Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 3;17(11):e0275662.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275662. eCollection 2022.

Makeup increases attractiveness in male faces

Affiliations

Makeup increases attractiveness in male faces

Carlota Batres et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Makeup is commonly attributed with increasing attractiveness in female faces, but this effect has not been investigated in male faces. We therefore sought to examine whether the positive effect of makeup on attractiveness can be extended to male faces. Twenty men were photographed facing forward, under constant camera and lighting conditions, with neutral expressions, and closed mouths. Each man was photographed twice: once without any cosmetics applied and another time with subtle cosmetics applied by a professional makeup artist. Two hundred participants then rated those 40 images on attractiveness. The male faces were rated as higher in attractiveness when presented wearing makeup, compared to when presented not wearing makeup. This was true for both male and female raters, and whether analyzing the data using a by-participant or a by-face analysis. These results provide the first empirical evidence that makeup increases attractiveness in male faces. Following work on female faces, future research should examine the effect of makeup on several other traits in male faces. The market for male cosmetics products is growing and evolving and this study serves as an initial step in understanding the effect of makeup on the perceptions of male faces.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Example stimuli.
Two of the participants without cosmetics (left) and with cosmetics applied by a professional makeup artist (right).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Ratings of attractiveness depending on makeup condition.
Comparison of attractiveness ratings for male faces with no cosmetics and with subtle cosmetics applied by a professional makeup artist. Error bars indicate the standard error of the mean.

References

    1. Batres C, Russell R, Simpson JA, Campbell L, Hansen AM, Cronk L. Evidence that makeup is a false signal of sociosexuality. Personality and Individual Differences. 2018;122:148–54.
    1. Graham JA, Jouhar AJ. The effects of cosmetics on person perception. International Journal of Cosmetic Science. 1981;3(5):199. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-2494.1981.tb00283.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mulhern R, Fieldman G, Hussey T, Leveque JL, Pineau P. Do cosmetics enhance female Caucasian facial attractiveness? International Journal of Cosmetic Science. 2003;25(4):199–205. doi: 10.1046/j.1467-2494.2003.00188.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Etcoff NL, Stock S, Haley LE, Vickery SA, House DM. Cosmetics as a feature of the extended human phenotype: Modulation of the perception of biologically important facial signals. PLoS One. 2011;6(10). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025656 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Batres C, Russell R. Examining the Influence of Cosmetics on Jury Decisions. Cosmetics. 2020;7(3):64.

Publication types