An overview of “looksmaxxing” apps that rate teen boys' faces and are criticized for worsening the youth mental health crisis; paid app UMAX has 7M+ downloads
I thought “lookmaxxing” was just a meme joke thing. [embedded post] X: Verne Kopytoff / @vkopytoff : One person claimed to have obtained a chiseled jaw by hitting his face with a hammer (a practice known as “bone smashing") https://fortune.com/... Alexandra Sternlicht / @iamsternlicht : One looksmaxxing app, UMax, ranks higher in the Apple App Store charts than TaskRabbit and Zillow Rentals. In its mildest form, looksmaxxers tell boys to wash their faces; in its most extreme, they tell boys to pummel their jaws to induce micro fractures. https://fortune.com/... Alexandra Sternlicht / @iamsternlicht : NEW: The founder of “looksmaxxing” app UMAX tells me that the company, which launched in December 2023, is making $500,000 per month. The app currently ranks above TaskRabbit and Zillow Rentals on Apple's lifestyle app chart. Psychologists are concerned. https://fortune.com/... Alexei Oreskovic / @lexnfx : Today's latest sign of the apocalypse: Looksmaxxing! ‘Looksmaxxing’ apps that rate teen boys' faces and boast millions of downloads are exacerbating the youth mental health crisis, psychologists say https://fortune.com/... Alexandra Sternlicht / @iamsternlicht : When Fortune searched for “looksmax” on Instagram, it found a video of a user with a chiseled jaw who claimed to have obtained it by hitting his face with a hammer (a practice known as “bone smashing"). The video shows users how to do it, while warning of its dangers.
Context & Ripple Effects
Appearance-optimization software has long moved from selfie editing toward a standardized ideal: earlier coverage traced how FaceTune and social platforms helped normalize an “Instagram Face” aesthetic and the cosmetic interventions around it. This story shows that same feedback loop being packaged as a rating product aimed at teen boys.
The concern is not limited to one app category. Demand for Instagram beauty filters persisted despite reported mental-health harms and platform limits in the beauty-filter backlash, while UMAX's download scale and App Store placement show that paid appearance scoring can reach a mainstream consumer audience.
First-order effects
- Teen users are exposed to a product that converts facial appearance into a score and improvement regimen; psychologists cited in the report see that framing as worsening youth mental-health pressures.
- UMAX gains commercial validation, with more than 7 million downloads, $500,000 in reported monthly revenue, and a lifestyle-chart position above TaskRabbit and Zillow Rentals.
Second-order effects
- App-store ranking and revenue give rival appearance-advice products an incentive to adopt similarly repeatable scoring, subscription, and “improvement plan” mechanics rather than offer general grooming guidance.
- Apple and Instagram face sharper scrutiny over distribution and amplification when appearance content can bridge from low-risk grooming advice to dangerous practices such as bone smashing.
Third-order effects
- If appearance scoring becomes a durable consumer category, youth-safety debates may shift from individual filters or posts toward how platforms govern ranking, personalization, and monetization of body-image products.
- The pattern extends the broader move from image editing to automated personal evaluation, visible in reports of users seeking unsparing appearance assessments from ChatGPT; the key unresolved question is whether product safeguards can keep pace with demand.
The trend: Consumer appearance tools are evolving from aspirational editing into quantified, paid self-optimization systems, increasing pressure on platforms to address youth-facing body-image harms.