In the past, relative economic health has been directly proportional to the amount of glamour women sport, with fat wallets equating to bright red lipstick and short mini skirts, but now it seems that women have been instead dolling themselves up in an effort to land one of the few men still to have a good job in the current economy.
Cosmetics sales seem to be going up every time unemployment rates do in the UK as the modern woman re-thinks the old, traditional wardrobe trends. Whether it’s purposeful or simply unconscious on their part, women may be trying to increase their attractiveness in order to make themselves more desirable mates for men that are still gainfully employed – a phenomenon that has come to be known in dating circles as ‘the lipstick effect’.
Researchers say that the primitive portions of our brain – the part that wants safety and security, and controls the desire to find and date a good provider – are hard at work during times where the economy isn’t doing its best, with the results being that women tend to spend more of their spare cash on designer clothing, perfume, cosmetics, and other glamourising products during times or economic strife. Researchers expected to see that times where unemployment was high over the last 20 years would lead to flat sales of these types of items, but were instead interested to discover the exact opposite.
Researchers say that the lipstick effect is gender-exclusive, with no analogue on the other side of the coin because men tend to have much less interest in whether they’re dating someone who makes a lot of money, whether consciously or unconsciously. However, experts say that if you’re a man with a well-paying job during a recession, and if you’re looking to begin dating, it wouldn’t hurt to advertise the fact.
