A young
woman interested in society's obsession with the 'perfect appearance'
has documented the reactions she received from wearing three very
different make-up looks.
Brinton Parker, a 21-year-old senior at the University of California, Davis, wrote on Bustle.com that
she was inspired to conduct her experiment after noticing how her peers
- which she refers to as the '#selfie generation' - constantly
critiqued people's looks.
So
during a single week, she went to school wearing three very different
make-up looks - bare-faced, moderate and heavy - in a bid to measure the
ways it altered how people treated her.
Social experiment: Brinton Parker, a
21-year-old senior at the University of California, Davis, wore three
different make-up looks one week to see what reactions each one elicited
'Because
I am rather outgoing, my classmates and various people with whom I
interacted throughout each day seemed to have no issue commenting on my
appearance,' Brinton, who shared photos from the experiment on Twitter and Instagram, wrote.
'This resulted in a very interesting array of responses for me to jot down with my "experiment" note app.'
On
Monday, Brinton wore absolutely no make-up, noting that she was
'nervous' to debut her all-natural look as she usually dons at least
concealer to brighten up the dark circles under her eyes.
She
was therefore unsurprised when some of the feedback she received from
friends included one boy who asked her: 'Rough weekend?' Later, a
barista told her: 'You look like you could use this!' as he handed her a
coffee.
Going bare-faced: On day one, Brinton wore
absolutely no make-up and found that a lot of people said she looked
'exhausted' and assumed she'd had a 'rough weekend'
On
the second day of her experiment, Brinton wore natural make-up. 'This
level of make-up was the closest to my average look,' she writes,
explaining that her beauty routine that day consisted of concealer,
powdered foundation, mascara, brightening eye pencil, blush, and lip
balm.
'Because I am outgoing, my
classmates had no issue commenting on my appearance'
On this day, she had the most positive reactions to her appearance - although the compliments came only from other girls.
'You
look really pretty today! What mascara do you use?' one classmate asked
her. Another girl told her: 'Your make-up looks really nice.'
Friday,
the third and final day, took Brinton the furthest outside of her
comfort zone as she layered on cream foundation, bronzer, highlighting
cream and setting spray, as well as contouring cosmetics.
Subtle changes: The moderate make-up she wore on
day two had the most positive reactions, and Brinton says it's closest
to the look she usually goes for
Noting
that she was most interested in seeing reactions to this particular
look, she wrote: 'It felt slightly liberating to doll myself up for no
particular occasion, feeling Beyonce-level glam simply for attending my
daily classes.'
Predictably,
her peers were most vocal on this day, with one boy saying to her:
'You're ready for the weekend, huh? You look ready to party.'
Others assumed her uncharacteristic
beauty look was for a special occasion. A barista, for instance asked if
she was performing in the upcoming school play.
Uncharacteristic and over-the-top: On day three,
she wore heavy make-up, leading many people to assume she was getting
ready for a special occasion, like a prom night or a play
And
when she was shopping after classes, a cashier mistook her for a
glammed-up high schooler, saying: 'Do you have prom tonight? Your
make-up is very pretty.'
'It felt slightly liberating to doll
myself up for no occasion, feeling Beyonce-level glam'
While
Brinton's different make-up looks did ultimately alter how people saw
her, she says she's not going to let the experiment affect her own
self-perception.
'My
peers' opinions are just that: opinions,' she wrote. 'What people think
about my face is irrelevant, because my beauty regimen is what makes me
feel good about myself.'
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