GEN MAX

Chewing-gum workouts for sharper jawlines. Speciality products for feathered fringes. So. Much. Cologne. This is one man’s exploration of the aura-enhancing self-care trends shaping an entire generation of young men

- BY MICKEY RAPKIN

Earlier this year, I was in New York having breakfast with a friend from high school and her kids. It was the standard middle-age catch-up—How are you? Who's sick?—when I looked over at one of her boys, who was staring at his own reflection in an iPhone. The kid had sucked in his cheeks and was running a hand along his face. He looked like Ben Stiller in Zoolander giving Blue Steel over pancakes. Except he'd never seen Zoolander and (I'm guessing) had no idea who Ben Stiller is.

“He’s doing his jawline,” my friend sighed, as if “doing his jawline” was somehow an explanation, before adding, “He's mewing.”

The kid was 10. He didn't have his own phone. And yet a TikTok trend called “looksmaxxing” had somehow seeped into his cortex. Looksmaxxing—and its cousins auramaxxing and smellmaxxing—refers to the Gen Z and Gen Alpha obsession with maximising one’s personal appearance in an effort to be more attractive. Some of these behaviours are pretty benign, like teenage boys storming Edgars in search of colognes touted by influencers such as Jeremy Fragrance, who has 10-million followers on TikTok. But if used improperly, other efforts—like a chewing gum that claims to sculpt a sharper jawline—may have negative consequences beyond just bleeding their parents’ wallets dry.