The first impression. Caution; this could send me on an endless rant. Ladies, as a man who’s comfortable around all sorts of women, I can tell you that within 10 seconds I can conjure up a full background about you. I seriously think that I’m great at doing this. I may be full of it, or conceded, but that doesn’t matter. Why? Because if a man doesn’t know you, and sees you with makeup, lipstick, a ponytail (or bun for that matter) and dressed up like you’re going somewhere important on a Wednesday afternoon, he will be thinking one of two things; “She must be going somewhere important on this lovely Wednesday afternoon,” or “Damn, who is that stuck up female dog trying to impress?” Let’s be serious.

Everyone has days where they want to look good when they don’t have to. When that turns into not being able to be seen without makeup, we will know. At the very least, all men THINK that they know what a woman is like before formally meeting them. Unless you want to be seen as intimidating or self-obsessed, don’t be seen with what I’d like to call “dog face.” Dog face is where a woman has her nose up at the world and is trying to “sniff” in order to sense fear or emotion. See? I’m beginning to go on a rant.

Be approachable. Whether it’s with an acquaintance, a random man, or anyone else, if you don’t know someone in a room, don’t go off by yourself and avoid eye contact with everyone. I can’t even begin to list how many people (both men and women) that I’ve known and have ceased talking to because they drifted off into their own conceded world. Everyone has heard it, and it’s true. The most gorgeous woman in the room will become far from it with an ugly attitude or personality.

I could go for days about the other stereotypical first impressions, but the last thing that I’d like to stress is all about the face. Men obviously want a pretty face, but the first impression is about eye contact and your smile. It’s very easy to speak with your eyes whether it’s passion, interest or arousal. Just like women can tell when a man is mentally undressing her, a woman can show a man what she’s thinking with the right eye contact. I’ve personally been with a girl who I could respond to because I knew what she was thinking through her eyes before she could even get out the words. And it’s a huge turn on for many people if you’re able to communicate like that. Not only are you able to say things without speaking, but if someone new is able to see what you truly mean then you’ll be able to see a response without really putting yourself out there. But for the guys out there, that doesn’t mean that just because she seems down for sex, that undressing her with your eyes will get you anywhere. Woman want to be, and should be, respected.

As for the smile, It doesn’t take a genius to recognize whether a smile is friendly, fake or seductive. At the very least, be friendly. In a classroom, at the bar, walking past someone on the sidewalk; wherever. This doesn’t mean that you should go out of your way to say hi to everyone and sure, you may not want anything from it, but save yourself the annoyance of being “that girl” or “that guy” that is unapproachable.

Yes, there will be times when you’re going to encounter someone that you have less than no wish to ever talk to and of course you can avoid acknowledging their existence, but when it comes to the people that you know that you’ll cross paths with more than once, it really wouldn’t hurt to be approachable.