The College of Optometrists

Men make themselves unattractive to women they fancy by using their eyes in ill-judged flirting techniques, new research released by The College of Optometrists reveals today.

Over half of men (55%) admit to actively using their eyes to flirt with someone they find attractive, with top male flirting tricks including ‘making eye contact for longer than normal’ (75%), ‘winking’ (20%), ‘looking at an area of the body they find attractive other than the face’ (20%), and ‘glancing away repeatedly’ (30%).

But the research indicates that many women fail to appreciate these flirting tactics, two out of five women say that they find someone who ‘looks at an area of their body for too long’ unattractive, 14% claim that ‘winking’ is a turn-off, while more than one in ten say that ‘making eye contact for too long’ is unappealing. ‘Shifty’ eye movements will turn off nearly half of women (45%).

Commenting on the findings, Dr Susan Blakeney, Optometric Adviser at The College of Optometrists, says: “The eyes have been considered a key tool of seduction for hundreds of years. Our own figures* show that over half of all adults rate eyes as the most appealing feature they look for when meeting someone for the first time and this latest research underlines their importance when it comes to attracting someone we like the look of. By looking after our eyes we can truly value them as one of our most important assets.”

To keep your eyes beautiful and healthy this Valentine’s Day, The College of Optometrists has these top tips:

• Ladies, use your make-up responsibly – ditch eye make-up when it gets older than its use-by-date (for mascara this is 6 months), and don’t share your eye make-up or apply it when travelling in case you scratch your eye and spread bacteria.
  
• If you wear contact lenses, take-care: don’t wash them tap water, lick them, shower in them or use the wrong solution to store them. Don’t sleep in lenses unless your Optometrist has specifically said that you can, and only wear them for the maximum time recommended by your optician.
  
• Stop smoking – it’s not nice for your breath and smoking damages the cells in your retina, and doubles the risk of developing AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration), the UK’s leading cause of sight loss.
  
• Eat healthily - a poor diet with a high level of fats and low level of vitamins can make AMD worse, so give junk food a break, and make sure you are eating the right vitamins and minerals. Research suggests that diets rich in carotenoids found in leafy green vegetables, such as raw carrot, broccoli and raw spinach can reduce the risk of eye related health problems.
  
• Visit an Optometrist regularly, Optometrists are the eye health professionals on the high street, trained not only to test sight and prescribe glasses and contact lenses; they can also spot any eye problems and treat infections.