What Makes Someone Attractive?

Updated November 20, 2018
Happy couple

While it is true that beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, your appearance and the way in which you present yourself can play a role in how others feel about you. Not everyone can look like a model but taking the time to make yourself more attractive can help open the door to new relationships.

Smile Sweetly

Smiling is something that everyone understands, regardless of culture or language. Smiling at those people you want to attract makes them notice you and helps break the ice. It is often the initial form of communication you share with others.

Smiling as a Habit

Practice smiling naturally, offering a genuine smile periodically throughout a conversation. Your smile can help signify your pleasure in another's company as well as your level of interest in what others are saying. Smiling costs nothing but may be the single largest factor in making yourself appear more attractive and interesting.

Crank Up the Flirt Factor

Cosmopolitan suggests flirting your fanny off. Although flirting may not come naturally to everyone, learning to turn up your charm can help attract the attention of the opposite sex as well as make members of your own sex feel a little envious of your alluring charisma. Flirting helps relax you and adds an element of fun to many social situations.

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice flirting in front of a mirror or with a trusted friend. Although it may feel awkward at first, creating a flirtatious interlude with strangers and acquaintances can help boost your confidence and make flirting feel natural. You'll know you are mastering the art of flirting when the object of your attention begins flirting back. Flirtation can help lighten the mood and make you both feel a sense of camaraderie, sort of like playing a part in a role that encompasses only the two of you.

Dress to Impress

Although your style in clothing may seem irrelevant, the way you dress can play a role in how attractive you appear to potential dates. When choosing how to dress for a date, consider what your clothing says about you. Decide how you want others to perceive you. Do you want to appear practical and down-to-earth in order to attract someone with the same qualities? Perhaps you would rather come across as wealthy or sexy.

Accentuate the Positive

Select your best features when choosing clothing that impresses those around you. For instance, if you are a man with strong arms and wide shoulders, consider wearing a fitted shirt that shows off these features in the best possible way. Likewise, if you are a woman blessed with long legs and shapely thighs, consider wearing a dress or skirt that highlights your perfection.

Attractive Personality Traits

Man and woman walking on a street

Although how you feel about yourself may seem irrelevant when you are attempting to impress others, this is actually one of the most important factors in making yourself more attractive. Getting rid of negative self-perceptions will help eliminate the destructive mindset that can keep you from realizing your full potential. Take the necessary steps to address your body image flaws to your own satisfaction, regardless of the standards set by others. For instance, if the size of your hips and thighs makes you feel large and unbecoming, exercise a little to help whittle down the fat in these areas, and tone your muscles.

Ambition and Energy

People who are ambitious and on-the-go are generally seen as more attractive, as are successful people. Kindness is also considered attractive, although theories exist that people who are physically attractive have positive personality traits attributed to them more often as a result of their physical attractiveness.

Make Positive Changes

The idea is to make changes that make you happy, as opposed to trying to change yourself to please others. Be honest when addressing your pet peeves and personal flaws. Ask yourself why you would like to change certain characteristics about your appearance and whether it will make you feel more confident and attractive. However, changes made only under the pressure of pleasing others are not likely to boost your confidence or improve your body image.

Professional Help

If you have always had a problem feeling confident, counseling or therapy may help you address those deep issues that make you feel unworthy and unattractive. The key here is that feeling good about yourself allows others to recognize that you are valuable and worth getting to know.

Select a Sexy Scent

According to the Social Issues Research Centre, both women and men are attracted to certain scents. Women tend to like men who smell clean and lightly fragrant, rather than men who smell of sweat. Men are often attracted to women who wear a musk perfume, possibly because this scent makes a woman feel and act more sensual. In most situations, the clean smell of soap and just a light touch of cologne or perfume is more than enough to provide a pleasant scent.

Facial Attractiveness

Proportionate facial symmetry is one of the biggest factors in finding a person's face attractive, but contrasting features such as light eyes and dark hair also get positive attention. The difference in what is considered an attractive face varies from men to women.

  • Women with softer facial features are considered attractive.
  • Men with harder, more masculine facial features are considered attractive.

Be Yourself

Keep in mind that different people find different characteristics attractive. Being yourself is often the single most important factor in attracting others. Letting others see how who you really are and how you feel can break down barriers and help draw like-minded people into your circle of friends and lovers.

What Makes Someone Attractive?