting. To do this, the researchers photographed several volunteers before, during and after putting on makeup to go out at night, and showed the different images to a group of observers made up of both men and women. They were asked to choose from among the three images of each of the females, the one that seemed most attractive to them and the one that they believed would be so for the rest. Both sexes agreed that women were more beautiful with 40 percent less makeup than they finally wore .
The results also revealed that, although the observers personally preferred faces with more natural makeup, they were convinced that the rest of the group would opt for those with more makeup. The finding shows that a false perception prevails about the canon of beauty and about what the opposite sex (and the sex itself) finds attractive , which would lead women, especially models, to mistakenly think that they should put on makeup. excessive to please, when in fact they achieve the opposite effect.
Cosmetics help to quickly and effectively hide (more than diet and exercise) skin imperfections associated with worse health, such as paleness, yellowness or facial asymmetry, which by acting as indicators of genetic quality, reduce our attractive. However, in view of the results of the research, this apparent improvement would only be achieved by using it in its proper measure. If we want to look even more beautiful, we can choose other methods to alter the perception of beauty, such as applying a pleasant smell or wearing red.
