London - Putting on eyeliner, mascara, foundation and lipstick is part of the daily beauty routine for millions of women.
But many are being heavy-handed with the contents of their cosmetics bag in the mistaken belief that it’s what men want.
A study has revealed that two thirds of British women cake it on for the opposite sex – while three quarters of men say they actually prefer the more natural look.
In fact, almost 40 percent of men think most women wear too much warpaint.
A survey of 1 000 women and 550 men for beauty brand St Ives found that almost one in ten women wear make-up solely to impress the opposite sex.
Half do their face almost 1 500 times a year – and two thirds will spend just three and a half weeks a year make-up free, researchers found. But too much make-up was the top turn-off for men (45 percent), followed by fake tan (33 percent of men), bright red lipstick (5 percent) and false eyelashes or thick eyebrows (four percent).
But over half of women – 52 percent – say they feel better with make-up on and 28 percent lack confidence without it. Some 17 percent said they would cancel a date if they had no make-up handy.
Half of women admit that they typically do their make-up at least four times a day – or 1 460 times a year – and 67 percent go bare-faced just twice a month.
On weekdays, almost a fifth – 17 percent – re-apply their make-up as soon as they get into work. Just over half reach for their make-up bag at lunchtime and 16 percent turn to their products by mid-afternoon to try and perfect their look.
Sir Mick Jagger’s model daughter Georgia May, 22, recently admitted she once wore so much foundation that she finds looking at old photos “terrifying”.
St Ives’ brand manager Pamela Uddin said women spend the majority of their lives “hiding our natural beauty from the world”.
As part of a campaign to encourage more women to go natural, the company persuaded The Only Way Is Essex star Lydia Bright, 23, to ditch her make-up for a photo shoot.
More than 35 products were applied to her face to show what an average week’s worth of make-up looks like. She then removed the lot to highlight the difference.
Bright said: “I want this to show women that you can look better without make-up.
“It’s important to take pride in your appearance but men don’t want a girl who masks herself in make-up.” - Daily Mail