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What Is ‘Looksmaxxing’? - The New York Times

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Skin-care routines, hair care, a good night’s sleep: These are not cutting-edge suggestions for how to look one’s best, at least not for anyone who has ever consulted a women’s magazine. But for the legions of TikTok users — mainly teenage boys — who turn for advice to Dillon Latham, a mop-headed 18-year-old from Virginia, these are secret pearls of wisdom. “The past year has been me taking things girls have been doing to look better and telling guys to do the same,” said Mr. Latham, whose account has gained 1.3 million followers since he started it in September 2022. Many of Mr. Latham’s followers are so-called Looksmaxxers, part of a booming digital community of young men seeking to enhance their physical attractiveness. Its suffix comes from the world of role-playing games, in which to “max” means to fully develop a single character trait, like strength or wisdom. “It’s like making a character in a video game and trying to use as many points as you can in upping the looks-bar stat,”

Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Skin-care routines, hair care , a good night’s sleep: These are not cutting-edge suggestions for how to look one’s best, at least not for anyone who has ever consulted a women’s magazine. But for the legions of TikTok users — mainly teenage boys — who turn for advice to Dillon Latham, a mop-headed 18-year-old from Virginia, these are secret pearls of wisdom. “The past year has been me taking things girls have been doing to look better and telling guys to do the same,” said Mr. Latham, whose account has gained 1.3 million followers since he started it in Septemb

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