Looksmaxxing: the global male beauty obsession that can end in steroids and surgery

Looksmaxxing, a subculture obsessed with maximising male physical appearance, has spread from fringe incel forums to mainstream TikTok and Instagram. Practices range from harmless skincare routines to dangerous bone-smashing, steroid abuse and unlicensed filler injections. Psychologists warn the trend is fuelling body dysmorphia, eating disorders and severe mental health problems among young men.

Looksmaxxing, a portmanteau of the English words "looks" and "maximising", has quietly grown from the darkest corners of the internet into a mainstream male beauty movement with millions of followers worldwide. The goal is simple in theory: achieve a lean face with a sharp jawline, "hunter eyes," and a muscular body. The methods used to get there range from the mundane to the medically terrifying.

From incel forums to TikTok

The movement originated in the mid-2010s within the so-called manosphere, online communities of self-described "involuntary celibates," or incels, who believe women select partners purely on physical appearance rather than personality. The ideology draws on "Red Pill" and "Black Pill" thinking, inspired by the film The Matrix: adherents believe they have woken up to a harsh truth about attraction and dominance.

From these forums, looksmaxxing migrated to TikTok and Instagram in the early 2020s, where social media algorithms amplified its reach. Many younger users now engage with the trend purely as an interest in fitness, grooming and style, often unaware of its ideological roots. The community uses rating scales such as PSL (Perceived Sexual Level, scored 0-8) and SMV (Sexual Market Value, scored 1-10) to evaluate men's physical and social worth. The pinnacle of the PSL scale is the "gigachad", a near-cartoonishly idealised male face that has become one of the internet's most recognisable memes.

Softmaxxing vs hardmaxxing

Practitioners divide their methods into two broad camps. "Softmaxxing" covers relatively low-risk activities: skincare, exercise, posture correction, dietary changes and fashion. It also includes jaw exercises such as mewing, pressing the tongue against the upper palate to allegedly sharpen the jawline, and chewing on hard rubber devices. The American Association of Orthodontists has warned against mewing, noting that the tongue is one of the body's strongest muscles and sustained pressure can damage dental alignment.

"Hardmaxxing" is where the real dangers begin. This category includes cosmetic surgery, filler injections, aggressive dieting, steroid use and the use of grey-market peptides. One of the most alarming practices is "bonesmashing", striking the jaw or cheekbones with a hard object in the belief that bones will heal into a more aesthetic shape. The idea misapplies Wolff's Law, a 19th-century medical principle about gradual bone adaptation to load, not blunt trauma. Medical experts say bonesmashing causes swelling, microfractures, nerve damage and jaw injuries. TikTok has restricted searches for the hashtag, classifying it as "harmful or dangerous content."

The influencers driving the trend

The most prominent figure in the looksmaxxing world is 20-year-old American influencer Braden Peters, known online as "Clavicular," who has nearly one million TikTok followers. Peters claims to have radically transformed his appearance since the age of 14 and now sells paid looksmaxxing consultations. His story also serves as a stark cautionary tale: Peters has publicly admitted he became infertile due to steroid abuse and methamphetamine use to suppress his appetite. During a live stream, he was hospitalised for an overdose. In April 2026, YouTube deleted his channels for "serious or repeated violations." He has also appeared publicly alongside self-described misogynist influencer Andrew Tate.

Another prominent figure, 24-year-old Syrian-American Karim Shami, claims to focus on softmaxxing and sells his own branded supplements and cosmetics. In Russia, 22-year-old blogger Egor Denisenko, known as "Egor Nastoyashchiy", promotes appearance analysis services and claims the movement remains "a niche phenomenon" in post-Soviet countries, though Russian aesthetic medicine practitioners report a growing number of patients whose demands are shaped by looksmaxxing culture.

The psychology behind the obsession

Psychologists say looksmaxxing appeals to young men through a potent mix of social pressure and individual vulnerability. «Modern 20-year-olds grew up in a digital environment built on instant gratification,» says clinical psychologist and ACT therapist Anastasia Borisova. «Looksmaxxing offers a deceptively simple cheat code: instead of spending years learning to connect with people, you just inject fillers into your jaw or go under the knife.»

Psychologist Alexandra Grazhd notes that men systematically overestimate the importance of hypermasculine physical features to women. «In reality, a partner's assessment is far more complex and includes communication, confidence, emotional maturity, a sense of security and social skills,» she says.

Researchers at Cornell University found that men who sought looksmaxxing advice from AI tools experienced lower self-esteem and increased self-objectification, treating their own bodies as objects to be evaluated from the outside. Canadian sociologists studying masculinity have identified a broader pattern: as traditional markers of male status, a stable career, homeownership, long-term relationships, feel increasingly out of reach, the body becomes a space for reclaiming a sense of control.

Risks: body dysmorphia, eating disorders and more

Specialists warn that looksmaxxing, particularly in its harder forms, can trigger or worsen body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a condition in which a person becomes obsessed with perceived flaws in their appearance. Risk factors include perfectionism, anxiety, a history of bullying about appearance, and heavy social media use.

Men in looksmaxxing communities are also at elevated risk of eating disorders, which in males often manifest not as attempts to lose weight but as compulsive exercise, extreme "cutting" phases, and pathological fixation on muscle definition, a condition known as muscle dysmorphia or bigorexia. Orthorexia, an obsessive fixation on "clean" eating, is another growing concern.

The financial incentive sustaining the subculture is also worth noting. Influencers like Peters profit first by making young men feel inadequate, then by selling them a solution in the form of courses, supplements or consultations. The illusory nature of some influencers' transformations was exposed when Australian looksmaxxer "Androgenic" had his wig pulled off during a live stream, revealing hair loss beneath his claimed "luxury hair."

When to seek help

Psychologists advise that caring about one's appearance is entirely normal, but certain warning signs indicate that concern has crossed into something harmful: obsessive thoughts about appearance that interfere with work or social life, mood and self-esteem that fluctuate based on mirror reflections, avoidance of social situations due to body shame, escalating use of extreme practices, and signs of depression or social isolation.

For those concerned about themselves or a loved one, experts recommend first reducing exposure to looksmaxxing content by unfollowing related accounts and actively retraining social media algorithms. Keeping a journal of triggers and reconnecting with other interests can also help. Professional support, cognitive behavioural therapy, nutritional counselling, or in more severe cases psychiatric care, is the recommended path for anyone developing BDD or disordered eating.

«The only effective path,» says Borisova, «is to gently but persistently guide the person toward a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist», and the sooner, the better.