Ladies Wait Four Weeks Before Going Makeup-Free in Front of Boyfriends

Like the eponymous witches of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, all of the heterosexual women in the world have conspired together to hide their true appearances (talons; baldness; square feet) from all men. How deep does this conspiracy go? Well, according to a new study, the average woman will wait four weeks and one day (UNTIL THE DARK OF THE MOON?) before she lets a new boyfriend see her without makeup on.

The survey of 2,000 women finds that women feel far less attractive and confident and far more vulnerable without makeup on (duh). Six out of ten had to make sure their partner liked them enough before unveiling their actual face, which is very depressing. A whole third of women polled were convinced that, had they let their boyfriend see them sans makeup too early into the relationship, it would not have gone anywhere. Seriously? What is the logic here? “Oh, once I’ve acclimated him to my personality via cosmetics, I will sit him down and reveal to him the grizzled Baba Yaga that lurks beneath my foundation. Hopefully his fond memories of me will sustain him through the trauma.”

Some quick points. First of all, womyn of the world, let’s get this out of the way. Everybody together: you’re worth so much more than your appearance. While it’s great that many women feel extremely self-assured through the power of cosmetics, to give the makeup all the credit is really selling oneself short. It’s selling oneself shorter than short. It is selling one into a ditch filled with garbage bags and other refuse. Secondly: makeup is not a magical medium used for casting stunning and unbelievable illusions. While it makes a bit of a difference (sometimes it makes a big difference!), it doesn’t alter your physical appearance beyond reason or belief. Thirdly, if you suspect that your boyfriend would’ve dumped if he’d laid eyes upon your bare face in the first month of your relationship, you should dump him immediately. That guy sucks.

Tellingly, it’s not just heterosexual romance prospects women are loath to face without being made up: 32 percent don’t want colleagues to see them bare-faced, and 20 percent feel the same about their boss. Says Sarah Sharp, spokeswoman for Superdrug, “For many women wearing make-up isn’t just a way of looking attractive, it’s much more than that, it’s a way to be confident and project an image.” Well, okay. Kinda. It’s great that makeup helps women feel confident. Not so much so when their confidence plummets without it.

“Ladies wait for weeks before they dare to go without makeup when they meet a new boyfriend” [Daily Mail]
Image via bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock.