Now, before you get the wrong idea I want to make perfectly clear that I do consider myself a feminist, but also a pragmatist! Sometimes you just gotta use what God gave you and say to hell with the rest! You may not think that wearing a little lipstick is going to make a difference either way in your life or career, but it does, and perhaps not in the way that you might assume. You’re probably thinking that I am advocating wearing lipstick to work as some sort of way to please the general vanity of the masses, as though wearing lipstick means that you are trying to make a good impression and make yourself look your very best! It’s true, wearing lipstick probably does have that affect on your co-workers and bosses, either male or female, but that’s not the reason I suggest wearing it! Nor am I suggesting that you wear it to heighten the appearance of your femininity and perhaps make yourself seem more attractive to the opposite sex, thus gaining some competitive edge that usually only works on police officers and speeding tickets!
No, the reason I am advocating that you wear lipstick to work is because it has been scientifically proven to help women get the attention of others during discussions! Don’t ask me where the study is that concludes this, I honestly have never seen it, I have only heard about it! Once, I attended a women’s professional development workshop where the keynote speaker insisted that if you wear lipstick to work, specifically to meetings or during any sort of discussions or negotiations, the people in the room are more likely to give you their attention. It has something to do with your mouth being highlighted by the lipstick so that it draws attention to you and to the value of your words. Pretty interesting I thought! The speaker even went so far as to glance around the room and eventually pointed me out to stand up, saying that my lipstick was so bright (I was wearing a hot pink for sure!) that I got her attention despite the fact that I was seated in the very last row!
I love being made a positive example of, but I really think she was right! For some time before this event I had been wearing bright pink lipstick (in a color that suits me, don’t think I will just pick up any old neon pink I can find!) because I thought it drew attention to me. After all, not many people think they can pull off the color, so most don’t even try. I had been getting compliments on my lipstick for a long while by the time the speaker had pointed me out that day at the meeting, and I have received those compliments ever since. I think that for a long time I had already known what she was telling us, that your lipstick mattered! So make sure you wear it and make sure you pick as bold a color as you can muster! Keeping the attention of a room is a difficult task to achieve, but to think all you need to achieve it is a little bright lipstick and the confidence to wear it!
Do you wear lipstick to work? How do you feel confidence-wise when you wear it? Do you notice that more people pay attention to what you say when wearing it? Has this article inspired you to wear bright lipstick more often? Maybe you think this isn’t true or doesn’t work? Let us know what you think in the comments!
