University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
Department of Human, Philosophical and Educational Sciences (DISUFF), University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084, Fisciano (SA), Italy.
Integr Psychol Behav Sci. 2021 Mar;55(1):128-166. doi: 10.1007/s12124-020-09572-x.
Some studies have subtly demonstrated the existence of a tension of ambivalence in women's subjective feelings while wearing makeup. This paper consists in analyzing how feelings of ambivalence towards cosmetics appear in women, and how women feel when they remove or put on cosmetics. The study consists of an online survey and a walk-along experience. The survey included 261 women, among these 229 cosmetics users and 32 non-users. It used the double-blank method while asking the participants to express their feelings about various situations evoking their facial appearance, such as looking at their face when being in front of the mirror. A multiple case analysis of four selected survey respondents has also been done in order to compare 2 regular users and 2 non-users in regard to their way of dealing with tension. The walk-along experience included interviews and observations in the following conditions according to the groups: 1. Removing makeup (for regular users) / wearing makeup (for non-regular users) in front of a mirror; 2. Walking outside in public; 3. Wearing makeup again (for regular users) / removing makeup again (for non-regular users) in front of a mirror. Our findings showed that ambivalent tension (in most users and non-users) was mostly visible through a divergence going from positive feelings (such as feelings of satisfaction) to negative, contradictive feelings and that some similarities were present between users' and non-users' tensions despite the context differences. Ambivalence is shown not only toward the "masked" face (i.e. face with makeup on it), but also the natural face. Makeup is therefore not necessary to experience a tension of ambivalence towards one's own face. However, the tensions revealed themselves as being rather minimal, as the "mask" is minimal itself. An interesting possible direction in future research would be to explore the origin of this ambivalence about the natural (unmasked) face, especially with regard to the appearance of facial skin including the worry about facial flaws such as acne spots.
一些研究微妙地表明，女性在化妆时的主观感受中存在一种矛盾的紧张感。本文旨在分析女性对化妆品的矛盾感受是如何出现的，以及女性在化妆或卸妆时的感受。研究包括在线调查和随行体验。调查包括 261 名女性，其中 229 名是化妆品使用者，32 名是非使用者。它使用了双盲法，要求参与者表达他们对各种情景的感受，例如在照镜子时观察自己的脸。还对四名选定的调查受访者进行了多案例分析，以比较 2 名常规使用者和 2 名非使用者在处理紧张感方面的差异。随行体验包括根据以下条件进行的访谈和观察：1. 在镜子前卸妆（对于常规使用者）/化妆（对于非常规使用者）；2. 在公共场所外行走；3. 在镜子前再次化妆（对于常规使用者）/再次卸妆（对于非常规使用者）。我们的研究结果表明，矛盾的紧张感（在大多数使用者和非使用者中）主要通过从积极的感受（如满足感）到消极、矛盾的感受的分歧来显现，尽管存在背景差异，但使用者和非使用者的紧张感存在一些相似之处。矛盾不仅存在于“面具”脸（即化妆的脸），也存在于自然脸。因此，即使没有化妆，也会对面部产生矛盾的紧张感。然而，这种紧张感表现得相当轻微，因为“面具”本身也很微小。未来研究的一个有趣方向可能是探索这种对自然（未戴面具）脸的矛盾感的起源，特别是考虑到包括对粉刺等面部瑕疵的担忧在内的面部皮肤的外观。
