BASIC APPEARANCE

• Find the best looking haircut for your face. That might involve growing it out or cutting it much shorter. Good looking hair can be the cornerstone of an attractive appearance. 

 

• If you have glasses, consider getting contacts. They're not as expensive or high-maintenance as you may think. At the very least, if you do wear glasses, make sure to get some frames that look stylish on you. Glasses suit some people, but just as many would be better off without them. 

     

• If you don't have great teeth, see what you can do about getting them whitened or straightened. Of course, I realize this isn't something anyone can cheaply do in five minutes.

 

• Get in shape, but don't feel you absolutely have to get huge, shredded muscles. If someone is fit for their natural frame people subconsciously pick up on it and think they look better. Subtle differences in things like the size of your chest muscles, the width of your shoulders, or the V-shape in your torso show through. Don't think your only options are lifting weights or running on a treadmill either. There are tons of activities you can do that will make you fitter. Take up rock climbing, or kick boxing, or dancing, or Ultimate Frisbee. Pick something you enjoy doing and that isn't an unnecessary hassle to take part in. If you truly don't like doing something, or it's just a pain in ass to do it, you'll quit before long. 

• Tanning is controversial because of the increased risk of skin cancer, so it's your call whether you want to do it. I think the idea here is more about not looking so pale that you glow in the dark, rather than trying to turn your skin a deep brown.