He also says to drink six to eight glasses of water daily, never skip a good night’s sleep and avoid washing your face with hot water. He advises being wary of soap, which may have a drying effect, and to go easy on sugar.
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2. Posture
Good posture improves your appearance in many ways, Clarke says, as it prevents humped shoulders and a beer belly. Use a posture correction belt or “back brace”, he suggests.
Posture belt vendor and analyst Nathan White says wearing one lets you strengthen and retrain muscles without building dependence on the device. Your loved ones will notice you sit, stand and walk straighter, he writes.
Another approach is to do that floor strength exercise called the plank, which builds a stronger core that in turns improves alignment. “Pull your abdominal muscles in and up toward your spine as you exercise. Work with slow, controlled movements, breathing evenly, without holding your breath,” advises WebMD.
3. Teeth
Look after your teeth. “From the dental point of view, a nice smile without bad breath would make a person more attractive than any expensive clothing,” says Will Li, a dentist from Lara Village Dental in Australia’s southeast state of Victoria.
“Bad breath, most commonly due to gum disease or extensive decays, could affect your smile, confidence and even general health,” Li says, adding that straight, white teeth make a great first impression and spur success in work and love. The secret, he says, is oral hygiene, regular dental visits and customised dental work.
The toothpaste giant Colgate advises brushing for at least two minutes, twice daily. Ensure your brush’s head and bristles are small enough to reach into molar crevices, where food debris hides after meals. Buy a new brush about every three months, floss and use mouthwash, Colgate says.
4. Hair
Be careful to pick the right hairdresser, says Melbourne-based image consultant Jon Michail.
A warning sign is the barber wants to cut your hair or change its colour before you even consult them on your needs. “Watch out!” Michail says.
“Keep it simple,” he adds. “Keep it youthful if you’re young. As you age, contemporary is more important than youthful. Always be current.”
He advises focusing on what is most appropriate. Short styles work best in business. Creative and high fashion styles work better in creative industries, he says.
Ensure your hairdresser understands business attitudes and cares about more than being creative or winning awards, he says. Alternatively, find a new hairdresser. Either way, if you have facial hair, keep it neat and trimmed, he says.
5. Linen
Bedsheets should be changed at least fortnightly, the Good Housekeeping Institute says. Better yet, change them weekly – especially if you sweat heavily at night.
Consider that we shed 500 million skin cells every day. Worse, under the covers we mix with nasties including pollen and fungi, says the general-interest family site Reader’s Digest.
Men need to try harder because a survey done by the mattress company Ergoflex found that almost half – 49 per cent – of single men wash their sheets just four times a year.
6. Underwear
Underwear should be binned every year on health grounds to curb the risk of urinary tract and other infections, the Good Housekeeping Institute says.
Old underwear hosts bugs such as E coli and dust mites, causing ills from thrush to urinary tract infections, the Sun newspaper reports. Even outwardly clean underwear contains up to 10,000 living bacteria, says the Good Housekeeping Institute guide.
Socks should be replaced instantly once you spot a hole or the elastic stretches, says men’s magazine Men’s Health.
7. Eyebrows
Nobody loves a unibrow. If your eyebrows start misbehaving, pluck them after showering. Just as with shaving, it is best to do the chore after opening the follicles with hot water, says the beauty site Huda.
Clinch hairs at the base and yank in the direction they grow, retaining some because without those two defining lines above your eyes, you will look like an alien.
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8. Body hair
Men have more body hair than women because of higher testosterone levels – about 10 times more, but copious fuzz looks unsightly. So trim your pubic zone every week or fortnight, advises men’s grooming website Manscaped. Armpit hair apparently needs tackling every two to four weeks, it says.
As for nostril hairs – keep some to block foreign particles like germs and fungus, says the Wise Geek website. Tweezers are the best culling tool, because they remove the roots, meaning less upkeep.
If you thought only women trim their leg hair, think again. More than 33 per cent of men at least use a trimmer to reduce leg hair, a 2015 Men’s Health survey found.
The same survey found that almost 30 per cent of women like a man who trims his leg hair, while 22 per cent love one with clean-shaven legs. So more than half of female respondents appreciate male legscaping.
9. Manicures
Especially if your job has a manual slant, it may be wise to invest in a professional manicure, which removes dirt and prevents hangnails that catch and thwart your movements.
If you do the cutting, trim your fingernails straight across. Use a nail file or emery board to round the corners, to keep them strong and prevent snagging on clothing, states the American Academy of Dermatology.
“Short nails stay cleaner and break less often, which is good for both your appearance and your health,” nail specialist Shari Lipner is quoted as saying. The finishing touch, a pedicure, will leave your feet feeling and looking good.
Meantime, remember the benefits that attractiveness brings and the cost of poor presentation.
“People gravitate to beauty,” Michail says. “Denying your beauty is a form of self-sabotage.”
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Why men should keep themselves neat and tidy
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