Why Makeup Works
New rules for using this manipulative technology to your advantage (men included)
Makeup is a trick. It’s engineered to amplify evolutionary markers of youth and fertility. And it’s manipulating you, even if you don’t know it.
Makeup uses color theory and optical illusion to alter the facial features. It’s a lever of control that people can use to exploit beauty privilege or signal status. Even if you don’t wear makeup, you should know how it works.
Plus, the rules are rapidly changing. More women are opting out. More men are opting in. It’s become a gender neutral substrate, really. And thus the rules for when, where, and how to wear it have changed dramatically.
"I think people write off makeup as this sort of frivolous thing,” Frances Lorenz told me. “But there's a lot of theory behind it. In the same way you can be interested in chess moves, you can be interested in makeup technique."
You may know Frances from her work as an organizer of EA Global, or her amazing tweets on the sociopolitics of makeup. To get advice on the shifting terrain, I interviewed Frances about makeup and social norms. Her take was decidedly optimistic.
"Makeup has become such a creative space. It’s not siloed by Hollywood makeup artists and the fashion world anymore,” she said. “It’s everybody’s now.”
Why wear makeup?
Historically, people wore makeup to either attract a husband or signal status. From using kohl (made from lead sulfide) as eyeliner in ancient Egypt, to rouge (made from ground beetles and animal fat) in the Victorian era, makeup has been used for centuries to increase attraction and/or conform with elite fashion trends.
The way it works is biological. Blush mimics the natural flush of youthful, healthy skin. Foundation evens out skin tone, reducing wrinkles or dullness. Full lips, bright eyes, and a glowing complexion are tied to hormonal changes associated with fertility. Plus, humans are most attracted to symmetrical faces.
Makeup is a tool to leverage social bias to your advantage. Attractive people make more money, appear more likeable and trustworthy, and are even less likely to be arrested. If there is a lever for more beauty privilege, why not use it?
But beyond the shrewdness of power hierarchies and evolutionary biology, makeup offers a language of nonverbal communication. Experimenting with angles, colors, and shapes broadens your vocabulary for expression.
"You can make yourself look more intimidating, younger, or more open-minded,” said Frances. “You can convey emotions or attitudes with makeup.”
How makeup works
How does this all work? Like painting, makeup uses light, shadow, and color to alter perception and perspective. If you didn’t think makeup was an art before, let us change your mind.
Optical illusion
Radiating lines
In this video makeup artist icon Phyllis Cohen explains the Müller-Lyer illusion, the perceptual trick that makes long eyelashes so effective. The outward-radiating lines make your eyes appear larger.
Light and Contrast
For the uninitiated, contour makeup looks pretty insane. But it’s just chiaroscuro by a different name. By applying darker shades under the cheekbones or along the sides of the nose, it sculpts new angles and adds dimension. Highlighter, placed on high points of the cheekbones and bridge of the nose, mimics the way sunlight naturally hits the face. This gives the lively appearance of someone who has been out in the light of day, as opposed to pale or sickly (also a fitness/biological health signal).
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Volume
Lipstick, gloss, and lip liner accentuate the lips’ shape and fullness. In the same way, border shading in a pencil drawing creates the illusion of three dimensional volume. Lips are already a 3D object, but when you add a dark line around the outside (see Megan Thee Stallion below) and a lighter color at the center, you accentuate curvature and dimension.
Archetypes of constitution
Makeup also works by emphasizing or softening facial features to align with specific archetypes, each of which conveys different social signals.
Youthful / Playful
Makeup can make you look more youthful by simply disguising winkles or signs of aging. Taken further, it can mimic the child-like features of youth. This telegraphs innocence, vulnerability, and/or playfulness. The douyin and igari makeup trends from China and Japan are striking examples. Blush and highlighter create a soft, rounded cheek shape. Eyeliner and shadow define and enlarge the eyes, creating doll-like features. This effect leverages the Delboeuf illusion, where a central object is influenced by the size of the surrounding elements (like in the discs on the top left, below).
These looks often have a dewy appearance, too, Frances said. “The glossier foundation doesn't dry down as much, so you look like you have extra moisture, maybe even a layer of sweat—it gives an impression that’s very youthful and active.”
Confident / Assertive
Harder lines, such as sharp eyeliner or defined brows, create a more structured appearance, projecting confidence or determination.
“If you want to look more edgy, more put together, you might wear matte makeup,” said Frances. “This makes your features kind of airbrushed. Then you would accentuate the sharp lines for cheekbones, jaw, and eyebrows to get that clean, angular look."
Similarly, Phyllis Cohen shows how shading in the hallows of the cheeks and across the brow can make a face appear more masculine. Thanks to gender bias, simply altering contours can transform feminine, playful features to convey dominance and assertiveness.
New rules for makeup
Now that you know the tricks of the trade, should you be wearing makeup? The answer is yes, if you want to.
As a society, there is a growing emphasis on personal choice, inclusivity, and adaptability. The pandemic had a big hand in changing expectations in the workplace. After years of working from home, the expectations for professional makeup/dress are much less formal, although this depends on the industry.
Here are my main pointers for navigating makeup right now:
Choice, not compulsion.
Wearing makeup is a choice. There’s a growing acceptance of natural looks, with Pamela Anderson famously opting out of makeup on the red carpet, and pimple patches flipping the shame/expectation to cover acne with concealer.
However, because beauty privilege is a reality, not wearing makeup comes at a cost in certain environments. It’s a reality that women in highly gendered or stereotypically sexist sectors may feel more pressure to conform to feminine standards of beauty. Similarly, men in bro-y, stereotypically male professions may feel makeup and grooming is stigmatized.
Bucking expectations may incur social costs that some can’t afford. But, take heart, industry trends show that narrow gender/beauty standards are dissolving.
Yes, men can wear it.
The association of makeup with femininity is breaking down. It’s a tool for self-expression across any gender or sexual identity. The growing visibility of male celebrities in makeup, drag queens in mainstream media, and Republican candidates in eyeliner is reshaping traditional norms.
For men who are scared: read this great introduction to makeup article from GQ.
Feel cute. Have fun.
“Makeup notably affects my mood,” said Frances. “When I was younger I was definitely wearing makeup to fit in. But now it’s just fun. When I catch myself in the mirror, I'm like, I look so cute!”
You don’t need to over intellectualize makeup, Frances said. “Finding joy in feeling pretty can be weirdly villainized. But, let’s take it seriously, what is this doing to you psychologically? If you look in the mirror and you feel so much better when you have sparkly eyeshadow on, it's like, how is that hurting anyone? That’s net positive.”
If makeup makes you feel cute, confident, creative—great! But if makeup makes you feel pressured to conform, insecure, or overwhelmed—it’s worth reflecting on why. The beauty industry capitalizes on our insecurities, and social media filters warp our sense of self. Be gentle with yourself and stay vigilant about your cognitive security. Makeup is a creative medium to boost confidence and joy, but you can also back off or opt out at any time.
Be professional, mostly.
Jools Lebron went viral for teaching us what “modest and respectful” means, and she’s spot on. “I don’t look like a clown when I go to work, I don’t do too much,” she advised. “Demure” makeup by her definition is practical and natural, but with a creative flourish.
This rule doesn’t apply as strictly in creative fields, work from home situations, and fashion/art sectors—which allow more creative freedom. But a rule of thumb no matter your industry: only a little cheechee out, not your chocho.
Learn the basics. Break the rules.
If you’re makeup-curious, you should start with Frances’s Intro Guide to Makeup. Her advice is so informed and accessible, and she writes with such a friendly tone. You must learn the rules before you can break them, as they say. “Usually you want to know why there are certain guidelines before breaking out in a way that is meaningful and expressive for you,” said Frances.
Once you feel you have the basics down, you can experiment and iterate in all sorts of new directions. Frances recommends these YouTube channels to get started and explore: Julia Adams, Alexandra Anele, and NikkieTutorials.
In conclusion, makeup can be a tool of manipulation or conformity—but it’s also a rich medium for self-expression and creativity. Knowing the illusions and artistry happening behind the scenes gives you more agency to opt in or out. You can wear makeup to amplify your fertility signals, explore new archetypes, or just feel cute. The choice to wear it—or not—is yours.
“You should be able to have fun and exert your autonomy,” Frances said. “You’re not being forced to carry the burden and pressures of society. It’s literally just fun.”
You’re reading Season 3 of The Ick. The social rulebook has been rewritten in our post-pandemic world—and it's left us wondering, “Am I doing this right?” Season 3 of The Ick is creating a modern field guide to social etiquette and decoding the hidden architecture of human connection. Subscribe here. Find season 1: embarrassing stories here, and season 2: the five senses here.