Are We Wearing Make-Up to Attract Men?

In rather disheartening news, a study in the UK on women’s make-up routines revealed that a good two thirds of British women are slapping on make-up, and lots of it, in the hopes that this is what men will find most attractive, not because they just feel nice or empowered or happy wearing make-up, which we’d like to have thought. Alongside this, the same study shows that contrary to what these women think, the men they’re hoping to attract actually prefer women who wear less make-up, which isn’t too much of a surprise, especially after the deluge of positive comments that came with the No Make Up Selfie trend.

Let’s ask the men of Ireland, do you prefer when women are entirely make-up free? Or is it the ‘barely there’ make-up look that you’re a fan of, the wonderful trick of the trade in which we’re made up to look as though we’re not… made up?

The Telegraph are discussing this study, via The Daily Mail, in which 40% of men surveyed agreed that most women wear far too much make-up, 45% of men said it was the biggest turn-off, followed by fake tan, bright red lipstick, false eyelashes and thick Cara Delevingne type eyebrows.

As part of the survey of 1000 women and 550 men for St Ives, it transpired that 1 in 10 women are wearing make-up to impress the opposite sex.

Suggesting that perhaps we need to give our skin a break from all this warpaint, half of the women said they apply their make-up 1,500 times a year, up to four times a day (WHAT?!) while two thirds will give their skin a break for only three and a half weeks of the year.

Other findings suggest that half of the women surveyed say they feel better when wearing make-up, which is certainly believable, while 28% admit to feeling a dip in their confidence levels when going make-up free. Would you leave the house without your face on? 14% of these women wouldn’t.

(Gwyneth Paltrow’s No Make-Up Selfie, via Instagram)

So eager are these women to remain fully painted at all times, almost a fifth of them admit to reapplying their make-up the minute they get into the office.

Though only 1000 women were surveyed, this is pretty extreme stuff. Is this reflective of Irish women too? Are we in a collective crisis of confidence wherein we’re just short of having a panic attack should we leave the house and forget our make-up bag? And while we certainly agree that make-up can have all kinds of empowering effects on us as women, are we wrong to wear it for the purpose of attracting the opposite sex?

Share your thoughts below.

@CarolineForan