# Europe Forum > Travelling & Living in Europe > Benelux >  Does applying makeup in public attract unwanted attention in the Netherlands?

## canadian

I was on a forum and was surprised to hear that alot of the people there believed this. I tried to convince them that this was total BS by saying that there's no evidence online that supports this. However, I was met with a bunch of responses saying that it's common knowledge so that's why it's not mentioned and that someone actually read this on a travel guide book. 
I'm probably being kind of a wuss but when there's so many people who's refusing to believe you, you sort of start to question yourself; ya know? 
I would really appreciate it if you guys helped settle this once and for all.

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## Maciamo

In China it is commonly assumed that girls who put on make up in public (or smoke cigarettes) are prostitutes. However I have never heard about such stereotypes in Europe. But it's true that it's not really common to see girls/women putting on make up in public transports, contrarily to Japan where this has become the norm.

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## canadian

Hi Maciamo, thank you for the confirmation :)

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