Inside the world of "Looksmaxxing" - The Sunday Story

在“颜值至上”的世界里——周日故事

The Story

2026-03-15

32 分钟
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From the shadowy corners of incel forums, a new obsession was quietly emerging. To succeed, financially, socially and sexually, you need to level up your face and frame. Enter “Looksmaxxing”, the idea that how you look can be engineered to perfection to maximise your full aesthetic potential. It's a TikTok-fuelled culture of mogging, "bone-smashing", and glow-ups - and a way for young men to measure beauty, status, and self-worth. How far will some go to “max” their looks? Is it vanity, or a survival strategy in a hyper-visual world? And what does it reveal about the state of men’s mental health today? Our listener survey is live - find it here. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory Host: Rosie Wright Guest: Jack Burke, times contributor. Producer: Dave Creasey Read more: Looksmaxxing: the worrying new extreme teenage trend Image: Getty Images This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  • From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is The Story on Sunday.

  • I'm Rosie Wright.

  • It's 6am.

  • He wakes up before his alarm because cortisol peaks between 6 and 8.

  • Or so the forums tell him.

  • He sits up immediately and checks his side profile first.

  • Chin projection acceptable.

  • Undeye hollowing, moderate.

  • Mouth tape still on, good lip seal overnight.

  • It's a trend growing among young men.

  • He peels it off, stands and turns sideways in the wardrobe mirror.

  • He pulls his T-shirt tight against his torso,

  • down 0.4% body fat since last week, thanks to retitutride injections.

  • Veins faintly visible along the lower abdomen.

  • Acceptable.

  • The idea that how you look can be...

  • Engineered, crafted to perfection to maximise your full aesthetic potential.

  • He takes his supplements, zinc, B12, collagen.

  • He places an ice compress along the infra-orbitals for the under-eye bags.

  • Ten minutes of red light therapy while scrolling TikTok.