HOW DOES MAKE-UP CHANGE YOU?

Make-up is very much a part of day-to-day life for many of us, myself included. It's part of our every day routines: we wake up and, before we're ready to face the day, we apply our cosmetics and step out into the world. It's not a question of confidence - although many of us feel like we look better when we at least have something on - it's more about how we want to present ourselves. The startling thing is how different make-up can make our faces look. Whether it's through contouring so we can give the illusion of cheekbones or by sculpting our lips so they look bigger or smaller. Looking at these celebrities just shows how much difference a full face of cosmetics can make. 

The majority of the women shown here are all deemed to be beautiful but does society deem them beautiful when they're covered in make-up or when they're bare faced? It would seem that we put a lot of store by them when they're prepared, preened and prettified for the red carpet but we rip them apart when they dare to come out wearing very little or nothing on their skin. According to research conducted in France those of us that make an effort to put make-up on every day are more 'socially acceptable' to others than those who don't.

The theory says that because the majority of social information comes from centre of the face - the eyes down to the mouth - anything that can cause a distraction on the face (spots, areas of discolouration, tide lines of foundation etc) will cause our brains to focus less on the person we're interacting with and more on those 'imperfections'. As we aren't giving them our full attention we then subconsciously rank them lower in our personal social hierarchies than someone who didn't have these 'imperfections'.  Tests carried out by the pharmaceutical giant Proctor and Gamble discovered, after showing people pictures of women of all ages and ethnicities with and without make up, that it was thought the pictures showing women with make-up were seen more competent, attractive and likeable. Some employers now require their female staff to wear cosmetics as part of their contract because research suggests customers and clients are more likely to respond to them whilst they do their job. 'Too much' or heavy make-up is apparently enough to make people wary of trusting you though - it's deemed that you might be hiding something.

What do you think? How does make-up change you?

I just thought I'd include a 'with' and 'without' make-up of me too. This is my 'every day' work look which I pare back at the weekends or when I'm with friends or sometimes really amp up with a bright lipstick. I'm personally not that bothered about stepping out without make-up when I'm seeing friends or I'm nipping to the shop (I go to the shop in my pyjamas sometimes so why would I mess with make-up that early in the morning?) but, looking at the pictures, I can definitely see the difference. For starters I look healthier with a bit of concealer under the eyes. Food for thought perhaps...