According to a new research study done by Professor Richard Russell, with researchers from C.E.R.I.E.S. (Epidermal and Sensory Research and Investigation Center), the amount of contrast in the colors on your face affects how young or old we perceive people. In other words: Blush and lipstick make you look younger.
To find this out, first the researchers looked at pictures of people of various ages and determined that over time, the skin becomes darker while the eyes, lips, and eyebrows lighten, meaning we lose contrast in our faces.
Then, to see how these changes affect our perception of the age of the faces, scientists artificially increased these facial contrasts in the same pictures to see if it changed how old the people were rated. What they found? The faces with more contrast were guessed as younger even though they were the same person at the same age, just with different tones.
This makes sense—we think of rosy cheeks and bee-stung red lips as a mark of youth. Which leads to the thinking that this is why we've come to wear makeup the way we have, darkening or brightening our lips, adding color to our cheeks, and making our lashes more intense. It's all about the drama.
You can read more about the study here. And in the meantime, tell me, did you ever think that red lipstick might be an immediate anti-aging tool before? And are you now thinking of makeup in a different light? Discuss.