Psychoneuroimmunological Benefits of Cosmetics

Abstract

The benefits of makeups or perfumes are obvious to most users but quantifying these benefits is difficult. This is because they often include physiological and psychological attributes which are difficult to define and measure. While investigating physiological relationships between the pleasure of using cosmetics and the well-being of the users, we discovered evidences suggesting cosmetics use can elicit positive immunological responses.
Using controlled experiments, we discovered that emotion of seeing oneself suddenly becoming more beautiful after application of makeup can be so positive to activate body's immune system and actually increase the concentration of antibodies. It was also found in another series of experiments that smelling of a pleasant fragrance can also cause positive immunological responses, increasing the amount of human secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) present in the test subject's saliva.
The discovery of the psychoneuroimmunological connection allows us to search for benefits of cosmetics which go beyond action of the skin surface. It also provides an evidence that cosmetics can benefit to the mind and body.