Abso-fukking-lutely.
I'm a **** hard worker and often sport the low-maintenence look, but there are times when a girl WANTS to get dressed up and feel pretty and feminine. Christ, there's no pleasing some men....either we're too high maintenence or we're completely letting ourselves go. IS there such a thing as a happy medium when it comes to a woman's appearance?
I'd say that you just have to get it out of your head that there is any kind of universal definition of whats attractive. Do whatever feels good and natural for you, accept it won't be attractive to everyone, but it'll be attractive to the right ones; those who want a people like YOU. I'd wager that the whole 'process' isn't terribly enjoyable for most woman, but they'll do it anyway cuz they figure it is what'll work.
As for men or woman being 'more' superficial, firstly its best not to assume these things when dealing with any individual, and talk about wither there is any inherent 'nature' to it is rather silly. On the whole men are probably more superficial, but it'd chock that up (to some degree at least) to the constant bombardment of sexualized woman in media and the relatively higher numbers of lads going for lady bodies. This could be the poor-body image other side of the story of those same images leading lady folk to eating disorders/ poor body-image and the like (and, it would seem, the manufactured attraction to and compulsion to be 'made-up'). I'm not saying this excuses that end of things, and that this kind of objectification is right-on, just that there may be some reasoning behind this phenomenon beyond 'oh men' or 'oh woman'.
Annnd I live in an house full of sexy ladies, and I know they look just fine 'rolled out of bed' and it has nothing to do with some artificial 'natural' look any of them put on before breakfast. The human smell is fine in my books, the 'messy' hair is fine, no make-up is fine, being a natural human is JUST FINE!!! (a recognition most women, it my experience at least, give those they're attracted to. Being a natural woman body is not un-feminine!!). Its beautiful and leads MY ****, but that is MY **** and I can't speak for other cokk-crotched folk, and I figure we could all be doing well for one another by avoiding the silliness of 'what woman/men want'. That's more of a general disclaimer, not directed towards any individual so carry on with speaking for yourselves.
BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!!