Around 30% of the American population finds themselves unattractive in some sense. In light of this information, and the growing popularity of social media, there has sparked a rather unconventional trend claiming to make you look better: Looksmaxxing.

Looksmaxxing is a term used to describe the act of bettering your facial appearance using natural/artificial methods. Some methods are tame while others are rather extreme. The most common term that falls under the looksmaxxing umbrella is “mewing”. Mewing is the act of putting your tongue to the roof of your mouth and closing your mouth. This is supposed to reduce visibility of excess skin under the chin while improving and defining the jawline. 

While some Looksmaxxing techniques such as mewing are relatively harmless, others can be dangerous and harmful. One of these more dangerous techniques is known as “bone smashing” or hammermaxxing. This involves using a solid blunt object and repeatedly inflicting yourself on the jaw with said object. The basis for this technique comes from a study conducted by German anatomist Julius Wolff in the early 1800s. The study proved that bone structure can be altered when it needs to be and slight fractures in bones can cause them to change structure and even shape at times. Though disproven in the early 1900s, these so-called “bonesmashers” still use it as a reliable “scientifically-based” source that it works. I don’t recommend this at all as it’s incredibly dangerous and could lead to a few broken bones and a real messed-up facial structure.

While the “Looksmaxxing” community is primarily made up of rather easily impressionable teenagers, there are a few idols in the community that many base themselves off of and even their looks off of for comparison.

Chico Lachowski – Brazilian/Polish “supermodel”

Born in Curitiba, Brazil in the early 90s, Francisco “Chico” Lachowski found himself interested in modeling from a very young age. He appeared in many different advertisements during his early life and even appeared modeling for brands such as Dior Homme, Jean paul Gaultier, Versace, Gucci, and Tommy Hilfiger just to name a few. The symmetrical nature of his facial appearance made him of significant interest to the Looksmaxxing community during its rise to prominence in the early part of 2023. Many people who have participated in the looksmaxxing trend know his name and he, as of now, acknowledges the social media trend and finds it funny that he remains close to the center of attention despite his modeling career being at its tail end for the last 5 or so years. As of now, he has stepped away from the modeling scene, but we might see a future return in the coming years as hinted at by him online. 

Jordan Barrett – Australian “supermodel” 

Born in Byron Bay, Australia in 1996, Jordan Barrett has been a major figure in the Looksmaxxing community since its inception, similar to Francisco “Chico” Lachowski. His modeling career began when he was scouted by an agency at the age of just 14 years. From there he used his unique facial structure to climb up the modeling ladder, eventually landing himself opportunities with Versace, Tom Ford, and Coach. The Looksmaxxing community likes to take into account his facialharmony and appearance, many also see him as a sort of template to build themselves off of. He still actively models for companies and agencies, but it has lessened over the years. Similar to chico, Jordan is aware of the social media trends and encourages it online as he finds it humorous to be the center of such a strange community. 

While there is  a lot more I could go into when it comes to Looksmaxxing, most of it isn’t necessarily family friendly and I would still like to get this published. To summarize it all, it’s basically a strange sub-trend created by people who find themselves so unattractive that they must go to rather extreme lengths to fix such issues. Among the more natural methods of Looksmaxxing there are the obvious routes of plastic surgery and bone restructuring that, while effective on most fronts, costs an insanely large amount of money. Personally, I find it all to be rather fun, and just something to joke about among friends. I don’t recommend doing anything that could be harmful to yourself or others and, obviously I advocate for self-love or whatever, it means to be yourself and all that.