Matt
A study has revealed that men are perceived as more attractive and masculine when they wear makeup than when they don’t. To judge the attractiveness of 40 men on a scale of 1 to 7, 200 participants were recruited.
However, the 40 photos that the judges were evaluating only included 20 different men in reality, which was not revealed to them. Half of the photos featured these men with completely natural faces, while the other half had their faces carefully made up by a makeup artist to subtly enhance their appearance.
Carlota Batres, a psychologist at Franklin & Marshall College, conducted this study, which was published in PLOS ONE.
“Male faces were found to be more attractive when presented with subtle makeup than when presented without makeup,” Dr. Batres said. “And it’s not just the female judges who have seen this fact, but also the male judges. »
Although the author claims that her study is the first to look at how makeup affects men, men have been wearing makeup for a very long time. In fact, it is only recently in the history of humanity that this practice has become gendered in one way or the other.
The study’s makeup artist was asked to make the subjects’ faces less contrasty, make their skin more even, and emphasize their bone structure, all without drawing too much attention to the fact that they were wearing makeup. All of these techniques can subtly improve the appearance of a face and, dare we say it, make it look more manly.
Dr. Batres points out that previous studies have shown that a decrease in facial contrast makes features look more masculine.
“Men’s bone structure also impacts their perception of beauty,” she said. “Because makeup can affect the perception of skin uniformity, facial contrast, and bone structure, we expected that male faces with makeup would be rated more handsome than male faces without makeup. »
However, there is a contradiction. Four of the 20 men who lent their faces to the study were deemed less attractive by the judges as a result of using makeup. Researchers don’t know what distinguished these faces from others.
Future studies should help determine who benefits most from makeup and which type of cosmetic improves a person’s appearance the most. Scientists say this is just the beginning.
