I had to learn how to put on make-up because I performed in theatrical dance competitions and concerts. Before starting work, the only time I would wear any sort of make-up was for:

• dance performances;
• balls and dinner dances; and
• job interviews.

I now wear a little bit of make-up when I go to work. A style coach at university convinced me to wear make-up to work (we also had an etiquette coach, remember?).

One day, when I was going to do fieldwork all day, I decided to skip putting on that bit of eyeliner, eyeshadow and lipstick.

“Hi Joan,” Nuno said when I arrived at work. “Gee, you look tired.”

Whoops. I guess I set the standard for my appearance on my first day in the office.

The next Monday, I decided to do the full make-up thing: foundation, dark eyeliner, eyeshadow, shiny red lipstick.

I ran into Genevieve at the train station.

“Good morning, Joan. You look nice today.”

*Bing!*

Here are my conclusions, then.

• Wearing make-up helps you look prettier.
• But once you start, you can’t stop.
• If you decide not to wear make-up, you forgo the opportunity to look your best.
• However, you don’t run the risk of having an uglier-than-usual day.

I explained all this to Damjan. I’ve been thinking about whether or not I want to step onto the make-up treadmill when I go to Cambridge. New people = opportunity to decide such things.

Damo was not satisfied with the rigour of my study and therefore could not place any confidence in my conclusions. Being the statistician that he was, he proposed I do a blind test.

“Right, Joan. Wear make-up one day and don’t tell me. Ask me if you look pretty today and then write down my response. Then, on another day, don’t wear make-up and do the same thing. We can then compare the results because they’ll be meaningful!”

I wondered whether or not the integrity of the test would be compromised by the general practice amongst boyfriends of never saying to girlfriends that they looked anything less than optimal. Then again, I’ve known Damo to err on the side of honesty over diplomacy on some occasions.

Damo became even more animated: he had found a way to enhance his research proposal. “We can make it a double-blind test!” he said.

“What, both of us can close our eyes? And you can guess if I’m wearing make-up?”

“Perfect!” he crowed.

Figure 1: Scenario A, where woman who normally wears make-up stops doing so briefly

Figure 2: Scenario B, where woman who does not normally wear make-up does so briefly