It has been long thought of that women consume six pounds of lipstick in their life times. It has even been in various articles and magazines, when in fact, this theory is completely false. The articles claim that it is a fact but all the articles have a different amount stated, amounts varying from three to ten pounds. Approximately 151.2 tubes of lipstick add up to a pound, which means, a woman would have to eat hundreds of full tubes of lipstick ranging for 454 to 1,512 tubs to amount anything close to that supposed "statistic". Scientist have determined that for a woman to consume just 3 ounces she would have to apply at least 410 coats of lipstick. This myth is a very good example of one of the six principles, extraordinary claims. Whenever we evaluate a psychological claim, we should ask ourselves whether this claim runs counter to many things we know already. So with this claim, it is necessary to realize how much six pounds of lipstick really is. There is no well-supported evidence of this claim of consuming six pounds of lipstick in a lifetime, however there is evidence against it. The evidence is nowhere near as strong as the claim. Therefore, when coming upon claims similar to this lipstick example, we should use scientific skepticism, meaning to stay open minded but to find persuasive evidence before accepting the claim entirely. Scientific skepticism is the best way to not let yourself be fooled into believe a false claim.
http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/lipstick.asp
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