"Do we buy cosmetics because they are useful or because they make us feel good?." July 21st, 2011.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-07-cosmetics-good.html

Excerpt: "The theory of social comparison has been used in various research studies to explain how using very attractive models in advertising can affect consumers", says Apaolaza.

"...the Darwinist approach to attraction – beautiful faces and well-formed bodies are important biological indicators of a person's value as a sexual partner."

My comment:
A Darwinist approach would be biologically based and modeled in other species. In other species, mate preferences develop via associations with social odors: olfactory/pheromonal cues of reproductive fitness. Food odors and social odors activate the same evolved neurophysiological mechanisms in all mammals. How might we have come to prefer beautiful faces and well-formed bodies if not via their association with human scent signatures?

Here's a strategy: First, convince people to completely deodorize and eliminate any hint of their natural chemical appeal. When there are no attractive social odors left in 'civilized' society, tell people they must focus on improving their visual appeal via cosmetic chemistry.

This sounds to me a lot like taking the natural chemical appeal from food, replacing it with additives and focusing on how good it looks, not how nutritious it is. But then I tend to think along the lines of biological well-being.