It's Friday night. You've just downed your second post-work apple-tini and now you're scanning your Sex In the City wardrobe for a get-up certain to entrap Mr. Huck-A-Burning-Love later tonight. Wait a minute! While surveying your garbs, you might want to consider other subtle- not to mention cheap- ways to wile a man to your trove of feminine offerings.

In fact, an army of psychologists has already done most of the date-baiting work for you. All you need to do is heed their three kernels of man-tempting advice.

For years, psychologist consumed hundreds of labs hours dissecting just how men and women make decisions based on a person's appearance. Though it seems demeaning of human nature to think that we assess other people based on some internal algorithm, clinical studies have demonstrated that humans are decidedly predictable.

Rather than berate ourselves for relying on our reptilian-programmed minds, let us take advantage of such canal instincts in order to get the affectations we need.

1. Create trust with cosmetics

If you need to get something from someone else- like a car loan, job or date- you need to evoke trust with that person. You don't have hours or even minutes to create this relationship- you must command trust in a matter of nanoseconds. To do this, appeal to a man's instinctual mind, or as psychologists advise, just get your make-up right.

That is, apply your cosmetics as if your were Katie Couric getting ready for the 6 o'clock news, and not a Las Vegas showgirl, with all due respect, getting ready to open a Wayne Newton concert. If you do copy Katie, apparently people will trust you more.

For example, a study presented in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology revealed men and women perceived other women who wore make-up as healthier and more confident than the same women without make-up. Participants also assumed that women wearing cosmetics enjoyed greater earning potential and held more prestigious jobs than the same women not wearing cosmetics.

2. Hip your way to a proposal

After you get that date, you can further entice your man by creating the ideal waist-to-hip ratio. Several studies, including one in the Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, suggest that there is a direct link between a woman's waste-to-hip (WTH) ratio and her attractiveness rating among men. The ideal WTH number seems to be 0.7.

Creating the illusion of a 0.7 WTH ratio is easy. Plus, you don't have to have a 24-inch waist to make this work. In fact, it might help to have a 38-inch waist as long as you can pull off the golden 0.7 ratio.

Regardless of your natural shape, you can adjust your clothing to simulate the 0.7 WTH ratio. For instance, if your hip and waist size are roughly the same, wear a dress that is close fitting on the top and waist area but that flares out below the waist to create the illusion of a larger hip size.

On the other hand, if your hips are substantially wider than your waist, you will want to accentuate your top by wearing a loose-fitting blouse or shirt. Then complement the top with jeans or a skirt that reveals the contours of your lower body. This clothing manipulation accentuates your top while contracting your bottom to pull your overall shape closer to the 0.7 man-enrapturing ratio.

3. Calm down and you will look more attractive

Now that you've got your man, you may want something else, like a chilled Petron margarita or an ethereal foot massage.

Just remember, "Sugar and spice makes everything nice," especially when you want something from a man.

At least that's what researchers Bruce Keisling and Malcolm Gynther discovered when they tested "Male perceptions of female attractiveness". The team found that men viewed physically "unattractive" women who displayed feelings of affection and compassion more appealing than physically attractive women who behaved assertively and independently. So, play lovable, huggable you to get on your man's "Hottie" side.

In short, rejoice in knowing that turning a man's head is more than a matter of mimicking a Maxim pinup or staying on schedule with Botox injections. Instead, your charm, love handles and fabulous taste in Pacific blue eyeshadow all bolster your chances of finally corralling Mr. I-Can't-Believe-You're-Not-Married-Yet at your favorite watering spot. Happy hunting and even happier slurping.

Sources:

Keisling, Bruce L &, Malcolm D Gynther. Male perceptions of female attractiveness: the effects of targets' personal attributes and subjects' degree of masculinity. Journal of Clinical Psychology; March 1993, vol. 49, no 2, pp 190-195.

Marlowe, Frank and Adam Wetsman. Preferred Waist-To-Hip Ratio and Ecology. Personality and Individual Differences. February 2001; vol 30, no 3, pp 481-489.

Nash, Rebecca et al. Cosmetics: They Influence More Than Caucasian Female Facial Attractiveness. Journal of Applied Social Psychology; February 2006, vol. 36, no 2, pp 493-504.

Singh, Devendra. Adaptive Significance of Female Physical Attractiveness: Role of Waist-to-Hip Ratio. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology; August 1993, vol 65, no 2, pp 293-207.

Copyright (c) 2007 Naweko Nicole Dial