The Looksmaxxing Phenomenon: How Young Men Are Obsessing Over the Perfect Face

What Is Looksmaxxing and Why Are Young Men Obsessed With It?

A quietly growing movement is reshaping how young men think about their appearance — and some are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to achieve what they consider the ideal face and body.

Take Marvin, a 26-year-old who rates his own attractiveness at a "solid 7 out of 10." He believes a sharper jawline and clearer skin could push him closer to a 9. For Marvin, this isn't wishful thinking — it's a structured daily mission.

His mornings begin before sunrise with an intense gym session. Once home, the real regimen kicks in: alternating warm and freezing cold showers, a thorough face cleanse, and rubbing a frozen cucumber across his skin to reduce puffiness and boost his complexion. He then moves through a series of targeted facial exercises, which he regularly shares with his 35,000 TikTok followers.

The Exercises Behind the Obsession

Marvin demonstrates two of his go-to techniques. The first, called the "Zygopush," involves pressing his thumbs firmly beneath his cheekbones and massaging upward toward his ears — a move he claims hollows out the cheeks. The second, the "Hunter squeeze," has him pressing his index fingers against his temples while squinting his eyes, with the goal of creating a sharper, more angular eye shape.

He laughs as he walks through the routine. "People do sometimes think, 'What is this man doing?'" he admits. Yet he remains firmly convinced it's working. He describes the goal as a chiselled, hollow-cheeked profile with a strong jawline and intense eyes — the moment a man truly "peaks." He credits this pursuit with transforming him from a dissatisfied tradesman into a self-made online entrepreneur.

Softmaxxing vs. Hardmaxxing: Understanding the Spectrum

This is the world of looksmaxxing — a rapidly expanding online subculture in which young men pursue physical perfection as a pathway to a better life overall.

The practice spans a wide range of approaches. On the gentler end sits softmaxxing: regular gym workouts, structured skincare routines, improved sleep habits, and dietary changes. Further along the spectrum lies hardmaxxing, which can involve taking unregulated peptides, growth hormones, or even undergoing jaw surgery to achieve a more angular, prehistoric-looking facial structure.

Some practitioners go even further, engaging in so-called "bone smashing" — deliberately striking the jawbone to supposedly reshape it over time. This, along with hormone use without medical supervision, is firmly discouraged by health professionals.

For those who don't engage with looksmaxxing at all, Marvin warns of falling into the "sub three" category — his term for someone who isn't particularly attractive and isn't trying to change that.

Face-rating apps, which analyze uploaded photos and suggest areas for improvement, have become a popular tool within the community. Many such apps carry thousands of user reviews across major app stores.

The Influencers Driving the Movement

Among the most prominent figures in looksmaxxing is Braden Peters, who goes by the online handle "Clavicular." The 20-year-old is considered a "giga chad" within the community — a perfect 10 — and says he "mogs" everyone around him, meaning his presence simply outshines others.

Peters attributes his appearance to several controversial practices, including taking testosterone from the age of 14 and using a hammer to physically reshape his jaw. Neither approach carries any medical endorsement. Despite the controversy, his content — alongside that of similar creators — has helped push looksmaxxing from obscure internet forums into mainstream social media feeds.

A Gateway to the Manosphere?

Not everyone views looksmaxxing as harmless self-improvement. Researchers and journalists who study the manosphere — an ultra-masculine online subculture that recently featured in a Louis Theroux documentary — argue that looksmaxxing can serve as an entry point into far more troubling ideological territory.

The term itself has roots in incel forums: online communities of men who identify as "involuntarily celibate" and often promote deeply misogynistic views, blaming women for their own romantic and sexual failures.

Investigative journalist Matt Shea, who has reported extensively on toxic masculinity and previously interviewed influencer Andrew Tate, sees a common thread running through looksmaxxing culture and more extreme male influencer content.

"They tell young men how worthless they are," Shea explains, "then offer themselves up as the solution."

The business model, he says, revolves around selling courses designed to boost a man's "sexual market value" (SMV) — essentially a numerical score of physical attractiveness. The higher the SMV, the theory goes, the greater the chances of romantic or sexual success. If that still doesn't work, the ideology conveniently shifts the blame onto women.

"That," Shea warns, "is when it becomes dangerous."

Not All Looksmaxxers Are the Same

A scroll through looksmaxxing content online quickly reveals that the community is far from monolithic. Many participants actively distance themselves from incel ideology and misogynistic messaging.

Leander is one such example. He agreed to speak on the condition that he not be associated with incel culture in any way. Like Marvin, he identifies as a softmaxxer — someone focused on self-improvement for personal confidence rather than ideological reasons.

Following a breakup in 2023, Leander began exploring looksmaxxing content and built his own daily routine. He trains at the gym five times a week, takes regular ice-cold face baths to reduce puffiness, makes a conscious effort to sleep on his back, and has eliminated pornography from his life — something he believes distorts how men perceive and relate to women.

Unlike Marvin, Leander doesn't assign himself a numerical score. He simply says he feels good about his appearance around 80% of the time. He is, however, candid about the limits of softmaxxing: without a naturally conventional appearance as a baseline, he believes there is only so much these routines can achieve.

The Bigger Picture

Looksmaxxing reflects something much broader than vanity — it taps into deep-seated anxieties about masculinity, self-worth, and social status that many young men are navigating in an increasingly image-driven world. Whether a personal wellness project or a rabbit hole leading somewhere far darker, its influence on a generation of young men is impossible to ignore.