Expert: Beauty Issues May Lie Between Your Ears

By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Many people get all dolled up for Easter, or any day of the week ending in "y," but a psychoanalyst says there's nothing wrong with that, to a point.

<Ellen Sinkman's The Science of Beauty: Creation of a Beautiful Self doesn't reveal secret lip color formulas, but takes a look at what we see in the mirror.

"Which is, to say, that their thoughts about beauty issues are very tied to their emotions and drives a significant part of their lives," says Sinkman.

He says most of us take at least a stab at the basics.

"You have to go get a haircut. You have to brush your teeth. You have to groom yourself. To call it narcissistic is pathologizing something that we all grapple with. Of course, it can go over the line," he explains.

Sinkman says, for example, exercise can produce a more beautiful you, but people can work out or diet too excess, when the real issue is between their ears.