Stop Reading Cosmo, the Bar is Low

It's no secret that women do the whole she-bang: make-up, heels, handbag, hair etc. in order to impress other women. Magazines like Cosmo do a great job of plaguing on our insecurities so that we end up impressing our girl friends and gay friends more than our actual men (who think we are adorable freshly showered and secretly wish we'd stop with all the powder and lip gloss so that they can actually kiss us and hug us in our sweats and jammies). Don't get me wrong- men also like women who can surprise them and turn them on in the Cosmo fashion (in which case you slut it up once in a while with a short skirt and high heels) but it's not necessary to be this way all the time. It's nice to be cute then surprise them with the sexy (this drives men crazy).

The last thing a man wants is a high-maintenance woman. And you really only have to meet a certain bar of attractiveness in order for a man to be sold. Unlike women, who readily nitpick and stratify men (and women I might add) against each other in some form of strange optimization ladder, men only require that you pass their bar. Once you pass the bar, it doesn't matter how many gradations you are below Jessica Alba. You've met the bar. Now just make sure you shower, smell nice, wear clean clothes, and don't give them too much trouble.

I've inserted a graph to better illustrate this point:

I can't tell you how many guys I know crush on and are obsessed with Alyson Hannigan. She is the quintessential goofball, dork, and girl next door who can also turn on the sexy when required. Most guys would probably also prefer to date her over Jessica Alba because she already meets the bar while remaining accessible at the same time. Guys are generally practical, simple beings. Quote verbatim from a dude I broached about the subject, "You ideally want to date someone perhaps one level before hot or super hot." Once you are past the lightening bolt on this graph you are already in a guy's zone of bliss. You're in the clear already. So spend less time obsessing about your pores, nails, and hair and more time just being a cool person. He will love you even more.

If you insist on putting in some effort I suggest you avoid Cosmo and simply do one of the following looks (ideally in rotation to keep him on his toes):
a) Don a pair of nerdy librarian glasses and get stern
b) Dress up in a Halloween costume
c) Go "dancing with your girl friends" so you can wear a form fitting dress and a pair of high heels
d) Wear business casual (which you should be doing already if you work outside of Silicon Valley)
e) Veg out in your cute college sweatshirt and fuzzy yet fashionably girly sweatpants

Stop reading Cosmo, the bar is low.