Who Makes More Money—Women Who Wear Makeup or Women Who Don't?

Women who take forever to get ready for work in the morning are often given a hard time for being high-maintenance. Waking up early is hard enough and waking up extra early to apply a whole face of makeup and style your hair is unfathomable to some women (me), but a new study (opens in new tab) shows that those extra minutes some women spend filling in their brows and styling their hair might actually be the reason they're getting paid more at work. 

The Washington Post (opens in new tab) reports that the study, by sociologists Jaclyn Wong and Andrew Penner, confirms the long-standing rumor that attractive people get paid more (20 percent more to be specific) in the workplace than "average" people, but it also defines just what "attractive" means and how that differs for men and women. Because, *news flash*, men aren't really judged on their looks as much as women are. 

Turns out that when it comes to judging women's appearances, attractiveness has way more to do with grooming habits (makeup, hair, outfits) than natural beauty (I woke up like this). And unfortunately, spending more time in the morning on your cat-eye means you'll earn considerably more money at work. 

For men, grooming only made up for half of what was considered attractive.

A direct quote from the Washington Post sums it up best: "According to the researchers, the results suggest that beauty, especially for women, is more of a behavior—'something you do,' rather than 'something you are.'"

One day, I hope to live in a world where people are paid an amount that reflects the work they do, not their, you know, reflection. 

And I don't know about y'all, but I still think that getting some extra ZZZs in the morning is more fulfilling than extra $$$ in the end. 

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