The purpose of this study was to examine the usage of cosmetics and purchasing disposition among elementary school students in an effort to provide some information on the development of educational, social programs geared toward informing school children of the right usage of cosmetics in a manner to be appropriate at their level.
The major findings of the study were as follows :
First, the largest group of the school children took a positive view of social climate that put a lot of weight on appearance, and the biggest group wanted to be more concerned about their appearance. The boys replied they didn"t like to care about their appearance, compared to the girls, though they viewed such a social climate favorably. The girls took a more positive view of the social climate and replied they wanted to be more concerned about appearance. The boys were more satisfied with their appearance than the girls.
Second, the greatest group of the elementary school students washed off their makeup with soap, though makeup-cleansing products should be used to remove makeup. They didn"t know well about double cleansing, which showed that they didn"t know how to wash off makeup even though they made use of color cosmetics. The majority of the school children applied sunblock, but 32.1 percent didn"t yet use it. As a result of asking them which they would choose if they could apply only one cosmetic, most of them chose emulsion. By gender, the boys wanted to apply emulsion the most among different types of cosmetics, and the girls wanted to make more use of lipgloss and nail polish than the boys.
Third, concerning the purchaser of cosmetics, the majority of the students replied their parents bought cosmetics on their behalf, and the second largest group answered they did it in person. The students who bought cosmetics in person did that the most in cosmetic shops(brand shops), and they gave top priority to skin compatability. Some bought cosmetics at a stationery store due to inexpensive price. Regarding the route of cosmetic information acquisition, the biggest group acquired the information from their families or friends.
Fourth, as to permission of cosmetic usage, the largest group thought their schools never permitted the use of color cosmetics. In relation to female adults without putting on color makeup, the biggest group thought these women were indifferent to their appearance, and the majority that accounted for 78.2 percent perceived there was no close relationship between makeup behavior and grades. Just 21.8 percent thought the two were linked to each other.