‘Looksmaxxing’ is the new TikTok trend for young men who want to be hot

• "Looksmaxxing" is the Tiktok trend taking hold among some young men who want to be better-looking.
• Looksmaxxers trade tips on skincare, hair styles, and even tongue exercises to define the jawline.
• One fake trend that went viral: "bone smashing," where supposedly they'd break their own jaws. 

Are you mewing? Wondering whether you have a positive or negative canthal tilt? Trying to get "hunter eyes"? Are you mogging the other guys in the room? Bone smashing?

If so, congrats. You're looksmaxxing.

The term, which has floated around message boards and Reddit for a few years, basically means trying to improve your looks through a variety of means — skincare, diet, exercise, a new haircut, and even more exotic techniques (more on that in a second).

The New York Times wrote about the trend, which has shifted from a friendlier version on Tiktok, where handsome men give basic advice. From the story:

The term [looksmaxxing] has roots on incel message boards and the "manosphere," which heavily attribute romantic success to the perceived genetic advantages held by tall and muscular men. Several of the message boards devoted to looksmaxxing hold that sex is a complicated game of persuasion and subterfuge, to be won through special tricks and hidden knowledge.

But in recent months, the core idea of looksmaxxing has achieved escape velocity into the broader culture of young men on the internet, through more mainstream figures like Mr. Latham, who fall under the wider umbrella of "glow-up TikTok" — the term for the constellation of videos on how to get better looking through concerted effort. The message-board Looksmaxxers seem to regard the TikTok Looksmaxxers, angrily, as handsome interlopers.

The story points out that much of the TikTok version of the trend is simply helpful, basic advice, and the target audience is often young teenage men — a demographic that can be hygienically challenged. One popular Looksmaxxer, Dillion Latham, gives simple tips: Wash your face and moisturize with CeraVe lotion. Brush your teeth after coffee to avoid yellowing. Use deodorant.

Calling these basic tips "looksmaxxing" — and treating it like getting "facial gains" — is silly. (The whole thing has an air of irony). But there's something to it: Clearing up acne, a new haircut, getting some exercise, they all probably have a positive effect on anyone's confidence and overall mental health.

Hey, it can't hurt.

Then there's the weirder stuff. "Mewing" is a trend started as a technique by a British orthodontist where you do tongue exercises in hopes of creating a more square jaw. "Hardmaxxers" are people who are interested in more than just skincare and haircuts — they're interested in traditional cosmetic procedures like chin implants, rhinoplasty, injectables, and even more extreme procedures like limb lengthening surgeries.

Men wanting to look better isn't new; Magazines like GQ, Esquire, or Men's Health have been doling out skincare and fashion advice for decades. But this is the first time we're seeing swaths of young men gathering online to talk about it with these meme-y terms like "mogging" (looking hotter than someone else).

It's also not new that digital communities of young men — whether its gaming, sports, or cesspits like 4chan — often come up with their own set of neologisms, in-jokes, and ways to lightly haze newcomers and outsiders.

Looksmaxxing's version of this was the "bone smashing" hoax trend. TikTok Looksmaxxers joked about smashing themselves in the jaw with a hammer to stimulate regrowth to chisel a new jawline (no one was actually doing this). A real doctor took the bait, issuing a warning on social media about the "trend" that went viral, getting written up seriously in news outlets.