Intrigued by the relationship women have with their beauty products, Dove fielded a national survey to unveil which of their morning beauty routine staples they prioritize and how they impact their confidence.

After all, more than seven in 10 women agreed that a “beauty product” is any product that makes a woman feel more confident. The results revealed it’s not mascara, eyeliner or other cosmetics that are most important in making women feel most confident all day. As a matter of fact, out of the products women use in their morning beauty routine, respondents ranked deodorant above the rest – twice that of toothpaste, four times that of foundation, nearly six times that of mascara and 10 times that of eyeliner.

Deodorant was not only the product that made women feel the most confident, but it was also a step in their morning beauty routine they’d never want to skip. In fact, they said putting on deodorant before leaving the house is nearly:

  • 5 times more important than washing their hair
  • 8 times more important than putting on mascara
  • 13 times more important than wearing lipstick or lip gloss

The data also uncovered interesting truths about the impact underarms can have on how women feel and act on any given day. When women have forgotten to apply deodorant it was revealed that:

  • 87 percent feel self-conscious
  • 67 percent distance themselves from others
  • 49 percent have gone back home to put it on


About the Survey


Conducted by Edelman Intelligence, insights are from 1,574 women across the US aged 18 to 54. The survey was conducted in March 2016 using an online survey with a +/-2.47 margin of error.