Forms of body decoration exist in all human cultures. However, in Western societies, women are more likely to engage in appearance modification, especially through the use of facial cosmetics. How effective are cosmetics at altering attractiveness? Previous research has hinted that the effect is not large, especially when compared to the variation in attractiveness observed between individuals due to differences in identity. In order to build a fuller understanding of how cosmetics and identity affect attractiveness, here we examine how professionally-applied cosmetics alter attractiveness and compare this effect with the variation in attractiveness observed between individuals. In Study 1, 33 YouTube models were rated for attractiveness before and after the application of professionally-applied cosmetics. Cosmetics explained a larger proportion of the variation in attractiveness compared with previous studies, but this effect remained smaller than variation caused by differences in attractiveness between individuals. Study 2 replicated the results of the first study with a sample of 45 supermodels, with the aim of examining the effect of cosmetics in a sample of faces with low variation in attractiveness between individuals. While the effect size of cosmetics was generally large, between-person variability due to identity remained larger. Both studies also found interactions between cosmetics and identity–more attractive models received smaller increases when cosmetics were worn. Overall, we show that professionally-applied cosmetics produce a larger effect than self-applied cosmetics, an important theoretical consideration for the field. However, the effect of individual differences in facial appearance is ultimately more important in perceptions of attractiveness.

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Facial Cosmetics and Attractiveness: Comparing the Effect Sizes of Professionally-Applied Cosmetics and Identity.

Previous studies have shown that higher levels of self-esteem are associated with better academic performance. However, there is no evidence if make-up can indirectly influence academic achievement...

Does make-up make you feel smarter? The “lipstick effect” extended to academic achievement

Research suggests that the exposure to pictures of good-looking and even slightly above-average-looking females lowers the self-image of exposed women and increases dissatisfaction with their own appearance. This study analyses the effect of perceived instrumental/utilitarian and hedonic/emotional brand benefits on women’s satisfaction with cosmetic brands, focusing on relief from dissatisfaction with one’s self-image as one of four identified emotional brand experiences. A survey of 355 women was carried out, assessing instrumental and hedonic brand benefits of the brand used by each interviewed participant, as well as the degree of satisfaction with the surveyed brand. The collected data was modelled using structural equation analysis. Results indicate that utilitarian and hedonic brand benefits both contribute to satisfaction with cosmetic brands – with an overall stronger influence of emotional consumption experiences. The greatest influences were found for the feeling of relief from dissatisfaction with one’s self-image. This research reveals that one of the mechanisms through which cosmetics advertising works is by lowering women’s self perception in the first place and then delivering relief from this negative feeling as an emotional benefit through the brand. However, from an ethical point of view, such a strategy is questionable, especially given the problems of eating disorders and body dysmorphia.

	 

	Key words: Brand associations, physical attractiveness, cosmetics consumption, advertising, women’s psychology.

Women satisfaction with cosmetic brands: The role of dissatisfaction and hedonic brand benefits

Free to read Skin temperature is an important physiological measure that can reflect the presence of illness and injury as well as provide insight into the localised interactions between the body and the environment. The aim of this systematic review was to analyse the agreement between conductive and infrared means of assessing skin temperature which are commonly employed in in clinical, occupational, sports medicine, public health and research settings. Full-text eligibility was determined independently by two reviewers. Studies meeting the following criteria were included in the review: 1) the literature was written in English, 2) participants were human (in vivo), 3) skin surface temperature was assessed at the same site, 4) with at least two commercially available devices employed—one conductive and one infrared—and 5) had skin temperature data reported in the study. A computerised search of four electronic databases, using a combination of 21 keywords, and citation tracking was performed in January 2015. A total of 8,602 were returned. Methodology quality was assessed by 2 authors independently, using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. A total of 16 articles (n = 245) met the inclusion criteria. Devices are classified to be in agreement if they met the clinically meaningful recommendations of mean differences within ±0.5 °C and limits of agreement of ±1.0 °C. Twelve of the included studies found mean differences greater than ±0.5 °C between conductive and infrared devices. In the presence of external stimulus (e.g. exercise and/or heat) five studies foundexacerbated measurement differences between conductive and infrared devices. This is the first review that has attempted to investigate presence of any systemic bias between infrared and conductive measures by collectively evaluating the current evidence base. There was also a consistently high risk of bias across the studies, in terms of sample size, random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding and incomplete outcome data. This systematic review questions the suitability of using infrared cameras in stable, resting, laboratory conditions. Furthermore, both infrared cameras and thermometers in the presence of sweat and environmental heat demonstrate poor agreement when compared to conductive devices. These findings have implications for clinical, occupational, public health, sports science and research fields.

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Does the technique employed for skin temperature assessment alter outcomes? A systematic review

Makeup usage in women as a tactic to attract mates and compete with rivals

Makeup acts and stimulates three of our senses: touch (which encompasses all sensations from the body surface), smell (fragrance), and sight (the process of becoming and looking beautiful). The positive stimulation of these senses by makeup can induce sensory as well as psychological pleasure. In order to understand the relationship of women to their makeup, we interviewed different groups of women on their quality of life and makeup habits. Then, through four standard well-validated psychometric self-questionnaires, we examined the possible relation between the need to make up oneself and specific psychological features. Our first results clearly showed that makeup could support two opposite "up" functions, i.e., "camouflage" vs "seduction." Concerning their psychological profiles, results showed that women of the functional class "camouflage" are more anxious, defensive, and emotionally unstable compared to those of the functional class "seduction," who appear to be more sociable, assertive, and extroverted. Further analyses revealed a division of the two classes into subclasses of volunteers with opposed personality and psychological profiles. This new classification allowed us to define more precisely the relations existing within the subjective experience of women during the makeup process. In conclusion, our study revealed that beyond the simple application of colorful products on the face, makeup has two major functional implications depending on specific psychological profiles of women.

Why women use makeup: implication of psychological traits in makeup functions.

Background/aims: The individual perception of the radiance is difficult to define and quantify because it often includes physiological and psychological attributes. Although if they are differences in the perception of the skin radiance, dermatologists and experts in cosmetology consider that the complexion must reflect the general health of an individual. The aim of this work was to determine existing conditions of skin radiance via digital image analysis, consumer's perception and experts' evaluation, and propose a mathematical model to quantify the global radiance phenomenon.

Methods: A round table meeting was organized in order to have free discussions about skin radiance. The qualitative assessment of skin radiance was carried out using a self-assessment questionnaire constructed according to the information obtained from the round table meeting. A simplified version of this questionnaire was proposed to experts. One hundred female subjects belonging to three different age groups (20–30, 30–40, 40–50 and >50 years old) participated in the study. Facial images were taken using a video imaging with visual control system to ensure consistency of images among volunteers. From these images, algorithms based on the principle of polynomial approximation, segmentation by maximalization of the entropy and the Logarithmic Image Processing model were required to extract skin radiance parameters. Multiple regression analysis was used to establish, via consumer's perception of the skin radiance and experts' evaluation studies, the degree to which each of the independent parameters contributes to the skin radiance perception.

Results: All the items of the self-assessment questionnaire explained 74% of the variation of the skin radiance. Data from experts' analysis explained 87% of the variation of skin radiance. In the two cases, skin radiance appeared to be independent of age and the presence of wrinkles. From the image analysis, we observed that the skin surface parameters explained 20% of the variation of the skin radiance expressed by experts and 24% of the variation of the skin radiance expressed by volunteers. As a result, about 80% of the variation is not explained by the instrumental data. If we combine experts' analysis and instrumental data, we obtain a mathematical model that explains 92% of the variation of the skin radiance.

Conclusion: The questionnaire constructed from this brainstorming session allowed volunteers and experts to judge their perception of skin radiance more precisely. Video imaging appears as an interesting method to quantify visual properties of the skin and to visualize what the consumer perceives of skin radiance. However, the mathematical model proposed from the skin surface parameters analysis does not totally explain the global perception of skin radiance. In the future, it will be necessary to develop new data-processing programs to quantify subjective parameters in order to validate our mathematical model.

Characterization and quantification of the skin radiance through new digital image analysis

we examined the possible relation between the need to make up oneself and specific psychological features. Our first results clearly showed that makeup could support two opposite "up" functions, i.e., "camouflage" vs "seduction." Concerning their psychological profiles, results showed that women of the functional class "camouflage" are more anxious, defensive, and emotionally unstable compared to those of the functional class "seduction," who appear to be more sociable, assertive, and extroverted. Further analyses revealed a division of the two classes into subclasses of volunteers with opposed personality and psychological profiles. This new classification allowed us to define more precisely the relations existing within the subjective experience of women during the makeup process. In conclusion, our study revealed that beyond the simple application of colorful products on the face, makeup has two major functional implications depending on specific psychological profiles of women.

Why women use makeup: Implication of psychological

Background/aims: The purpose of this work was to develop a new sensor for objective in vivo measurement of the cutaneous temperature based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), and to compare these performances with those of a classical thermocouple. Research on this new sensor was carried out to allow the quantification of the thermal properties of the made-up skin.



Methods: Sixteen female subjects divided into two different age groups (18–35 and >50 years old) were recruited for this study. Several zones of the face and forearms were made up at random with foundations containing or not a thermoregulator raw material. The quantity of foundation applied on the skin was standardized and measurements were carried out first before make-up, and then 10 s and 5 min after make-up. The new sensor and the thermocouple were used successively on each zone. The cutaneous temperature was expressed in degrees celsius.



Results/conclusion: The two systems are similar in terms of repeatability and reproducibility, with some differences in sensibility. The data measured by the MEMS sensor appear lower than those measured by the thermocouple. After make-up, the MEMS sensor detects a progressive increase of the temperature in time whereas the thermocouple detects a decrease. We found the same evolution on the face but in a more attenuated way. These results tend to show that the devices do not measure the same phenomenon. The thermocouple appears more sensitive to the thermal response of the made-up surface whereas the MEMS sensor appears more sensitive to the heat transfers in the interface between the skin and make-up.

Development of a new sensor based on micro-electro-mechanical systems for objective in vivo measurement of the cutaneous temperature: application to foundations.

Germaine Gazano

Papers

Why women use makeup: implication of psychological traits in makeup functions.

Characterization and quantification of the skin radiance through new digital image analysis

Why women use makeup: Implication of psychological

Development of a new sensor based on micro-electro-mechanical systems for objective in vivo measurement of the cutaneous temperature: application to foundations.