Toxic beauty and the rise of 'looksmaxxing' influencers

Hankering for a chiselled jawline, a male TikTok influencer strikes his cheekbones with a hammer — highlighting the rise of "looksmaxxing", an online trend pushing unproven and sometimes dangerous techniques to boost sexual appeal.

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WASHINGTON, United States

Looksmaxxing influencers — part of an online ecosystem dubbed the "manosphere" — have surged in popularity across social media, capitalising on the insecurities of young men eager to boost their physical attractiveness to women.

In posts across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, they promote pseudoscientific methods to achieve everything from pouty lips to chin extensions to almond-shaped "hunter eyes", often while monetising their popularity by endorsing a range of consumer products.

In more extreme cases, these influencers advocate taking steroids, undergoing plastic surgery and even "leg-lengthening" procedures to become more attractive.

While women may visit aestheticians or buy new beauty products, spurring a global beauty retail market worth hundreds of billions of dollars, the manosphere at times promotes a do-it-yourself approach that draws on the nearest toolbox.

"Babe, what's taking you so long in the bathroom?" reads the caption flashing across a viral TikTok video of a man seen hitting his cheeks with the sharp edge of a hammer, in what he calls his "skincare routine".