136 JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE different makeup functions to possible underlying psychological features (i.e., self- esteem, social desirability, anxiety, and fear of negative self-evaluation). Our first result clearly showed that aging was not a discriminating factor in our different makeup functions, and had no influence on the volunteer's psychological characteristics. This interesting result is consistent with those of McCrae and Costa (21), who tested the personalities of individuals between 19 and 80 years for over twelve years and specifically measured their levels of neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The authors concluded that these five personality traits remained relatively stable with age. However, they conceded that their studies were not definitive and that variability across the individual personality was still possible. Concerning the psychological profiles of our subjects, we observed that women using makeup as a camouflage tool (class A) are rather concerned with anxiety and neuroticism, while those using makeup as a "seduction" tool (class B) are rather characterized by higher self-esteem, extroversion, and assertiveness. According to the literature (22,23), female subjects of class A can be classified as having a negative self-perception, worrying more often, and dwelling on frustrations and disappointments. Moreover, subjects with higher neuroticism values were shown to be more distressed on average in comparison with individuals with lower values, and are more susceptible to stressful events (24). On the other hand, female subjects of class B tend to perceive themselves as better than average in communal traits, with more experience of positive emotions, defined as sociability or a tendency to be active and social (25). From these results, it is clear that one's self-image plays a key role in the development of personality. Women with a subjective negative feeling about their image develop defensive mechanisms to cope with low self-esteem and may need to "normalize" or manipulate a perceived impaired ap- pearance. CONCLUSIONS The subjective approach from the self-assessment questionnaire revealed two clearly distinctive classes of subjects according to their functional use of makeup� i.e., "cam- ouflage" vs "seduction." These two classes (and further subclasses) have been associated with specific emotional and psychological profiles. It is clear that our next step will be to further study the impact of related physical parameters such as skin radiance, homo- geneity of skin color, and facial symmetry (26), as well as facial expression patterns, along with the makeup process. Finally, we can conclude that beyond the simple application of colorful products to the face, makeup appears as a holistic technique that modifies not only one's appearance, but also helps one to cope with self-image, emotions, and mood. Therefore, makeup appli- cation can be considered as a daily routine to decrease negative affects and/or increase positive affects related to self-image and one's relation to the social environment. Our results provide experimental support to the link between cosmetics and welfare, and further promote initiatives such as the "Look Good .. . Feel Better" program that was developed in 1989 by the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA). Such a program consists in a free, non-medical, brand-neutral, national public service program supported by corporate donors to help women offset appearance-related changes from cancer treatment. This pioneer study, revealing a psycho-behavioral background for differences in the use of makeup, urges further investigation in order to determine underlying determinants.
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