Look better without really trying

The problem with looking good all the time is that it's such damn hard work. Thankfully, we've come up with a few self-improvement strategies that are fast, effective and - best of all - require less effort from you than it takes to lift a can of beer. So if you're ready to redux read on...

If your hair ain't as thick as it used to be (and 50% of us will experience some kind of hairloss by middle age) try giving your barnet a boost with the help of a thickening shampoo like Trevor Sorbie's Mg Thickening Shampoo (£4.99 from boots.com).

Products like these use special polymers to temporarily plump up the hair shafts making your hair look thicker and fuller. The results are only temporary but since you've got to wash your hair anyway you may as well make it look thicker in process. Skip conditioners and styling aids like wax though - they can make hair look flatter and thinner.

  

Nothing improves the quality of your skin quite like a face scrub. "Exfoliation improves the surface appearance and function of the skin and it increases epidermal turnover rate, resulting in a clearer, smoother, more even-toned skin," says Dr David Orentreich, Clinique's Guiding Dermatologist. Exfoliation can make skin look younger too. In fact, remove the grease, grime and the dead skin cells that litter the surface of your skin and you'll turn back time faster than a trip in the TARDIS.

You might not realise it but a smile is one of the simplest ways to instantly improve your looks. Not only does it open up the whole face, giving you the appearance of youth and vitality, studies have shown that a person who smiles a lot is generally seen as being more attractive.

Smiling more is a quick route to appearing youthful and full of vitality
Don't force it though. "True smiles last between two-thirds of a second and four seconds but false smiles often linger on like awkward guests after a party," says Daniel McNeill, author of The Face: A Guided Tour. To ensure they're authentic, simply think of something that genuinely makes you feel happy (Kylie's bum or the axing of Desperate Housewives) and let the smile come naturally.

The way light hits your face can have a huge effect on how good you look and one of the easiest ways to improve the appearance of your skin is to use a product like Nickel's Le Grande Bluff Perfector (£22 from nkdman.co.uk), which contains special light-reflecting particles. These diffuse the light hitting your mush, making skin look healthier, more even and magically reducing the appearance of fine lines and other little imperfections. Think of it as Photoshop for the face.

Clothes don't just maketh the man they can transform him optically too so here are a few suggestions for how to use what you wear to enhance your physique.

Choosing the right clothes can substantially enhance your physique
If you have sloping shoulders, broaden them by wearing jackets with checks and tops with horizontal stripes, avoid vertical stripes if you're skinny, steer clear of loud patterns if you're short (they can emphasise your shortness), ditch trousers with pleats and large back pockets if you've a big backside and if you're worried about the size of your gut or moobs go for dark colours and matt fabrics which absorb light and make you look firmer and slimmer.

A few years ago practicing a spot of pubic topiary was a sport reserved for porn stars and German nudists. These days, with the advent of waxing and body hair trimmers and with a raft of surveys showing that women prefer men to be smooth, no self-respecting man should hit the beach without a tidy trunkline.

As well as being aesthetically pleasing when you're strutting your stuff in Speedos, trimming your bush can perform an even more useful transformational feat by adding an extra 'optical' inch to your member. Interested now? Thought so.

  

Glasses are a great way to totally change your look and if your hairline's receding they can help focus attention on the eyes instead. Don't worry if you don't need them - any frame can be fitted with a clear, non-prescription lens to lend you that unemployed librarian look or give you some geek chic.

Attain geek chic status immediately with some stylish specs
Stick to frames that match your hair or eye colour or opt for a style that contrasts the shape of your face (ie go for rectangular glasses if you've a face the shape of something Ronaldo might kick).

Women have known for years that when your body's heading south you need something to point it northwards again. It's called shapewear - specially designed underwear that redistributes fat, streamlines the body and generally holds everything in place and it's available for men too.

If you've some cash to splash try an Equmen Precision Singlet (£49 from asos.com) which will add definition to your torso while improving posture, or check out Asda's Shape Enhancer T-shirt which costs just £7 and also has 'body sculpting' properties. Neither is going to make a Peter Andre out of a Peter Kay (you still need the sit ups for that) but in the battle of the bulge every trick helps right?

Nothing ages you quite like losing your hair and while there's little you can do about it you can at least distract people's attention from your follically-bankrupt bonce.

Distract people from your receding hairline with a well-groomed goatee
"Many men with thinning hair grow some facial hair and with good reason - it can give people another point of focus, drawing the eye away from your receding hairline and down towards the face," says celebrity hairstylist Ben Skervin, a man who's cut hair for the likes of Orlando Bloom and Hugh Jackman. Worth a try. 

Just in case you need another reason to slip into that seductive Mankini, it turns out regular rumpy can improve your looks too. A few years back researchers at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital discovered that people with a good sex life actually look up to seven years younger than those not getting any.