Women spend 9.5 days a year applying make-up

British women spend an average of 9 days, 15 hours and 24 minutes a year putting on their make-up, and mascara tops the list of products they can't live without, according to new data.

The research by www.MakeupBrushes.co.uk looked at the habits of 2,496 British women who wear make-up daily. The results showed that the average woman spent 4 hours and 27 minutes per week applying make-up, which equates to 17 hours and 48 minutes per month, or 231 hours and 20 minutes per year.

When asked why they spent so long applying make-up, the most common reasons given were “I prefer the way I look with make-up on” (41%), “I feel more professional/confident with make-up on” (36%) and “I get more respect/attention when wearing make-up” (15%).

Respondents were then asked to select the one make-up item they couldn’t live without and the top five answers were: mascara, with 20% of the response, lipstick with 16%, eyebrow pencil at 15%, concealer (12%), and blusher (9%).

When asked what reaction they got when they went without make-up, the most common responses were “people question my general health/wellbeing” (67%) and “people assume I’m upset” (32%).

Stacey Fletcher, Makeup Artist for MakeupBrushes.co.uk, commented: “A common misconception is that we women apply makeup each day to impress those around us, but that simply isn’t the case – most of us wear makeup because we like it, it’s a form of expression and we can control our own appearance to suit our mood or day.”