London - The average woman doesn't feel comfortable about her appearance until she has been with her partner for one year and seven months.
Beauty habits - such as bleaching or waxing moustaches, plucking eyebrows and chin hairs - are kept secret during the beginning of relationships, with some men never privy to what goes on behind closed bathroom doors.
Three-quarters of 1,000 women polled by QVS Beauty Tools Experts said the longer they remain in a relationship the less they are concerned with keeping up a 'perfect' image.
Among the pampering habits which escape the clueless partners are the waxing or bleaching of moustaches and the extensive plucking of eyebrows, nose hair and chin whiskers.
Wearing push-up bras, false eyelashes and control pants are all tricks women confessed to resorting to.
Coyly applying fake tan and wearing hair extensions for extra volume are also secrets uncovered in the poll.
For many women, their beauty routines are a top secret operation, with four out of 10 women saying they deliberately hid the details of their regime.
But for five percent of women, even a year and half wasn't even enough for them to feel comfortable - one in 20 women having never allowed their partner to see them without a full face of make-up on.
Despite their best efforts, the study revealed that all their hard work may be going unnoticed with more than a quarter of the 1,000 men polled claiming they have no idea what elements make up their wife or girlfriend's beauty routine.
Most men agreed that they want to keep it that way, with seven in 10 saying they would rather be kept in the dark about what she gets up to behind the bathroom door.
But one in 10 said they would be shocked to learn that their other half wore cleavage enhancing bras or pants that sucked her in.
A quarter said they would also be surprised to find out she wore false nails, coloured contacts or had veneers on her teeth and one in 10 couldn't believe their other half would resort to wearing false tan.
The research suggests that men are being kept out of the loop deliberately, with a quarter of women said they would be left embarrassed if their partner caught them carrying out certain preening tasks.
Shaving the bikini line, waxing or bleaching facial hair and plucking nasal hairs were named as the most mortifying if discovered.
A spokeswoman from QVS says that hiding beauty habits is something that is extremely common among women.
'All women will be able to relate to locking themselves in the bathroom to carry out top secret beauty tasks they don't want their partner to know about.
'Waxing or plucking unwanted hair and smothering yourself in fake tan aren't particularly alluring things to do, so it's understandable women don't want to broadcast these jobs to their other half.'
She added that although this kind of behaviour is expected, some women are probably taking it too far.
'Most women of course have a regime that makes them look and feel better and the longer you have been with someone they more comfortable you feel in their presence.
'Getting up extra early to apply false eyelashes or to put in hair extensions on a daily basis to avoid your partner finding out you wear them does seem extreme.'
The spokeswoman continued to say that men should be flattered by the efforts their partners go to in order to impress them.
'Hair removal seems to be the most embarrassing thing that women would prefer to keep from their partner.'
'But in a way, it's a compliment to the men in their lives that they are prepared to go to such lengths to look good and keep it a secret.'
HOW LONG INTO A RELATIONSHIP DO WOMEN FEEL COMFORTABLE?
Immediately - 2.92 percent
0.5 years - 16.26 percent
1 year - 23.76%
1.5 years - 10.67%
2 years - 18.42%
2.5 years - 5.84%
3 years - 8.01%
3.5 years - 1.27%
4 years - 1.78%
4.5 years - 0.64%
Five years or more - 10.42%
Average - one year and seven months
Daily Mail