Remember when you got rejected by some snot-nosed brat named Brad because you had a pimple on your forehead and your mom told you he was an idiot and looks don’t matter. She was lying, partly. Looks matter, whether we like it or not.

This isn’t a fat/thin kind of thing. So take your head out of that dark and periled pit filled with Weeping Angels and Halls of Mirrors. Beauty really is subjective, despite whatever environmental standards may have been implanted on our subconscious. But make no mistake, beauty counts when attracting the beasts and the princes alike. When you interact with someone for the first time what do you do? You look at them. And if you don’t like what you’re looking at, things are a bit more uphill from there, aren’t they?

This is a common sense article. Do you give guys a second look if what you see isn’t appealing? Don’t pretend you don’t judge some books by their covers. Everyone does! And that’s okay. It’s natural. “Shiny, good!” We all f*cking do it. No reason to be hypocritical and claim to be immune to such primal determining of potential mates. Read More »

Oh, you don't like my skirt? That makes me love you even more.

It’s a situation almost every college girl finds herself in. You’re sitting in your room, watching your news feed on the ‘Book. There’s a guy that you’re kind of interested in, but not enough to actively pursue him, when all of a sudden you see his name pop up. He’s commented on someone’s picture, so of course you click on it to read it. And the next thing you know, you’re poking around his profile, checking on his every move.

Oh! Turns out he’s going to a party on Friday that you also happen to be attending. Splendid.

You talk to him briefly at the party, both of you getting a little flirty. He’s not the smartest guy you’ve ever had witty banter with, but he’s OK. He could be worse. And then he walks away and you catch him chatting up someone else and – OMG – is she putting his hand on his back? Suddenly you’re upset.

Jealous.

You’re totally into him.

But don’t worry you’re not alone. (OK, you are alone standing there…but you’re not alone in feeling this way.) According to a new study titled, “He Loves me, He Loves Me Not… Uncertainty Can Increase Romantic Attraction,” women are more attracted to men when they can’t tell how much the men like them. Read More »

[The following post was written by dating coach, Kira Sabin, a keg of dating and relationship wisdom. She's been helping people find love for years so we thought we'd tap this keg and see what sort of brilliant advice she has for the CollegeCandy readers. Drink up!]

His name was Tyler.  He was the roommate of one of my good college friends and from the moment I met him I was smitten.  The witty banter was perfect and it took about 10 hours (and a few drinks) before we were hooking up.  After that near perfect weekend we walked to my car, kissed like we invented it and he said he was crazy about me.    It was a definite moment in time.  He was everything I was looking for.  He was ridiculously smart, cute, had a smile that made my toes curl and did I mention completely emotionally unavailable?

For the next few months or so Tyler and I did this little dance where we would have incredible moments and then I wouldn’t hear from him.  I would get vague emails breaking our plans and even when I visited him four hours away sometimes he gushed and sometimes he was cold.  I thought, “How could this be happening? Did I do something wrong?   Connections this incredible rarely come along and have to mean something, right?”

Excuse me conductor… are there any seats left on the crazy train?  Ticket for one, please. Read More »

You slowly open your eyes.  It feels like your mouth is filled with cotton balls, you start frantically grabbing for water. But – ouch – there is a bruise on your left arm the size of K-Fed’s gut.  You’re still wearing the clothes from last night and suddenly images of a boy pop into your hazy mind. You feel the warmth of a body beside you in your bed.  Then you remember.

You brought a boy from the bar home with you. He was pretty cute too, from what you remember. But now as you slowly roll over to see his peaceful face drooling all over your throw pillow, you nearly fall off your bed into the pile of McDonald’s wrappers from last night’s fourth meal.  Ok, he’s not that narsty, but the dude does not look like half the man you thought he was at 3 in the morning.

I know it’s happened to the best (and most responsible) of us. You’re in the bar and you see a guy across the room. That “Oh em gee, he totes resembles Gerald Butler” feeling washes over you and and then - boom – the next morning you’re laying next to Shrek.  But why?  I understand a little alcohol can disable your senses, but what about your senses are beer goggles disrupting that leaves the curly haired freak you thought resembled Gerald Butler as your big spoon??

Lucky for us, British researchers have come up with an explanation.  They have discovered drinking is linked to people thinking others are more attractive. (Duh, I could have figured that one out.)  But here’s the real kicker: Women are more affected by beer goggles than men. Ok, gimme an explanation. Read More »

Where are the non-creepers?

As a woman in the prime of my single-dom, I am fixated on having fun, and – in the midst of my fun – wouldn’t mind finding Prince Charming. You know, funny, passionate, driven, cute.  The traditional barf-inducing list could go a mile long.  But lately, I have been noticing a recurring trend in the battlefield of love (aka local bar/library) and it has been happening to me a lot lately (insert sad face).

The scenario goes a little like this: guy approaches me at the bar, we make small talk, I calculate he is not my type.  The next thing I know, he is following me around the bar as if his goal in life is to creep my socks off, or fall madly in love with me.

And that’s the end of my story… and my interactions with the opposite sex. Read More »

"Uh. Er. Ummm. Uh. Er..."

I find Jude Law to be mind-numbingly attractive. There is no doubt in my mind that if I were ever to happen across him, I would be reduced to simple sentences and one-syllable words.  But according to a new study, it’s Jude who has to worry about the mind-numbing affect when interacting with members of the opposite sex. Namely, me.

Psychologists in the Netherlands carried out a study that found that after only a few minutes of chatting with an attractive woman, a man’s brain function is significantly decreased. Women, however, maintained their calm, cool and intellectually superior attitude when talking with handsome men. Once again, it has been proven that women are smarter than men. Or at least that we can handle ourselves in public.

Not the boys, though; put Heidi Klum in a room with the smartest man alive and he will be reduced to a bumbling idiot within minutes. Read More »

So ABC’s new show, “Dating in the Dark,” is weird. Like, really weird. Three girls and three guys meet in the pitch dark, often make out, and then get to see one another. They then have to decide if they want to go on actual dates with the people they have just seen.

Wait, that’s not so weird. It sounds like the same thing that happens nightly in college bars from coast to coast. Only on TV.

Much like the feeling of repulsion that has come over many of us after last call, the people on the show who really hit it off in the dark aren’t such fans of each other once the lights flip on.

Now, maybe it’s just me, but this doesn’t really cast people in the best light (no pun intended), right?

Maybe it’s because I’m most often attracted to a guy’s personality before I start to find him cute, but I can’t imagine rejecting a dude on the basis of looks alone if I’ve already felt a strong connection with him. I wouldn’t date a guy that I wasn’t attracted to, but personality totally takes a guy from zero to ten (OK, maybe 5 to 10). If I liked him in the dark, especially enough for a little tonsil hockey, I’d like to think I’d be happy in the light, too.

But that is not what’s happening here. Read More »

Life would be a whole lot easier if money weren’t an issue, right? You wouldn’t have to worry about those pesky bills, you could travel the world in style, enjoy daily shopping trips at your favorite boutiques…

Whoa. Sorry – zoned out there for a minute.

Anywho, even if people don’t want to admit it, marrying someone with money would be pretty fan-effing-tastic, no?  Just look at all those Real Housewives – their lives aren’t too shabby. Who wouldn’t want to have all that (minus the ridiculous dramz, of course)?

So, is there anything wrong with trying to find a wealthy man to sweep you off your feet? And does looking for a man with a cushy bank account make you a – how did my friend put it? – prostitute? There’s a fine line between liking someone with money and liking someone for money, but, at the end of the day, is either one really ok?

See both sides below, then weigh in on the topic in the comment section! Read More »

I picked my last boyfriend up at the grocery store. Bing, bang, boom—some eggs, some bread, and a new dude. Sure, there was some out-of-store courting involved, but who would have thought you could actually meet nice guys at the grocery store? Or that guys even went to the grocery store?

Not me. But it turns out that great dudes are all over the place—you just have to know where to look and how to strike. Read on.

1. Smile.
This might sound dumb, but everybody’s attracted to a good smile. You can’t pick up a guy if you look sour, so flash those pearly whites. You never know when somebody cute is going to look your way.

2. Be who you wish you were.
If you’re shy but you really want to be outgoing and flirty, what’s stopping you? It’s hard to overcome labels you’ve placed on yourself, but you’re the only person who has the power to change things. So rather than slinking back into a corner, cross the room and talk to that hot dude. And hold your head up like you mean it. Read More »

I’m going to make a bold statement here: pretty people have it pretty easy in life.

Well, at least when it comes to dealings with the opposite sex. I watch guys trip over themselves to get near a hot girl with big boobs, yet I find myself breaking a sweat trying to prove to the same guys that I’m worth a moment of their time.

I don’t mind this – I love showing people how awesomely funny I am – but it does irk me when I see the “perfect” girls coasting through life without lifting a finger. WTF, pretty people? How is that fair? I’m just as worthy, if not more, of the same things you get in life, yet you get them handed to you on a silver platter and I have to pass some sort of test just to get a taste?

I wanted to see what my male counterparts had to say about this subject. Do they know they’re doing this? Do they deal with it too? Let’s see…. Read More »