Makeup Makes You Look Younger, New Study Reveals Why

Wear makeup, look younger—it's really that simple.

When we look at a person's face, we can tell a lot about them. Our brain makes snap decisions as to whether the person is male or female, attractive or not, or young or old. Dr. Richard Russell, a psychology professor at Gettysburg College, studies the cues to health, age and beauty hidden in our faces. "I'm trying to understand how we recognize other people and make judgments about them based on their facial appearance," he explains.


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Russell has also previously found that makeup tends to increase the contrast between features and the skin. Not only do darkened eyes and redder lips make faces appear more feminine, Russell's discovery now suggests makeup makes women appear younger, too.

"Many people are concerned with reducing the visual signs of aging, and this supports the existence of the multi-billion dollar cosmetic and cosmetic surgery industries," write the authors. "How cosmetics make the face more attractive is one of the key questions for understanding cosmetics," explains Russell. By artificially creating a more youthful appearance, makeup enhances signals of health and vitality. But it's just a piece of the aging puzzle: While the team found contrast was a factor, they also found that other cues, like wrinkles and sagging, played a much larger role in age estimation.

- by Christie Wilcox

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