A review of the psychological studies on cosmetic behavior and emotion

Psychological studies on cosmetic behavior have increased since the 1980s. These studies have revealed that the effects of cosmetic behavior，including both “caring” cosmetics (skincare） and “embellishment” cosmetics (make-up and fragrances)，on emotion are characterized by activation and relaxation．For example，a woman uses make-up to mentally “wind up” for the day and to create a “public face” before entering into social circumstances．ln the evening，following a day of hard work，she mentally “winds down” by washing off the make-up and by using skincare products to return to her in “private face”. In this way，cosmetic behavior functions as an “emotion regulator” in daily life．