Improve your face

Looksmaxxing: what works, what doesn’t, and what’s risky

The terms, the methods that hold up, the myths, and the trends that can hurt you.

Looksmaxxing is the internet's word for improving your appearance on purpose. Some of the advice is solid, some is myth, and some can seriously hurt you. Here is how to tell them apart.

What is looksmaxxing?

The term came out of online forums and spread through TikTok and YouTube. At its best it is simply a systematic approach to looking better: work out what affects your appearance, then improve the parts you can. At its worst it pushes risky shortcuts and an unhealthy obsession with flaws. The useful core is the same thing a good dermatologist, barber or personal trainer would tell you, applied to your own face.

Softmaxxing vs hardmaxxing

Softmaxxing is everything non-invasive: losing body fat, skincare, a better haircut, groomed brows, facial hair, teeth whitening, posture and clothes. It is cheap, reversible and safe, and for most people it changes more than they expect.
Hardmaxxing means medical changes: fillers, muscle-relaxing injections, rhinoplasty, chin implants, genioplasty or jaw surgery. These can change bone-level proportions that habits cannot, but they cost more, carry real risk and need a qualified professional.

The order matters. Lower body fat alone can transform the jawline, cheekbones and under-chin, and it changes how every other measurement reads. See How to improve your face for each option in detail.

Looksmaxxing terms, explained

Canthal tilt: The angle from the inner to the outer corner of the eye. A slight upward (positive) tilt is generally read as attractive. How canthal tilt is measured.
Hunter eyes: Slang for deep-set eyes with a positive canthal tilt, little visible upper eyelid and a low, straight brow. In measurement terms: canthal tilt, eyelid exposure and brow height.
FWHR: Facial width-to-height ratio: cheekbone width divided by the height of the upper face. A higher ratio reads as wider and more compact.
Gonial angle: The angle at the corner of the jaw, seen from the side. A sharper angle reads as a stronger jaw. How the gonial angle is measured.
Facial thirds: Hairline to brow, brow to nose base, nose base to chin. Roughly equal thirds read as balanced.
Forward growth: How far the midface and jaw project forward in profile. Captured by measurements such as facial convexity, the Z angle and midface projection.
Mewing: Resting the whole tongue against the roof of the mouth. Good for posture; no good evidence it reshapes adult bone.
Mogging: Slang for one person looking noticeably better than another standing next to them.
PSL rating: An informal forum scale for rating faces. It has no fixed definition, so the same face gets very different numbers from different people. A measured score shows the reasons behind the number.

What actually works

Lower body fat: the biggest single change for most faces, especially the jaw and cheekbones.
Skin: daily sunscreen, a retinoid and a dermatologist for acne or scarring.
Hair and brows: a cut chosen for your face shape, and brows shaped with a slight lift at the tail.
Facial hair: a beard can draw a jawline the bone does not provide.
Posture: head back over the shoulders tightens the under-chin angle in profile.
Sleep: less puffiness and darker circles when it is short.

Myths

Mewing reshapes your jaw. Not in adults. It is a posture habit.
Chewing hard gum gives you a jawline. It enlarges the chewing muscles, which can widen the lower face, and can strain the jaw joint. It does not build bone.
Faces should match the golden ratio. Attractive faces fall within ranges that differ by feature, sex and ethnicity. See Facial harmony.

Trends to avoid

Keep it healthy

Improving how you look is a reasonable goal; letting it take over is not. If you spend hours a day checking your face, avoid people or photos because of a flaw others barely notice, or feel no better after changes, that can be a sign of body dysmorphic disorder, and talking to a doctor or therapist helps. A score is a map of your face, not a measure of your worth.

Where FaceIQ Labs fits

Most looksmaxxing advice is generic. A facial analysis measures your face across 70+ proportions plus definition, dimorphism and skin, then ranks your flaws by how many points each one costs. That tells you which changes matter for your face, and re-scanning with the same photo setup shows whether they worked. See how the face rating works.

Common questions

What does looksmaxxing mean?

Looksmaxxing means deliberately improving your appearance. It started as slang in online communities and now covers everything from skincare and haircuts (softmaxxing) to cosmetic procedures and surgery (hardmaxxing).

What is the difference between softmaxxing and hardmaxxing?

Softmaxxing is non-invasive and reversible: body fat, skincare, hair, brows, grooming, posture and style. Hardmaxxing means medical or surgical changes such as fillers, rhinoplasty, chin implants or jaw surgery. Softmaxxing should come first; it is cheap, safe and often changes more than people expect.

Does mewing work for looksmaxxing?

There is no good evidence that mewing changes an adult's bone structure. Holding your tongue on the roof of your mouth with your head up improves posture, which can make the jaw and neck look better in photos, but it will not reshape the jaw.

Is bone smashing real?

Bone smashing, hitting your face to try to make the bones grow, is a dangerous trend with no evidence behind it. It risks fractures, nerve damage, infection and permanent asymmetry. Do not do it.

How do I start looksmaxxing?

Measure your face first so you know where you actually stand, then fix the cheapest high-impact things: body fat, skin, hair and brows. A facial analysis ranks your flaws by how much each one costs your score, so you work on what matters for your face rather than what is trending.

Get your own face rating

Two photos, front and side. Your side profile score, ten ratios and top strengths and flaws are free.

Rate my face