Your makeup bag might reveal more than you think, warns new study

Forget what you thought you knew about makeup and personality - a new study out of São Paulo is turning heads with its surprising link between psychopathic women and their cosmetic habits.

The São Paulo team quizzed over 1,400 Brazilian ladies on their makeup routines, from lazy days at home to high-stakes first dates and business meetings. They also had the women fill out surveys to measure their levels of the "Dark Triad" - you know, the nasty trio of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.

Published in Archives of Sexual Behavior, the study found that women with psychopathic tendencies were less likely to apply lipstick, eyeliner, or blush, no matter the occasion.

"Our findings reveal a complex relationship between makeup use and personality," the researchers said. They noticed that makeup lovers tended to score higher on the narcissism scale and were often seen as more likable in social situations.

While it might seem odd at first, the researchers reckon this fits with what we know about psychopaths - they just don't give a damn what others think.

This comes three months after another study from New Mexico that found chatty head-nodders might be more likely to have psychopathic traits.

Clive Boddy, who studies corporate psychopaths at Anglia Ruskin University, thinks we might be missing female psychopaths because of our gender biases.

The researchers say this study adds to the growing pile of evidence linking personality traits and social behavior. But they warn against jumping to conclusions based on any one trait - proper psychological evaluations are still the gold standard for spotting psychopaths.