Effects of Makeup Application on Diverting the Gaze of Others from Areas of Inflammatory Lesions in Patients with Acne Vulgaris

Abstract

Skin manifestations can be major sources of stress for patients with skin diseases; hence, the effective use of makeup and cosmetic products for these patients has been established. The objective of this study was to determine if makeup can divert observers’ gaze from areas of inflammatory acne lesions. Both base and point makeup were applied to two Japanese female patients with mild to moderate acne vulgaris to hide skin manifestations, as well as to accentuate the eyes and lips. Photographs of their faces were shown, at various stages of makeup application, to 22 observers (11 men and 11 women). The effects of makeup application, and other eye-diverting strategies (e.g., clothing, accessories, and hairstyle), used to draw observers’ gaze away from acne lesions, were evaluated by analyzing observers’ eye movements. As base makeup application proceeded, time to first fixation, total fixation duration, and fixation count changed. Compared to “no makeup”, the time to first fixation, total fixation duration, and fixation count also decreased significantly after point makeup application. The additional eye-diverting strategies used also had significant gaze-diverting effects. Therefore, makeup can be useful for patients with acne to divert others’ gaze from lesions. Therefore, it should be actively integrated into acne management.