BP Beauty Queen

It seems as though the days when I make absolutely no effort to make myself presentable are the times that I get noticed more often by the opposite gender.  Today I went to the gas station to run in quickly and buy milk and some snacky-snacks to surprise the the hubs with for him to enjoy during his shift tonight.

My hair was unfixed, still up in the bun I had put it up in last night before I went to bed, complete with fly-aways and messy bangs.  No make-up, my house/crafting jeans that have Mod Podge stains all over them (and I have to wear a long shirt with them because the zipper never stays put...but I can't part with them because they are so comfy, my absolute faves).  And a black v-neck sweater that could seriouly use a meeting with one of those little sweater fuzz vacuums.

So I'm standing at the counter paying for my shiz and this handsome black guy walks up behind me and says "Excuse me princess, you've got some lint stuck to your sweater" and then he reaches over and pulls off...a little shard of toilet paper that was stuck to my back.  I guess it's better than TP stuck to your ass or shoe.  I thanked him and turned to go, and as I walked out he says "you have a great day, beautiful."  Then a group of guys were standing around outside and said "damn, how about her?"  Which, I assumed they meant in a complimentary way, but I can't be absolutely sure.  Maybe they were saying "Damn.  What about her?" as they were in the middle of discussing the most homely looking women they've seen today.

I've talked about this with my mom and my best friend in the past.  We can't figure out if it really is that we do, in fact, get checked out more often when we're not all done up...or if it's just that we are much more aware of it because we're feeling self-concious about our appearance at the time. 

So guys:  do you prefer a woman without makeup?  Or is it just you don't like a lot of makeup?  Or is a woman just more approachable when she looks a little frazzled and "I don't give a crap today"? Is the "girl next door" look (in my case, quasi-homeless girl next door) sexier than the "night out" look?

Thinking of these things brings so many unanswered questions...and I think I have a pretty good understanding of men.  Is our preception of what we (as women) believe men find attractive scewed by what we see in magazines, through celebrities, etc etc?  Personally, I'm just really confused by the fact that I get more attention when I'm definitely not feeling sexy than when I've made the effort to look smokin'.  'Splain dis to me, Willis.