Did you ever wonder why women intrinsically wear lipstick and eye shadow? Is it all only cultural, or is there some deeper scientific meaning to this?

A scientific study was done and showed people two images of a person. One looked like a woman and the other looked like a man. It turns out the picture was of the same person, but in one photo the lips and eyes were digitally enhanced to make them darker compared to the surrounding skin. This was the image people perceived as female. This demonstrates that our brains interpret faces with more contrast as more feminine. On the other hand, males have less contrast in our faces.

Women intrinsically know this and when they use lip liner and lipstick and eyeliner and mascara, it increases the contrast in those two critical parts of the face for communication, the eyes and the mouth, and this makes the face appear more feminine and therefore more attractive.

I hope you found this interesting and I invite you come back and watch again for our next Medical Minute.