If you want to improve your look and so increase your success with women or in job interviews etc, then you can change your clothes, get into shape, wear shoes with larger heels... change all manner of things about yourself – but your face will always appear the same. The good news for women is that they can cover up their blemishes and highlight their good features with makeup, but if you’re a guy your stuck with what you’ve got (more on that later). If you’re born ugly there’s really not much you can do about it, right?

Well while you may never be Tom Cruise, and there’s not much you can do about jug ears or a big nose (goddammit!), there are many other tricks you can pull to make sure you’re not ‘ugly’ as such which really comes down more to a lack of self awareness and grooming. If you know what you’re doing you can definitely take yourself from a 3 to at least a 6 and that’s something.

The first things you need to take care of are basic grooming – get a haircut that suits your hair shape – so that’s rounded cuts for the square jawed and something squarer for those with week chins. If you have big ears you can also use slightly longer hair to disguise them. You can dye it too if you’re at a loss, you may find that you suit a particular colour much better, but make sure you do it properly so your hair doesn’t look fake or greasy. Similarly make sure you wash your face regularly and if you have flaky skin use some kind of face rub (flaky skin will definitely lose you points on the looks factor). Likewise clean out your ears – there’s nothing more horrible than ear wax in someone’s ear, and trim your nasal hairs. So many guys I know don’t trim their nasal hairs, then they complain that they never pull and don’t have a girlfriend! Seriously dude, look yourself in the mirror and think about snogging yourself. Nasal hair on your lip is DEFINITELY a turn off. To deal with it get yourself a trimmer – they’re electric and it’s a simple matter of sticking the thing up there then blowing your nose.

On top of that you can improve your skin with a moisturiser and if you have acne, some kind of facial cleanser. If you’re a bit pasty then get some moisturiser with a self tanning agent in it to bronze yourself up slightly. These work really well and you’ll notice a difference in just a couple of days (make sure you alternate with an ordinary moisturiser or you’ll end up looking like you’ve OD’d on carrots) and as well as making your skin look healthier it’ll also make your teeth and eyes look brighter by contrast. Ensure you wash it carefully off your hands and feet though or you’ll end up resembling a monkey (and make sure it’s not the stuff with the glitter in either... that was an embarrassing day!).

Of course rather than using fake self tanning agents you can always go for the real deal and actually get a tan (now we’re getting revolutionary!). If it’s warm enough outside it’s better that you do it here than on a tanning bed too as the natural sunlight will not only bronze your skin, but it’ll also have a variety of other benefits too – giving you that surfer-dude hair and improving your energy levels and general health too.

So already you’ve gotten rid of any nasty bits of hair or dead skin on your face and have given yourself a healthy glow and new do – it’s going well so far but that’s just the start of it! For even whiter looking teeth you can get them professionally cleaned or whitened, or invest in whitener online, or even just use a whitening tooth paste. Again this will make you look healthier. If your teeth are badly out of alignment you need to fix that too so head to the dentist and have some out to prevent overcrowding or if necessary get a brace. Sure you won’t look good while it’s in (or while your face is swollen like you’ve come down with the mumps) but once it’s over you’ll look much better for it. Consider it an investment.

As well as whitening your teeth you can also whiten your eyes with drops which again will make you look healthier and will draw people to your eyes and smile. You can make your eyes more attractive in other ways too – using a stick to eliminate puffiness under the eyes making you appear more awake and alert. To take this even further you could even consider using contacts to give yourself shockingly blue or deep brown eyes. This might seem drastic, but if none of your facial features are doing you any favours then stand out eyes could really save you.

Also around that area are glasses and here you again have several options. If you do wear glasses you might consider contacts to replace them, although on the other hand if they suit you you might just want to get a nice designer pair. In fact if you have a big nose or deep set eyes glasses can actually enhance your looks. Outdoors you can just wear shades (aviators are currently all the rage).

Facial hair too is an option that can cover up features you’re not fond of, and while most guys don’t suit a beard for some it can really improve your looks (Rowan Atkinson is a good example). A bit of stubble alternatively might make you look a bit more rugged.

Building up your neck muscles too will make your face fill out more if you have a scrawny look to you, while stripping away the fat around the cheeks can make you look far more chiselled so get yourself to a gym.

More than anything though your face will reflect your personality. Some really bad looking guys do great with women because they have a ‘twinkle’ in their eye, or a ‘cheaky’ smile. So just try looking at life with a bit more of a positive outlook and try acting as though you’re already good looking. You just might be lucky enough to fool someone.

Mack LeMouse

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