There is a version of this scene playing out in a few million bathrooms right now. A young man, phone propped against the mirror, jaw clenched into a "mew," scrolling before-and-after photos at one in the morning. He has measured his canthal tilt. He knows what a hunter eye is. He has strong opinions about bone density that he did not have a year ago.
The internet calls this looksmaxxing. The headlines call it a poison. We think both are missing the bigger picture.
The instinct is right
Start with what is true. A young man who wants to look better, carry himself better, and command more respect is responding to something real. Status is visual before it is anything else. People decide how to treat you in the first few seconds, long before you open your mouth. The kid measuring his jaw has already worked out what most grown men spend decades pretending is not true. Presentation is power.
And the people guiding these young men are not all grifters. A lot of them are pointing boys toward the gym, toward grooming, toward standing up straight and taking care of themselves. That is good work. We are not here to mock anyone who has gotten a sixteen-year-old to stop slouching and start lifting. Their world is just smaller than ours.
The panic misses too
The other side gets it wrong as well. Every few months a column lands warning that looksmaxxing is poisoning a generation of boys. The concern is fair. Some of these forums are dark, and chasing surgery at seventeen is a real harm worth naming. But scolding young men for wanting to improve has never once worked. Tell a teenager that ambition about his own body is toxic and he will not stop. He will just stop listening to you and go find someone who takes him seriously. The answer to a bad map is a better map, not a lecture about wanting to reach the destination.
Where looksmaxxing hits its ceiling
Here is the problem with treating looksmaxxing as a religion. The face is finite. You can fix your hairline, sharpen your jaw, lean out, and get your skin right, and you should do all of it. But there is a ceiling, and most of the obsession lives in the last two percent. Men spend months agonising over a millimetre of bone while ignoring the things that actually move a room.
Because attractiveness in a man was never mostly about the face. It is frame. It is how much space you take up and how comfortable you are taking it. It is the body you built, the way you dress, the calm in your voice, the money behind your decisions, and the sense that you are going somewhere and do not need anyone's permission to get there. None of that shows up in a canthal tilt measurement.
Maxx the whole man
So if you want to maxx, maxx the whole thing.
Train for strength, not just for the mirror. A real frame gets built under a barbell over years, and it changes how every shirt sits and how every man in the room reads you. Start with performance training gear and put in the work.
Dress like you respect yourself. A man in a jacket that fits gets treated differently than a man drowning in a hoodie three sizes too big, in every country, at every age. This is the cheapest, fastest upgrade most young men refuse to make. A sharp suit does more in a room than a year of mewing.
Handle the inside. Sleep, sun, food, and what you put in your body show on your face faster than any ten-step routine. You cannot supplement your way out of a bad life, but you can stop sabotaging a good one. Get your health right from the inside.
Add the details. A watch, a chain, the right frames. Small signals that say you pay attention to yourself. The right accessories finish the picture.
And build something. Money is the most underrated looksmaxx there is, because a man with options carries himself like a man with options, and everyone in the room can feel it. That is the whole point of the Top G mentality.
What we would tell the kid in the mirror
If we could sit down with him, we would not tell him to put the phone down and stop caring. Caring is the right instinct. We would tell him he is aiming at a target the size of a coin when the whole wall is open. Fix your face, sure. Then go get strong. Get dressed. Get your health right. Get paid. Become a man other men respect and other men want to be around, and the jaw becomes a footnote.
Looksmaxxing is half the game. The mirror is one rep. The life is the whole set, and that is the part nobody can fake for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is looksmaxxing?
Looksmaxxing is the practice of maximising your physical attractiveness through grooming, fitness, skincare, style, and in the extreme cases cosmetic procedures. It started in online men's communities and has gone mainstream with younger men who want to take control of how they look.
Is looksmaxxing bad for you?
The instinct to improve how you look is healthy. The risk is obsession, especially fixating on tiny facial details or chasing surgery while you are still a teenager. Treat it as one part of becoming a better man, not the whole project.
What actually makes a man more attractive?
Frame and physical strength, how you dress, your health, your composure, and a clear direction in life. The face matters, but presence, body, and status move a room far more than a millimetre of bone ever will.
Where should a young man start?
Start with the basics that compound. Lift for strength, wear clothes that actually fit, fix your sleep and diet, and build something that gives you real options. Those upgrades change how you get treated everywhere you go.
