Tell me how to be attractive when ugly?

[IBrokeAllTheMirrors]

Just that.

There's a big leap between ugly and attractive. If you are actually ugly, and very few people are, then maybe aim for average?

Smile. Look outward, not inward. Have clean hair, teeth, nails. Smile a bit more.

In what kind of way, make up tips? Style tips? Or talking about more internal beauty? If it's style and make up tips you're looking for can you give us an idea of what bothers you about your appearance? There are lots of tips and tricks for enhancing your physical appearance if you have things that bother you.

Confidence.

Sleep, good skin, well kept hair.....

I'm thinking if someone I know who is not very attractive in conventional terms. The thing is that she is genuinely an absolutely lovely person, and as soon as you get to know her you forget her looks because her personality shines through.

Who do you want to appear attractive to?

Tons you can do depending on your budget and what the issues are. Hair is a major one. Extensions if it's thin to give it thickness and body, a fresh colour. Brazilian blow dry if it's coarse. Lashes look pretty if put on and not too heavy. Nails done. Keep a healthy body weight. Dress nicely. Don't wear worn out shoes.
If you want to go further, teeth whitening, Botox, fillers if skin has sagged or lips are very thin. I'm not against surgeries either but you have to weigh up the risk factors with how much you hate that particular part of your body

“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

My favorite Roald Dahl quote. I remember reading it when I was 6 never forgot it. It's true.

Smile, well dressed, great hair cut and colour if necessary, sleep well, good skin routine, nice nails, very very clean, smell lovely, good posture, nice shoes, lovely jewellery, be kind- there's loads you can do!

You are not ugly.

The only ugly people are those that have severely harmed vulnerable, children, old folks, adults and animals or poisoned the environment.

Maybe you need to do exercise, get your hair cut, stop biting your nails ... all superficial things easily addressed if you want to. Or maybe you could go to college or volunteer and do something rather than worry about being ugly.

Oh, I know this one!!!
Walk tall, shoulders back.
Fake confidence and act like you belong.
Make eye contact with people.
Smile.

@Scrunchy95 what a lovely quote, Roald Dahl was an amazing man with words.

I always think there is something each one of us hates about ourselves. Sometimes I look pretty other times I feel fat and ugly and wish my boobs were smaller, that the gap between my front teeth was smaller (it's not big and I am lucky to have nice straight teeth thanks to braces as a teenager and a good bra helps the big boobs). Other times I think you know what for a 42 year old you don't look too bad (when people tell me I look 10 yars younger it feels nice).

After a series of knock backs last year I felt at my lowest but I joined the gym and started to work on me and it has helped my confidence no end. I don't care that my hot single gym instructor sees me lying on the floor with my legs in the air dripping in sweat, he is probably used to it anyway, because I'm enjoying it and I've made new friends in the process. I walk straight now instead of hunching to hide my big boobs, I wear clothes that flatter but I'm comfortable in. I also don't try and be someone I'm not. If you work on being confident in who you are, your beauty will shine through.

Eyebrows - get them threaded/waxed and tinted if needed. A good set of eyebrows really helps a face. Not that expensive either.

Eyelashes - having them tinted looks really nice, and saves putting on mascara all the time.

Some sort of BB cream, that helps even out your face but doesn't look like you are wearing thick foundation. I use Garnier skin active BB cream.

Clothes - find your style. Depends on your size. A nice pair of fitted jeans and tshirt, with ankle boots. And a scarf thrown round your neck.

Hair - have you had a haircut recently? Taking the ends off of hair and shaping round the face can really make a difference.

Underwear - get a nice matching set of bra and knicker.

To me, I feel prettier if I'm wearing nice underwear with shaved armpits and legs.

There was a huge thread in style and beauty about this a while ago. The general consensus was that to do the roald Dahl quote and so on, completely minimises the experience of people who are not conventionally attractive. There was loads of people saying they genuinely were ugly (and yes I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder etc) but they said that refusing to acknowledge that people can be ugly or unattractive, is not helpful at all and on occasions, disingenuous and patronising

There's been numerous studies showing that beautiful faces are symmetrical so if, like me, your features are not symmetrical (mine are very noticeably so) then I don't think it can be changed without surgery. Yes you may be able to give somewhat of an illusion of symmetry with very skillful make up but I just accepted my looks instead of trying to change them. That being said, if I was in my 20's now I would spend the money on fixing my droopy eye! (my worst flaw) but at my age now I don't care about it. I have too many other flaws now to fix them all!

A lot depends on who you compare yourself to. I live in London and sometimes I'll look around me on the bus or tube and honestly most people are not that attractive!

Yeah I think it's very patronising. It's ignoring people's lived experiences.

I think being clean and tidy goes a long way as does having decent skin and a haircut in a flattering shape. Clean breath, shaped clean nails etc. Laundered clothes. Earrings or a small piece of jewellery etc.

One of my work colleagues describes herself as ugly and says there’s no point polishing a turd. Direct quote. I completely disagree. I understand why she feels it though and there’s a lot of psychological stuff going on too, but everyone can wear nice things, have their hair done, enjoy make up and jewellery. These things are not just for the young and pretty as some people seem to think. Find a style you like (copy someone if you want to) and take parts of that look that you think might work for you and try it. Keep adding something here and there. At some point you may just discover you have a style and a look which you are happy with

I think it's wearing makeup for me, I don't wear much and try to stick to a natural look. Never used to do much to my eyebrows but got caught up in the trend and have grown them, only pluck the outliers and apply brow gel to define the shape. Having an even skin tone, Missha BB cream (it's Korean, can be bought off Amazon, shade 21 is popular if you're light skinned), Missha boomer cream is also good under their BB cream. Looking after skin, moisturise daily. Bit of mascara makes eyes prettier, and a little bit of black kohl eyeliner but not too much.

Agree that nice hair can make world of difference, done by an experienced stylist.

Confidence!!! It’s hard but once you accept that nobody is repulsed by you or your body (took me years to realise that nobody actually gives a fuck if I’m fat), then things get easier.

no-one is ugly. As others say: walk tall and stride out, smile, look confident. (look at models and do the opposite, the way they have to walk is just laughable)

things that are ugly:

• 'recently punched' lip fillers
• long nails (eew...), especially with a ton of glitter on
• thick beige face paint
• comedy painted rectangular eyebrows
• the 'just lobotomised' instagram face, with the gormless hanging-open mouth and the vacant stare
• thick red circles round mouth and thick black circles round eyes

no-one is born with any of that so no-one is naturally ugly.

First and foremost, confidence

Secondly, smell nice. Wearing nice body butters every day, using lovely fruity shampoo and always having fresh hair etc I do this and my husband says it's one of the most attractive things about me as every time he goes near me I smell scrumptious

I think attractiveness is part looks and part personality, but ultimately no amount of good looks will cancel out a bad personality (in the long term at least), and no amount of bad looks will cancel out a good personality! That’s not to say there isn’t such a thing as pretty privilege however.

OP what makes you think you are ugly? There’s a lot you can do if you can be arsed with grooming or is it more that you are struggling to let your inner beauty out?

Similar to above, I think attractiveness is part looks and part personality. Working on the former will entice people to discover the latter.

Make the most of your good bits and work to make the changeable bad bits into more good bits.

I honestly think that looking clean, well-groomed (i.e. neat hair, natural make-up, tidy nails, well-fitting clothes) and moving with confidence counter-acts a lot of the negatives that come with being unattractive.