Hi askTRP, I recently made an attempt to figure out why at the age of 23 I had no relationship yet. I spent my early teenage years as a hermit and played computer games, got extremely good grades though and always cared about performance at school. As a result, I am a senior at elite uni in UK. However, I made a mistake of not socialising and ended up without friends or relationships so far. I know many people but I could not call them friends and I don't have a regular group to hang out with. I can see how this leads to where I am right now.

However, I then dug deeper into my past and remember how girls at school were attracted to good-looking guys even if they were idiots. I remember girls attempting to use me for homework etc. and I was never shown affections by beautiful girls. I remember getting some IOIs from 4-5/10s but being a pussy I never acted on it. I was also shunned and laughed at school by other guys but thought that it is mainly because I am social retard and act weird.

I then spotted a TRP post on appearance, posts like looks are everything. My mind raced remembering how most cute girls at university never hang out with ugly guys. Or with guys who are average but are tall, are socially savvy and are popular. So, I went on examining my appearance and after some research, I concluded that I possess many unattractive traits for women: weak chin, mild acne, some acne scars, darkish eye circles, non-pearly white teeth. I started paying attention to people I pass by in the streets. Girls seem to never hold eye contact and occasional one has an expression of slight disgust. Then I also read about how looks influence career success and interactions with people.

Finally, a girl who I consider friend said to me that I look unhealthy after we were talking about our diet. She thought that I eat some unhealthy food like sandwiches, never cook healthy foods and therefore my skin is not nice, I look tired etc. The issue is that I gym 6 times a week and cook all my food with a lot of vegetables, meats, eggs. I only drink tea and water.

So, I concluded that my mug on a fit body is not attractive. It is new to me and I feel very not in control right now. I can't change my face easily and see it as an obstacle right now. I am a smart person with a high paying career lined up already but looks seem to hinder me. Maybe, that is why I was laughed at in school as well.

For now, I started a skin care regimen of 10% glycolic acid face wash, followed by glycolic acid anti acne cream and aloe vera moisturizer. So far, nothing significant happened but I will try to visit a doctor about this. Any other advice to maximize my appearance?