- Your face is always beautiful.
That lipstick sucks.
(squeaks)
- This week, I'm gonna find out
if people really judge you differently
based on your lip color.
When I was younger, I was always a little apprehensive
about trying different lip colors.
I remember this one time I walked into a makeup store
and I put on a dark black lipstick.
And I thought I looked so cool.
But one of my friends just automatically told me
to take it off and told me that I looked goth and scary.
It was just so strange to me
because, one, I think goth stuff is really cool
and two, I don't really think that wearing
a different lip shade
all of a sudden changed my personality.
It was then that I realized that the makeup that you wear
really makes people see you differently.
So this week, I'm gonna try four different lip shades
to see if people perceive me differently
based on them.
So I'm gonna wear a black shade
to bring out the inner goth in me.
A bright pink lipstick which I'm not used to.
Kind of a bright green lipstick,
but it's totally out of this world for me.
And I'm also going to be wearing
a bright red lip.
So I'm gonna do three different tests.
I'm gonna go around the office
and see how my friends react.
Next, I'm gonna go on the street
and see how strangers feel about my lip shades.
And finally, I'm gonna do a blind survey
to get an honest opinion of how people really feel
about my lip shades.
Let's give it a go.
So the first lip shade I'm gonna be trying
is the black one.
Oh my god.
Yeah, I definitely look like
my Catholic school's worst nightmare.
All right.
Day one.
Here we go.
- I see you as the exact same.
The fucking night lip during the day.
So maybe yeah.
I'm judging you.
- It looks good.
- I sent a picture of my face to my sister,
and she sent me back a picture of Marilyn Manson
and says, "That was my first reaction."
- I'll admit that if I didn't know you,
I would think you were a little witchy.
- You look unhappy.
- I'm starting to realize that a lot of people
at my work office are kind of used to this kind of stuff.
So it'll be interesting to see what people think
out on the street.
So we're out here on the streets of Hollywood.
I'm gonna go see what people think of my lip color.
Let's do this.
Please be completely honest with me.
What does my lip color say about me?
- If I saw you walking down the street,
I would've been like, "Queen!"
- What kind of judgements would you make on me
based on this lip color?
- Edgy.
Confident.
You look like somebody I wanna be friends with.
- You look bad ass.
- Thank you.
I look bad ass.
So often people who wear bright pink
or purplish lipsticks are perceived as attention seekers.
I'm gonna wear it any ways.
But I kinda wanna see if it changes the way
people treat me.
This color is kind of fun.
I feel like Katy Perry.
But I also feel like a clown.
What do you think my lip color says about me?
- I think it says that you
like flowers?
- I would think you were comfortable making
super bold fashion choices.
- I think, no offense, it seems like you're trying,
you're trying hard.
- So I'm definitely getting some double takes
with this lip color, but I'm definitely noticing
that people are looking at me differently.
What does my lip color say about me?
- I feel like it says that you're a very, like,
bubbly person.
- To be honest, when I first walked by
and I saw it, I was like, "Oh, man.
"Who let that girl do that to herself?"
- So you guys are from Maryland.
I know we're in Hollywood, but in Maryland,
is this a normal thing?
- [Both] No.
- No not at all.
- If I were to walk around like this in Maryland,
what do you think people would think about me?
- To be honest?
I think you're trying to be a white girl, honestly.
I know that's a bold statement,
but that's what they will say.
- I would say she's gotta be a singer, a performer.
Or maybe even a stripper.
- When it comes to red lipsticks,
I've heard that people who wear them
are perceived as promiscuous or that they seek danger.
- You do seem like you're into having a good time.
- [Selorm] Why does it say I'm promiscuous?
- 'Cause they're luscious red lips.
- [Selorm] Ew!
- I think there's something very classy and like
kind of awesome about that.
- You look like a woman who knows what she wants.
- Ooh, okay.
I like that.
Color just looks different on different skin types.
Since mine is so dark, these colors tend to pop a lot more.
But I think it also brings some other judgements as well.
What does my lip color say about me?
- You look like you could be in entertainment.
Maybe even makeup.
- You probably read Vogue or Cosmopolitan magazine.
- [Selorm] Do you think in a work environment
it would be kind of the wrong attention?
- Maybe not the wrong kind of attention
but just a lot of all eyes on you,
and it wouldn't be because of what your contributions are
in a meeting or what your skillsets are.
It would be because you're wearing this lipstick.
- Hey, Catherine, guess what day it is?
- Uh, Thursday?
- It's green day.
- Say what?
(rock music)
- It just feels so bizarre.
I can't even look at myself.
I feel like I'm mostly just like
afraid of other people's reactions.
- Ooh.
- [Selorm] What does it say about me?
- Why are you doing this?
- You are someone who like knows your style
and, like, is very comfortable with it.
- You're like, "Damn, she didn't look in the mirror
"this morning."
- Well it looks like chalk.
Like chalkboard chalk.
- Or I would be like, "She don't got no friends."
(laughs)
- You have a job wearing that lipstick.
- So I'm here with Jasmine, the bold lip master.
- I think you're doing it perfect.
It's gonna be a lot for you to handle.
'Cause it's a lot for me to handle,
and I wear lipstick everyday.
You just gotta put it on and not give a fuck
what people think about you and just rock it and be you.
- Thank you Jazz.
(laughs)
What does my lip color say about me?
- It's unusual.
- It's really unique.
- That you're outgoing.
- It's not really my color, no.
I wouldn't really like it.
- I'm not for it on me, but it looks good on you.
- It made me think maybe I should try it on.
For a long time, I found it hard to put on red,
bright red lipstick.
Red lipstick on a dark skinned person.
It's like a very Western thing that's been projected
on Black women.
You got good lips, so why not?
- Even though I got great answers from my coworkers
and people on the street,
I knew I needed a more unbiased way to get real responses
of what people thought of my lip shade.
So because of that, I made a survey.
I asked about 150 people from all around the country
to look at pictures of my face
and tell me what they really think.
I gave them four pictures of me wearing
all the different lip shade colors.
And then I asked them questions
related to what my age is,
what my income level is,
what my occupation is,
what my education level is,
and lastly, what my personality traits are.
So the results are in
and I'm gonna see how people really judge me
based on my lip color.
I feel like I've just opened this up to the world
to talk complete shit about me,
so I really hope that these responses are positive.
For age, most people thought that I was
between the age of 22 and 25.
For the pink lip color, a lot of people
thought that I was between 18 and 21.
With every other lip color it seems like
everyone thought that I was the same age
that I am right now.
I'm 23.
But wearing the bright lip color made me look younger.
When it came to income, most people
thought I earned between 20,000 and 50,000 a year.
Oh wow.
Shit.
For green, 32.22 percent of people thought that I earned
between zero dollars and around 20,000 dollars a year.
There were a lot of people who thought that I was unemployed
and who thought that I didn't earn a lot of money
because I was wearing green lipstick.
Education.
This is where it was kind of interesting.
Most people thought that I was a college student.
Just comparing the results of the green lip shade
to the red lip shade are interesting because
60 percent of people thought that I went to college
when I was wearing red lipstick.
Zero percent of people thought
that I had less than a high school education.
And 41 percent of people thought that I went to college
wearing the green lip shade.
So it was just such a dramatic difference
because this isn't even 50 percent.
Kind of occupation.
It seems like the majority of people thought
that I was a student, which I guess is a nice way
of saying unemployed.
For occupation for the red lip shade,
19.57 percent of people thought that I was a business woman
whereas 17.39 percent of people thought
I was in the entertainment industry or I was a student,
which is really cool.
People thought that I had my shit together.
Yay.
So the next option was personality traits.
I thought this was really interesting because
it gave people an all around way to express
how they really felt about me with that lip shade.
Personality traits for the red lipstick.
Top three most voted for personality traits were
confident, creative, fun.
The top three least voted for personality traits were
childish, unprofessional, and unreliable.
I think that basically is the definition of adulting.
So for the black lip, most voted for personality traits
were confident, serious, and creative.
The top three least voted for personality traits were
promiscuous, childish, disorganized, and life of the party.
They look at me as someone who is serious.
Can probably get a job done.
For the pink lip color, top three most voted for
personality traits were confident, fun, and creative.
Three least voted for personality traits were
disorganized, quick to anger, and unreliable.
When it comes to the personality traits
for the green lipstick,
most voted for personality traits were
attention seeker, creative, confident.
Least voted for personality traits
were quick to anger, professional, and also serious.
It's interesting to see professional and serious
so low because with the black lip shade
and the red lip shade, it was so up there.
I see that there's a lot of common trends.
Most people thought that I was confident and creative.
Most people thought that I was a student
or a fashion industry worker.
I guess I'm really surprised.
I didn't really think that something as small
as the color that you wear on your lips
could really effect how people see you so much.
When I was walking around with all of these lip colors
I was taking risks, and I enjoyed that.
The best thing about fashion is taking risks
and not begin afraid to push boundaries
because of what people might think about you
or say about you.
I mean I don't see any reason in letting that stop you
from being yourself and killing it.
Go out there and wear green lipstick, basically.
- Is that the new style you girls doing?
Y'all getting chalkboard chalk now?
- No.
- [Man] Yeah, that's chalkboard chalk.
- [Selorm] Chalkboard chalk.
(laughs)
I'm done.