project 365 – day 28: women who wear make-up to work earn 30% more

I read this in my Marie Claire magazine.  According to a study (or report?) from the American Economic Review, women who wear make-up (or I guess, make an effort to look better) earn 30% more than women “who can’t be bothered.”

Maybe it’s high time for me to start wearing foundation!

On a daily basis, I do wear make-up going to work.  My foundation is the Bare Essentuals crap (that never looks like it works except on TV or at the store), eye concealer, some rouge, lipstick, and eyebrow pencil (otherwise, I won’t have any eyebrows at all).  That’s about it.  On days that I have a trial scheduled, I do put on the “war paint” as my fellow co-workers say.  So that’s all of the above, plus eyeliner and mascara.  But even then, I usually stop putting on the works by day 4 cuz I’m just so darn tired. 

But tt’s not that I can’t be bothered.  I do care about what I look like and I do want to look professional (and not scary!)  I just feel that while make-up does make me look better (to a certain point; I know it’s not magic), people at work already know what I look like and have seen me at my most tired version.  My youth has been sapped away over the years, especially while at work! 

Damn these fine lines and wrinkles.  Even though attorneys (and defendants!) butter me up by saying “Oh! I thought you were only in your mid-twenties!” I KNOW BETTER, people!

And why is that the only guys who seem to find me attractive nowadays are the ones facing 5 to 10 years in state prison?