Same here. I could easily be an eight in some pictures just by making use of natural lighting and flattering angles but in reality my teeth are fucked and my hair's really thin for being in my 20s. It helps that Ive always been gender non-conforming but it's weird to think about sometimes. I don't focus on the negatives though. At least my face is symmetrical/kind of pretty in a handsome way. I'm not everybody's cup of tea but there are a select group of people who are super attracted to me. I'm smart, funny when comfortable around people, open minded, and a good listener. It helps that I have an s/o who treats me like I'm one of a kind and consistently makes me feel loved and desired. But when I was single, I didn't sweat it. It doesn't matter what you look like, as long as you put in some kind of effort to look like you're going for something...some kind of style. If you have desirable personality traits, that's five times better. Honestly the biggest hindrance to finding a mate and happiness is getting caught in the cycle of feeling unworthy of love/companionship, stewing in the forever alone feels, and letting that disconnect start to mean more than the connections you could be forming. Putting yourself out there and being vulnerable to rejection sucks but if you get some clothes that suit you, a flattering haircut, and some opinions or interests that might intrigue you're already way of ahead of the pack. The average looking but oh so delightful in every single way mate will appear if you take the chance. And honestly I've never let my initial view of how somebody stacks up on 1-10 scale effect if I'm going to date them or even just fuck. There's so much more to people than the outside. And conventionally standards of beauty have nothing to do with what makes our hormone monsters scream (obligatory comment on how we don't choose who we're attracted to or why and sometimes the hormone monsters pick the wrong people for shallow reasons regardless of how woke we try to be). Somebody's passion, humor, intellect, sarcasm, kindness, creativity, or candor all have much more of an effect when picking a partner. Of course there will always be shallow people but fuck them it says so much more when you can love with the soul, brain, and heart instead of just bouncing from one perfect 10 to the next pretty person you notice.