Half Of Women Are Dependent On Makeup, Study Says

Do you always put on at least a little concealer and lip gloss before leaving the house? You're not alone, especially if you do it because you feel like you need it.

A new study by the Harris poll, conducted on behalf of the Renfrew Center Foundation which researches eating disorders, shows that 44% of women feel unattractive without any makeup on.

The study also found that one-quarter of women started wearing makeup at age 13 or younger.

If you've been swiping on the mascara since you were a pre-teen, we can see why it might be hard to feel totally confident without it. But going easy on the eyeliner might, weirdly enough, have positive effects on your career: A previous study in the UK revealed that one out of three bosses believe women sometimes wear too much makeup to work.

We can't speak for all women, but we recently started going totally makeup-free on the weekends, and we're loving it. And even stars like Julianne Hough, Marion Cotillard and Bar Refaeli all stepping out without face paint.

Perhaps we'd all do well to embrace our natural faces and not think of makeup as something we "need" to face the outside world.

But maybe you already do! Tell us in the comments, and click over to UPI to read more findings from the survey.

Comments

[femanist]

02:10 PM on 03/14/2012

Before I say this I should say: I'm not claiming that women only wear makeup to appeal to men--far from it, I know the most women who wear makeup every day feel they need it to be self-confident in general.
But if any woman reading this feels that ONE of the reasons to wear makeup is to appeal to men, just know that neither I nor any other man I know notices any difference between "naturally made up faces" and clean faces when they see the before and after, and when we can see the makeup, we almost universally prefer faces without.
To me, makeup just seems like a product created by corporations to fill a need that isn't there, which they then advertise in such a way to pretend there is a need--like telling third world mothers that breast milk is bad for babies, so they should buy formula instead. Makeup just seems the ludicrous creation of sexist and greedy men to me.

[Rebecca Fetler]

10:11 AM on 03/01/2012

I don't usually go out of the house unless I have at least a little mascara on. My eyelashes are very light in color--as well as shorter than most women's--so going a little heavy on the eyeliner and mascara gives me a bit of a confidence boost. I don't think there's anything wrong with the stuff if it makes you happy to wear it. It all depends on the individual. Just be sure to practice healthy habits while wearing it--don't ever go to bed without washing your face beforehand, and throw away anything you've had longer than 6 months (makeup DOES expire, eventually).

[tavvie]

02:55 AM on 03/01/2012

Worn make-up for years, it gives me a confidence that I quite like. There's something to be said for the process, the "transformation", if you will. It gives me time to reflect on the day before and get ready for the day ahead.

[eilish]

10:30 PM on 02/29/2012

I've worn makeup since I was 14. I went to my 40th high school reunion this summer and thought "Who are all these wrinkled gray-haired people?"

For me, lots of sunscreen over the years and I still use a vegetable hair dye from Italy on my hair which is cheap compared to my hairdresser. I try to use makeup that is organic and don't have a heavy hand with it, but my eyes are my best feature and they disappear without something.

Yeah, I'm vain and don't like the aging, will do a few things to stave it off for a while but eventually I'll stop using makeup due to the wrinkles I'm gonna get.

[onwisconsin]

10:03 PM on 02/29/2012

My hair is red and my eyebrows and eyelashes are clear. Not blonde; clear. A complete absence of pigment.
To workout or swim I don't wear foundation (though I will still sometimes don auburn brow pencil with a little brown waterproof mascara. I have thick and long eyelashes -- they're just clear!!

[tavvie]

02:51 AM on 03/01/2012

Same here! Clear eyelashes/brows!

[AllenHall]

05:07 PM on 03/19/2012

FWIW, I think clear lashes are sexy. I doubt I'm alone.

[Leilani Janaye]

08:08 PM on 02/29/2012

I almost never wear it. My friends think I'm nuts, but if I have the tiniest bit on, I feel like I look like a clown. Anytime I get brave and put a little on, I have to ask do I look like a freak? And my friends always answer that they can't even tell I'm wearing any at all. Idk, I just think ppl should look like ppl.

[usamade]

11:03 AM on 02/29/2012

Back in the 80's the racoon eye was really in and I didn't leave the house without it. As I married and had children I found I liked my bare face. Now that I'm in my late (and I mean late "49") 40's, I find that I need something.

I not so much wear makeup but shadow my face to reduce the look of sagging. I don't know why as I get older I feel I need some. Lauren Hutton face disc is my best friend these days.

[mzrecycle]

09:34 AM on 02/29/2012

I wore makeup from H.S. on. Once I was married and had children, it was only for going out. Decades later, I'm married to a guy who doesn't really like makeup. I only wear some when going to a wedding, etc.. I just got back from renewing my license and because I would have that picture with me for years, I wore some foundation, bit of blush, mascara and brow pencil. A little lip gloss with tint finished off my look.

One reason I don't wear makeup much: I'm far sighted and now need reading glasses. When I try to put on eye makeup, I can't really see what I'm doing. Liner, eye shadow, mascara, take forever to get right and to check by putting on my glasses. I used to wear contacts, but my eyes got dry so I quit them. I've just decided no one that I really care about really cares if I don't wear makeup and it saves a lot of time and trouble.

[worriedinvt]

12:28 AM on 02/29/2012

I never wore more than eyeliner, mascara, lipstick and blush for make-up when I was young, but I started as a freshman in highschool. I never really got into the whole foundation, powder, contouring thing.

By the time I was 40 the blush was a distant memory and, by 50, I had dropped the rest. After a couple more years, I stopped coloring my hair.

I eat right, exercise, wear sunblock and still feel like I look reasonably okay for my age, with relatively few wrinkles to complain about. It could be much worse, so I'm content to be me.

Forty years of artifice was enough for me. I felt I'd earned a reprieve.

[FearlessFreep]

11:33 PM on 02/28/2012

As opposed to a HEALTHY addiction, I suppose.

[eilish]

10:33 PM on 02/29/2012

Let's see, I'm addicted to the gym at least 4 times per week, veggies, fruits, organic proteins/dairy, nuts and absolutely do not eat sugar or wheat products.

I've just had my 5th negative ANA and have been declared lupus-free after 17 years.

[RoughCollie]

06:34 AM on 03/01/2012

OMG, you're my hero! LOL

I am 95% sure I have Lupus since my tests were neg for MS, Lyme and other stuff and right on the highest number of normal on ANA. Beginning in Nov. I went from doctor to neurologist to emergency room and no one can tell me what is wrong. Finally decided that if I was going to stay alive I better help myself since no one else could anything for me so I cut gluten, dairy and most animal protein, stopped drinking that glass of wine with dinner, upped my berries, greens, nuts and fruit consumption and added 10,000iu of Vit D3 and high dose Omega 3. Holy Toledo, it was like a slow miracle! But I couldn't exercise because when I did it would trigger a terrible fatigue flare.

After 2 months of clean eating I just have the headache and brain fog left and just tried adding ginko biloba and I exercised yesterday for the first time since January and didn't get one of those "hit the wall" experiences so I'm thinking I can slowly ease back into it now. Haha..as for makeup, it's just harmless soul medicine that helps make a difficult day a bit more bearable.

[yukti]

04:44 PM on 02/28/2012

l love my kohl and I don't like to step out without it :-), been doing it for almost 10 years now.

[Sistagirl Young]

04:02 PM on 02/28/2012

Nope. Don't even wear lipstick or whatever they wear today. Looks good to me I does. If otha folk don't think so...I don't recall askin' 'em. Whatever an individual feels is right for them is the way I see it. Folk say it'll make you look betta. No it won't. It'll make you look different. In 62 years I ain't had no problems. Did wear a lil' mascara, but I'd forget I had it on and would rub my eyes when I got sleepy. That did it. Sista's how ya put on false eyelashes? Tried it once. Took a while to get the 1st one on. Lost the second one. Finally found it on the bottom of my shoe. There went the false eyelashes. Just easier for me to avoid all them hassels. Life.

[sextonfan]

02:26 PM on 02/28/2012

As a black woman, I tend to get acne scars when I break out so I used to wear full-on foundation to cover it up. Now I just treat the scars with creams to counter hyperpigmentation and don't wear much makeup anymore.

It's so freeing to be able to wear less, and I always encourage friends to treat their skin problems rather than cover them.

[BadSparkle]

02:16 PM on 02/28/2012

Most men think they prefer when women don't wear makeup, but most only ever know she's wearing anything when she has her eyes all done up. I saw a poll of pictures of models wearing no makeup, minimal (foundation, blush, mascara), and heavy makeup and when men were questioned, hands down they preferred the women wearing minimal makeup, which they thought was a no makeup picture. They said the women wearing nothing at all looked "homely" and "sick."

Bottom line, I wear it because I like to. I am perfectly fine without it, too. And men still don't know much about women. lol

[blizzard2588]

03:24 PM on 02/28/2012

Yes, and the "minimal" makeup is what these celebrities are wearing when they keep saying they are going without makeup. No they're not. A little makeup is different than NO makeup.

[Frnchfrie]

02:12 PM on 02/28/2012

Makeup free for my entire adult life. Just colored lip gloss. I love cosmetics though.. But I also love the challenge of not wearing it. It forces me to maintain excellent skin care and beautifully groomed eyebrows. This has been my secret to having not to wear it. If it's a night time event, depends. I still find myself fighting to put eye makeup. I also enjoy being different. If everyone is wearing black, I'll wear white.

[eilish]

10:35 PM on 02/29/2012

As you age you often lose the eyebrows. It's a real pain.