The Complete Looksmaxxing Starter Guide for 2026

Most guys start looksmaxxing wrong. They obsess over one thing — usually mewing or some obscure supplement — while ignoring basics that would move their score twice as fast. Then they stall, blame genetics, and quit.

That's not going to be you.

This guide is structured differently. Every technique is ranked by two factors: effort required and impact on your attractiveness score. You start with high-impact, low-effort wins. Then you stack higher-effort changes on top. This is how you build momentum instead of burning out.

BlackPill users who follow this framework see measurable score improvements within 8-12 weeks. Not because of magic — because of prioritization.

Let's build your stack.

Tier 1: Low Effort, High Impact (Start Here)

These are the changes that move your score the most for the least amount of time and money. If you're not doing all of these, nothing else matters yet.

Skincare: The Non-Negotiable Foundation

Skin quality is one of the highest-weighted factors in BlackPill's attractiveness analysis. Clear, even-toned skin signals health, youth, and genetic fitness — and it's one of the fastest things you can improve.

Your starter routine takes 5 minutes, morning and night:

Morning:

1. Gentle cleanser (CeraVe, Cetaphil, or La Roche-Posay — pick one)
2. Vitamin C serum (10-20% L-ascorbic acid) — protects against UV damage and brightens skin tone
3. Moisturizer with SPF 30+ — non-negotiable. UV damage is the single biggest accelerator of facial aging

Night:

1. Same cleanser
2. Retinoid (start with 0.025% tretinoin or adapalene/Differin OTC) — the gold standard for skin texture, acne, and anti-aging. Research published in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment (Mukherjee et al., 2006) confirms retinoids increase collagen production and accelerate cell turnover
3. Moisturizer (without SPF — save that for morning)

Expected score impact: Skin texture improvements typically register as a +0.3 to +0.8 bump in overall attractiveness score within 8-12 weeks, based on aggregate BlackPill user data. Clearing active acne can push that higher.

Grooming: The Easiest Wins You're Probably Missing

Bad grooming is negative signal multiplication. It takes whatever your baseline is and drags it down. Good grooming doesn't add points so much as it stops you from losing them.

The checklist:

• Eyebrows: Get them cleaned up professionally once, then maintain with tweezers. Unibrow and stray hairs below the brow ridge are some of the most common fixable issues BlackPill identifies in low-scoring scans.
• Facial hair: Either commit to a well-maintained beard or stay clean-shaven. Patchy stubble is worse than either extreme. If your facial hair is patchy, clean-shaven wins until density improves.
• Haircut: Find a barber who understands face shape. A fade or tapered cut that adds height and reduces width works for most face shapes. If you don't know your face shape, BlackPill's analysis tells you. Round faces need angular cuts. Long faces need volume on the sides.
• Nose and ear hair: Trim it. No explanation needed.

Expected score impact: Grooming optimization alone accounts for +0.2 to +0.5 on average. Users who go from "neglected" to "maintained" sometimes see +1.0 or more.

Hydration and Sleep

Not glamorous. Massively effective.

Dehydration shows up in your face as sunken eyes, dull skin, and more visible wrinkles. Research in Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology (Palma et al., 2015) showed that increasing daily water intake to 2+ liters improved skin hydration and elasticity within 2 weeks.

Sleep deprivation is even worse. A study in the BMJ (Axelsson et al., 2010) — yes, the British Medical Journal — had participants rate photos of sleep-deprived versus well-rested faces. Sleep-deprived faces were rated as less attractive, less healthy, and more fatigued. The effect was significant after just one night of poor sleep.

Target: 7-9 hours of quality sleep. 2+ liters of water daily. These are free and compound over time.

Tier 2: Moderate Effort, High Impact

Once your foundation is locked in, these are your next moves.

Fitness and Body Composition

Facial attractiveness doesn't exist in a vacuum. Body composition affects face shape directly — particularly in the jawline, cheekbones, and neck area.

Reducing body fat to the 12-15% range (for men) tends to reveal underlying facial bone structure that's hidden under subcutaneous fat. This is one of the most dramatic score-movers for guys who are currently above 20% body fat.

The plan:

• Strength training 3-4 days per week. Compound lifts (squat, deadlift, bench, overhead press, rows) build the overall frame that supports facial aesthetics
• Caloric deficit of 300-500 calories if you need to cut. Aggressive deficits wreck your face — they cause muscle loss and skin sagging. Slow and steady wins
• Protein intake: 0.8-1g per pound of bodyweight. Non-negotiable for maintaining muscle during a cut

Expected score impact: Moving from 25% to 15% body fat typically produces a +0.5 to +1.5 score improvement, concentrated in jawline definition and midface structure. This is where "face gains" come from.

Track your face gains with objective AI scoring. Download BlackPill on iOS | Get it on Android

Mewing and Oral Posture

Mewing — maintaining proper tongue posture with the entire tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth — is one of the most discussed techniques in looksmaxxing. And the data from BlackPill users is... nuanced.

What the evidence shows:

• In users under 25, consistent mewing practice (6+ months) shows measurable changes in jaw angle and midface forward growth in approximately 35% of cases, based on BlackPill's longitudinal scan comparisons
• In users over 25, changes are slower and more subtle. Soft tissue remodeling still occurs, but bone remodeling becomes limited
• Proper oral posture has well-documented benefits for breathing, neck posture, and jaw muscle tone regardless of age

How to start:

1. Lips together, teeth lightly touching
2. Entire tongue pressed flat against the palate — not just the tip
3. Breathe through your nose
4. Maintain this as your default posture, not just a temporary exercise

Expected score impact: +0.2 to +0.6 over 6 months for users under 25 who maintain consistent practice. Varies widely. The biggest gains come from correcting mouth-breathing posture, which has cascading effects on facial development.

Posture Correction

Forward head posture is epidemic among guys who spend hours on phones and computers. It creates a recessed chin appearance, compresses the jawline, and makes the neck look shorter — all of which BlackPill's algorithm detects as suboptimal facial framing.

Quick fixes:

• Chin tucks: 3 sets of 10, twice daily. Pull your chin straight back (like making a double chin on purpose) to strengthen deep neck flexors
• Wall slides: Stand with your back against a wall, slide arms up and down while keeping contact with the wall. Opens the chest and retracts the shoulders
• Ergonomic setup: Monitor at eye level, phone at chest height instead of lap level

Expected score impact: Posture improvements don't change your face, but they change how your face photographs. Users who correct forward head posture see +0.3 to +0.7 improvement in scan scores because the camera captures their actual jaw projection instead of a compressed version.

Tier 3: Higher Effort, Targeted Impact

These are the optimization layer. Don't start here — but once Tiers 1 and 2 are dialed in, these compound your results.

Advanced Skincare: Chemical Exfoliation and Targeted Treatments

Once your basic routine is established (4+ weeks), consider adding:

• AHA/BHA exfoliation (glycolic acid or salicylic acid) 2-3 times per week for texture refinement
• Niacinamide (5-10%) for pore size reduction and oil control
• Hyaluronic acid serum for plumping and hydration, especially under eyes

Don't add everything at once. Introduce one new product every 2 weeks and monitor your skin's response. Overloading your routine causes irritation that sets you back.

Teeth Whitening and Dental Alignment

Your smile is part of your facial analysis. Yellowed or misaligned teeth register as negative signals in attractiveness assessment.

• Whitening: Over-the-counter strips (Crest 3D White) work for mild discoloration. Professional whitening for more significant results
• Alignment: Clear aligners (Invisalign, byte) for mild-to-moderate crowding. Straight teeth affect perceived jaw symmetry and facial harmony

Targeted Hair Optimization

For guys experiencing early hairline recession:

• Minoxidil (5% topical, daily) — FDA-approved, well-studied. Effects visible in 4-6 months
• Finasteride (prescription) — blocks DHT, the hormone responsible for male pattern baldness. Consult a dermatologist. Side effects exist and should be discussed honestly
• Dermarolling (1.5mm, weekly) on the hairline — microneedling stimulates blood flow and growth factors. Research in the International Journal of Trichology (Dhurat et al., 2013) showed minoxidil + microneedling outperformed minoxidil alone

Hairline is one of the features that frames your entire face. Receding hairlines shift facial proportions and age you. Addressing it early has outsized returns.

Building Your Stack: The BlackPill Approach

Here's where this guide becomes a system instead of a list.

Week 1-2: Establish Tier 1 basics. Skincare routine, grooming overhaul, hydration and sleep targets. Get your baseline BlackPill scan.

Week 3-4: Add fitness programming. Set body composition targets. Continue Tier 1.

Week 5-8: Begin mewing practice and posture correction. Scan again at week 8 to measure Tier 1 impact.

Week 9-12: Evaluate Tier 2 results. Add Tier 3 elements based on your specific BlackPill analysis — your regional scores tell you exactly where to focus.

Monthly: Rescan and compare. BlackPill's progress tracking shows you which metrics are moving and which need attention.

The key principle: don't chase every technique at once. Stack changes methodically. Measure results objectively. Let the data tell you what's working.

The Hard Truth About Genetics vs. Effort

Genetics set your ceiling. Effort determines how close you get to it.

The average BlackPill user at sign-up scores between 4.5 and 5.5. After 6 months of consistent looksmaxxing following structured routines, the average score improves to 5.8 to 6.8. That's a full point or more — enough to meaningfully change how you're perceived in every interaction.

Some guys will cap out at 6. Others at 8. The number matters less than the trajectory. Every fraction of a point represents real, measurable change in how the world responds to you.

You can't control your bone structure. You can control your skin quality, body composition, grooming, posture, and daily habits. That's a lot of controllable surface area.

Start Today, Measure Tomorrow

The worst version of looksmaxxing is talking about it on forums for six months without changing anything. The best version is measurable action tracked with objective data.

Open BlackPill. Get your baseline scan. Note your weakest regions. Start with Tier 1 and build up.

Stop guessing. Start measuring. Your future score is waiting.

Get your baseline scan now. BlackPill for iOS · BlackPill for Android · black-pill.app