My entire life I have been a handsome dude (am 27). "Movie star good looks, you should be a model" etc. Naturally, this gift from God served me well for many years, especially in high school when looks are mandatory. Unfortunately, everything will eventually come to a halt, and so did my "handsome without substance" visage. I live in a small European country, where rugged masculinity absolutely obliterates handsomeness. Being a pretty boy is good until you hit the age of 21, after which you're seen as less manly. As the years went by, I did not change my appearance nor understand why I was not attracting women anymore, whereas only a year ago I'd get 20 or so DM's a month and even cold approaches IRL.

The women I was attracting were, naturally, good girls. Girls that would make your parents happy to see you date, and girls that are genuinely good people, but lack any sort of dangerous spark. Basically, they are boring. Wife material no doubt about it, but in your 20's all you wanna do is smash, so most of them did not interest me. The aforementioned bad girls would give me the time of day, but nowhere near as much as the angels would. I never understood why, until it hit me - I lacked sex appeal. Recently, my relationships plummeted at a concerningly rapid rate. I fell out with my best friend of 12 years when I caught him cheating on his wife expecting me to keep quiet, have had constant arguments with parents about them interfering in my life, and my girlfriend who I really liked broke up with me for the pettiest reason imaginable. I knew it was time for a change. At 26 (at the time) years old, I finally understood I needed to go through a complete physical and psychological makeover.

First thing I did was book an appointment in this pretty expensive yet well reviewed barber shop/beauty saloon combo. I buzzed my head for the first time in 10 years, got a beard trim, got my eyebrows did, and learned a thing or two about proper skincare. Facially, I could not recognize myself after exiting the building, and I felt so weird, yet some little voice told me this was the right thing to do. Letting go of my luscious wavy white boy hair and clean shaven face was a decision even my barber was stunned by, but it had to be done. Being that I have already been in good shape, I just kept up my gym routine (slight cut of 10 kilos helped a lot), but I did get a sleeve tattoo, a decision that I wanted to make for years yet was always too afraid because of what others thought. Now, with no more cares and no love from anyone, I did it. I was ecstatic with the job done, the artist was spectacular and took amazing care of me. The tattoos were all personal to me, and I was happy that someone so talented presented parts of my life's history on my skin so flawlessly. Finally, I looked for a brand new way of conveying myself through fashion, taking major inspiration from Michael Mando's Nacho character (I wanted a "classy ruffian" vibe, I exclusively wore athletic wear beforehand), as well as a few other "rough around the edges" - looking celebrities.

The results were... interesting. The pissed off feeling I had for months slowly disappeared, although what happened was I learned how to actually present myself in a serious and professional manner instead of always being a smiling goofball cracking jokes. The attention from women skyrocketed, and to my surprise, the younger girls were still checking me out. I felt respect from men for the first time in... ever maybe, and the overall perception from folks seemed to be a mix of admiration, trepidation and liking. Both my mother and father were less than pleased with the new look and demeanor, but after realizing it was not an act, I finally felt, for the first time in my life, like they respect me and treat me as an adult. Acquaintances from my past who I'd run into would all of a sudden want to catch up, despite never wanting to do so before. My ex girlfriend contacted me through 4 different friends after she got word of how I changed myself, as did my former friend, but their attempts were in vain. The past is firmly behind me.

All in all, a year or so later, I can honestly say this was one of the best decisions of my life. Not only do I finally feel at peace, but I finally feel in control. It saddens me how shallow our world is, that a well-executed physical (and to be fair psychological, but mainly physical) metamorphosis can utterly change your life for the better. The game is cruel, but if you become cruel yourself, you'll win it every time.