Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that the color red increases the attractiveness of women. It has also been
found that makeup increases perceived women’ attractiveness for men and was associated with perceived greater
interest for the opposite sex. We hypothesized that women wearing red lipstick would be more favorably
approached by men. Female confederates wearing red, pink, brown and no lipstick were seated in bars on
Wednesday and Saturday nights in a popular spot on the West Atlantic coast of France. Each experimental
session lasted one hour. The number of men’s solicitations and the lead time of the first solicitation were used as
dependent variables. Results showed that the red lipstick condition was associated with a higher number of male
solicitations and a shorter lead time between the arrival of the confederates in the bar and the first courtship
solicitation of a male.

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