Do women spend more on makeup or on plastic containers for food? The answer is the key to Tupperware's (TUP) new direction.

Tupperware is moving into beauty. Yep, the same Tupperware whose plastic products have been featured in home parties for decades. Women who buy Tupperware also buy skin cream -- and Tupperware decided there were new opportunities for beauty sales as well.

Beauty products now make up a whopping 26% of Tupperware's total revenue, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The company decided to focus its approach on the countries where women care the most about how they look. The United States didn't rank No. 1. In fact, it scored 9th on the so-called "vanity index," which measures women's attitudes about their appearances, the Journal reports.

The region where women really obsess over their looks? Latin America. Specifically, Venezuela, which topped the index. Other Latin American companies filled out many of the top spots, the Journal reported.

Avon (AVP) has found the same thing and has amassed a huge door-to-door-sales army in Brazil, the Journal reports. The country is Avon's biggest market for person-to-person sales.

Latin America works so well for Avon and Tupperware for several reasons. There aren't enough retail stores selling beauty products. And door-to-door sales are a key entry point for unskilled women who want to get jobs, the Journal reports. There are large social circles. And most important, women there really want to look good.

So what does that mean for Tupperware? Women in Latin America have plenty of Tupperware parties, but instead of discussing leftovers or storage, they create mini spas and focus on makeovers and relaxation. Along the way, they'll cross-sell plastic Tupperware products. Tupperware's CEO calls this the Trojan Horse appraoch, according to the Journal.

The dynamic could change as Latin America gets more developed and women find easier access to offerings from Estee Lauder's (EL) MAC and L'Oréal's Maybelline lines. But Tupperware has found another revenue stream, one that could work very well in other regions outside of Latin America.

Now plastic tumblers and refrigerator stackables are only part of the story at the company.

Tupperware shares have risen a little more than 6% in the past year. Avon shares, meanwhile, have fallen 14%.

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