How to Look More Masculine: Your Ultimate Guide to a Manlier Appearance and Attitude

Behind a sleek suit or a manly beard should be someone who takes care of himself and understands respect—both for himself and for others. This notion of respect must be the root of a man’s confidence, and is the key in knowing how to look more masculine.

So, before we go into this journey, we must make it clear to ourselves that looking and acting masculine is a way of embracing who you are and expressing this as confidently as possible. Let’s start this quick run-through with appearance, as it’s the first aspect about oneself that is easy to shift.

A key idea that does wonders for a masculine appearance is sexual dimorphism, which puts a premium on the male characteristics. Examples would be facial hair, larger muscles, and manlier clothing.

Besides the sexual organs, these traits the most obvious indicators that the person you’re talking to is a man. This is important in the eyes of women too due to their natural biological preference for dominant and masculine-looking male faces.

After all, these characteristics used to signal the ability to triumph in conflicts with other males and hence achieve a higher social status.

But hey, we're living in the 21st century. In most cases, men no longer physically fight to provide for their families. Men show that they’re men through other means, so even if you don’t have a bushy beard or large muscles, you can still be manly.

It’s all a matter of letting yourself move closer to the direction of your natural biological aesthetic, which is something you achieve by doing the following:

This is pretty easy to keep track of.

All you have to do is shower regularly, brush your teeth, and clip your fingernails. A trip to the barber would be nice too. More of that in the grooming section.

The cherry on top for hygiene would be to invest in a good cologne that matches your personality. Get a whiff of things at the store and pick what makes you feel most confident.

When you consistently put effort in your hygiene, people will subconsciously take notice and gradually gravitate towards you. Most importantly, you’ll feel more confident about yourself and hence more masculine.

Getting decent facial hair and a nice haircut that suits your face shape is all a matter of finding the right barber who can give you the perfect cut. We all know that this can be a trial-and-error thing, so recommendations from friends would be a great help.

Whether you get a simple cut, a cool flop, or a bald look, maintenance will be your friend from there on out. This means either regularly returning to the barber or investing in quality clippers for some DIY trimming.

Facial hair is a whole other story, but the key is the same.

Whether you have stubble, a full beard, or a smooth face, you must put effort in maintenance. You can even have a scruffy look, but you don’t want to look like you’ve been cast away on an island for weeks.

The outside world has to know that you respect and value yourself. How you stand is the best way to show this.

Good posture is a pain to keep up when you’re used to slouching, but this can be solved by a simple trick.

Imagine you’re a puppet and a piece of string is attached to your head and pulling upwards. You must straighten your neck and your back to align your spine.

This may end up with a sort of robotic or statuesque look, so it’s important that once you’re standing or sitting straight, you have to breathe deeply, which can help relax tense muscles. Once you look calm and confident, you’ll eventually feel like it too.

The final touch on your appearance would be clothing. Because clothes are a form of self-expression, you’ll have to determine your own.

It’s not always good to stereotype, but for this, you have to know what fits you best and adopt this for your style. Whether you’re a young professional, a thrill-seeking biker, or a cool and chill gamer, your wardrobe has to express who you are.

Each person also has colors that suit them.

To find out what these are, you can visit online clothing stores and look for models who have similar skin and hair color. What they’re wearing will probably look good on you too.

When it comes to the fit, it’s all up to you and there may be a need to experiment. The safest bet would be clothes that slightly hug your frame.

It’s hard to look and feel great when you’re unhealthy.

To become and look more masculine, the biggest health improvement that you can invest in is fixing hormonal imbalances. This is a legitimate condition that can be diagnosed, but anyone can balance their hormones to good effect.

Testosterone, for one, is the hormone that must be adequate for men to keep functioning as biological males. It also naturally highlights physical masculine traits, and therefore a key to looking and feeling like a man.

A study on the hormonal balance of men in the military revealed that improving such balance positively affected their performance under stress. Not that you’ll be doing things akin to what they do in the military, but every man must be able to keep up with their daily life, whatever it may entail.

The one thing that will increase testosterone is nutrition. Let’s quickly run through what you have to eat to get this down pat.

Nutrition is the champion when it comes to balancing hormones. A diet with enough focus on protein and healthy fats from various animal sources can already help a lot.

Many would prefer low-sugar or low-carb diets to keep the weight down, but the reality is that we need sugar and carbs for energy. If you have an active lifestyle and want to exercise daily, these needs must be met.

Of course, junk food, sweets, and overly salty foods are a big no-no.

Supplements have been all the rage as well when it comes to hormonal balance.

Before you grab whatever is on the counter, take note of the following micronutrients: vitamin D, zinc, magnesium, and selenium. These are crucial for achieving better testosterone levels.

If you’re interested in learning more about restoring hormonal balance and namely increasing testosterone, here’s an in-depth guide to doing so. It goes into other methods, such as adequate sleep, regular exposure to sunlight, correction of one’s natural body clock, and minimizing stress.

Although food has more weight than exercise, gaining a little muscle mass won’t be so bad either. If you’re up for the challenge, you have to devote time to the gym at least three times a week.

Lifting weights should be your focus if you want to build muscle. Aside from that, you’ll have to do squats, bench presses, and overhead presses.

Consistently eating right and going to the gym will show best results. It’s probably the hardest combination to get right, but once you do find a rhythm to it and stay disciplined, you’ll find yourself looking better.

And of course, you will enjoy the confidence that comes with this lifestyle.

If you think lifting weights and talking over other people is all there is to it, then clearly you have the wrong idea of what it is to be a man.

A man is nothing without confidence, but he is also nothing without sincerity and substance. It’s time we get the mix of those things right.

The image of masculinity must be backed up with the behavior of a man. First off in achieving this is changing the way you speak.

Confidence isn’t about who speaks the loudest. It’s more of how you say things, and no one likes an attention seeker.

Perhaps the best thing to remember is that you shouldn’t demand to be listened to and instead act like people will listen to you anyway.

Practice your voice modulation so that it’s enough to be heard over the hum of an air conditioner or an electric fan. Keep your tone calm and consistent.

An assertive voice is only necessary when the situation calls for it. You can practice modulating with this kind of voice as well, so that you get the volume right when the time comes.

You just have to look people in the eye when you speak to them. It shows you’re listening, and that what the other person is saying will elicit a response from you.

Don’t make it creepy, though. Look away at appropriate moments, like when something else in your environment calls for attention or when there’s a lull in the conversation when one of you is recalling a certain memory.

Studies show that when a man consistently makes eye contact, it’s an indicator of an alpha personality, so it would be best if you read up on more extensive tips on the matter.

This is the extension of good posture. Body language is fundamental to a masculine attitude, and requires much development and practice.

Actors who play stereotypically masculine characters have the confidence down, as expected, but if you copy them, you’ll just have overly large and purposeful movements. It’s great to start out with them as examples, but better tone it down a bit to match your own personality.

Beyond acting, the root of having good body language is sincerity.

Comfortable movements indicate no reason to hide intentions. This makes anxiety a difficult enemy, as it constantly urges you to hide things, throwing off eye contact and tone of voice.

Even if you’re uncomfortable because you’re talking to someone you dislike or even someone you like too much, it’s best to embrace what you’re feeling. Accepting your feelings and intentions within yourself helps make you comfortable and, therefore, confident.

After all, body language is the body’s own form of self-expression. Having the body in sync with both mind and emotion aligns everything towards a calm, balanced, and more masculine direction.

Although we’re no longer in the Stone Age where men must fight and battle prey, predators, and each other, it’s best to look, act, and feel strong and confident.

Sure, it takes lots of time and effort to maintain, but the benefits are worth it. If you’re interested in reading more, here’s a detailed run-down of all these traits that may help.

From your physique and language to your facial look and expressions, there’s no doubt that what people see will prime them for what to expect. Good grooming and confidence are absolutely needed to maintain this.