It has been noted by many foreigners, and it definitely is true, that you can find many beautiful women on the streets of Russia, Ukraine, or other former USSR countries. Most foreigners immediately notice that Russian women's make up is usually perfect, their dress is immaculate, and they always look their best. Women still wear more skirts than jeans, and it may seem that they wear designer outfits for no reason at all. Russian women take good care of themselves, they are feminine and charming. The difference can be seen in women of any age: most 18 year olds will be comfortable wearing heels and being dressed up, women of older age look well taken care of and rarely get overweight with time because they pay attention to their appearance.

However, women who look this way in Russia are bound to change when they move abroad (as many observations have shown). Girls who would rarely step out of their home without make-up eventually start using much less cosmetics (and usually for special occasions only), women who used to look like models will most likely start wearing jeans and t-shirt a few months after living abroad - such an alternative is usually more convenient and less time consuming.

Many men wonder, if there are so many beautiful women on the internet, why such women are alone and look for partners abroad. A part of the answer to this question is the quality of men in Russia: they rarely know how to appreciate their women and few are interested in providing a stable, secure future for their family. However, it is also important to remember that many agencies are selective in women they feature on their sites. Most dating companies will go through hundreds of applicants and stick with the best. Many agencies will also use professional photographers to make women look their best in the pictures put on the websites. Many ordinary women turn to the agencies in search of a partner, but their information is either not published, or these women cancel agency services after not getting much response from men.

Agencies will normally look for the following criteria in women:

• Age - most agencies will focus on younger women (read: below 40);

• Physical attractiveness - agencies will either refuse women, who are not attractive, or pay little effort to promoting them on the website;

• Family status - it is a well-known fact that it is a lot more challenging for women with kids to find a partner, so agencies prefer clients without kids;

• English skills - most agencies prefer women who know at least some English.

It is rather obvious why agencies are so selective: most men coming to online dating agencies usually are interested in young women, who are not tied down and with whom they can communicate directly.

Such requirements from men have been used by some agencies to their own advantage: there have been reports of some agencies that publish photos of beautiful women (or models) who in fact are not really looking for a relationship abroad. This is one of the ways scams work: agencies collect money for correspondence or addresses of such ladies, but the addresses are usually non-existent, and women (even if real) end up finding a reason to stop communication if things are getting too serious, or disappear after the first meeting. It does not mean that any website that features beautiful ladies is a scam, but you should be observant and attentive when evaluating the agency before joining.

Some websites will offer correspondence for free (usually, such sites will feature all types of women), others will have membership systems or have higher fees for their services (such websites will usually have prettier ladies, which means that the agency is selective in the women it features). The second type of websites can also be more secure - if an agency takes time to screen its women, you are less likely to run into scammers; good things are rarely free.