As collegiettes, we put a lot of thought and effort into our appearances. Choosing to reapply some mascara at a stoplight, spending 20 or so painful minutes every week maintaining your eyebrows and searching for the perfect conditioner that doesn’t overly moisturize your roots can be daunting. And despite all our hard work (even though we are all naturally beautiful!), our efforts usually go unnoticed or are taken for granted.
While we know when we’re having a particularly bad hair day, guys may not have a clue! It turns out that they actually don’t pay attention to a lot of the things we collegiettes may obsess over at times. Here are six things guys don’t notice about girls.
1. Your hair
Guys notice that your hair is there… and that’s about it. They love what you do with it, whatever you do with it. They aren’t that picky.
“I would notice if something was really elaborate, but girls can totally get away with rolling out of bed,” says Zach, a sophomore at the University of Missouri. Guys simply appreciate the fact that you are able to maintain the eight to 20 inches of hair they just don’t have.
While we may not be rocking the bedhead look anytime soon, rest easy knowing that even when your hair isn’t falling just right, guys don’t know that.
2. Your mascara and eyeliner
After trying every different brand of mascara, you finally found the perfect one that multiplies your lashes’ volume and adds length. You put some on the next morning before class, and you can’t wait to see if someone notices a difference. And then, no one says anything.
“I notice when [mascara] is there, but I don’t notice when it’s not there,” says Stephen, a freshman at Indiana University. “I just think, ‘Oh, your eyes look pretty.’”
So guys notice that you may look more dazzling than usual, but they can’t quite figure out why. Mascara and eyeliner are seemingly everyday makeup essentials, and guys have been conditioned to accept it as such.
“It’s like, in middle school, if a girl wore eyeliner, we would be blown away,” says Kevin, a sophomore at the University of Missouri. “But now, it’s just normal. I don’t notice it.”
3. Your eyebrows and random facial hair
It’s a Thursday night. You’re running low on time before heading out with your friends, and you can’t decide if you need to do your eyebrows, or if you really even have time to take up such an endeavor at all. However, while it may be obvious to you that you have an obnoxious stray hair growing out the side of your face, that kind of thing flies under the radar of most guys.
Guys often don’t even notice when you need to “do” your eyebrows, and they also don’t really know what “doing your eyebrows” entails. “If her eyebrows are like mine—thick and bushy—I’ll notice,” Kevin says. “Otherwise, I don’t notice.”
So go ahead and let your hairs grow free! The guys don’t seem to mind.
4. Your “cankles”
Ladies, embrace your sturdy ankles. This is one imperfection that is truly only noticed by you! Shocker: most guys don’t even know what a cankle is.
“I couldn’t tell you the last time I looked at a girl’s ankles,” says Sam, a sophomore at Saint Louis University. “Why look at their ankles when you can look at their face?”
So bare your ankles (or lack thereof) with pride instead of hiding them with long pants!
5. Your mild acne
In this stage of our lives, you’d think we’d have this whole acne prevention thing figured out. But, alas, some blemishes always manage to sneak up on us. The good news is that guys don’t pay any attention to these minute imperfections.
Sam says he doesn’t even remember if a girl has acne after meeting her for the first time. “I don’t see acne as affecting a girl’s cumulative appearance,” he says. “It’s something you noticed early on when everybody had it, but I’ve never really noticed in college.”
While you may freak out tomorrow morning to find that you have a new red blotch upon your cheek, fear not. That’s because, one: stress could make your acne worse, and two: guys simply see acne as a part of life.
6. Your skin tone
So your formal is tomorrow night, and you want to get a spray tan to look extra bronzed and toned in your dress. However, guys don’t notice if you’re a little pale. “As long as you don’t look like you’ve been inside for the past three years, you’re fine,” Zach says. “Don’t worry about tanning.”
Working with your natural skin tone and glowing from within are what grab a guy’s attention! But they also notice when you look like an Oompa-Loompa. “We do notice when you look like you’re trying too hard,” Ben says.
When it comes down to it, guys actually notice a lot about a girl: your smile, your body language and your personality are never missed. As long as you show off the real you, you’re sure to get the attention of the perfect guy for you!