Glossary
The looksmaxxing glossary
Looksmaxxing vocabulary mixes real anatomy with forum shorthand, and the two are rarely separated. This glossary defines each term, says what a single photograph can honestly tell you about it, and marks whether the trait is workable without surgery or structural — the same distinction the BecomeTen rating uses.
Refused
- Bone smashingStriking facial bones in the hope they remodel thicker or forward. There is no evidence it works, it damages tissue, and BecomeTen's prompt forbids it.
- MewingResting the tongue on the palate. No good trial shows it changes adult bone; posture can change how a jawline reads, and that is all BecomeTen will claim.
Jaw & chin
- Buccal fatWhat the buccal fat pad is, why forums obsess over removing it, why cheek fullness is mostly body fat and age, and why BecomeTen never recommends surgery.
- Chin projectionWhat chin projection is, why posture changes how a chin reads more than anatomy differs, why fat and beard are the workable levers, and why bone is a band.
- Gonial angleThe corner of the jaw where the mandible turns up into the ramus. Bone does not move; fat, posture and lens distance change how it reads.
- MandibleThe mandible explained: body, angle, ramus and chin. Why body fat, posture, beard and camera height decide how the jawline reads, and what is workable.
- RamusThe mandibular ramus is the vertical branch of the lower jaw. What it does for a jawline, why a photo cannot measure it, and what changes how it reads.
- Submental fatWhat submental fat is, why it is the biggest workable lever on the jawline, why spot reduction does not exist, and why some lean people keep it anyway.
Eye area
- Canthal tiltWhat canthal tilt is, why forums tie it to hunter eyes, why it is structural, and what changes how it reads: brows, puffiness, sleep and photo angle.
- Hunter eyesDeep-set eyes with a positive tilt and low brows: which parts are bone, which are workable (brows, sleep, under-eye skin), and what to refuse.
- Interpupillary distanceWhat interpupillary distance is, how it sets the facial fifths, why a close phone lens distorts eye spacing, and why BecomeTen reports spacing as a band.
- Orbital vectorWhat the orbital vector is, why a frontal photo barely shows it, why it is structural, and why under-eye hollows and dark circles are what actually reads.
- Palpebral fissure lengthPalpebral fissure length is the horizontal eye opening. Why forums pair it with canthal tilt, why a photo cannot measure it, and what changes how it reads.
- Upper eyelid exposureWhat upper eyelid exposure means, how hooding differs from deep-set eyes, why lid show is bone plus skin plus fat, and what changes how it reads.
Harmony
- Facial fifthsFacial fifths split the face into five eye-widths and mostly describe eye spacing. Why it is structural, and why an arm's-length selfie distorts it.
- Facial symmetryWhat facial symmetry is, why every face is asymmetric, what perception research found, and why a decimal symmetry percentage from a photo is fake.
- Facial thirdsHairline to glabella, glabella to subnasale, subnasale to menton: what a photo shows, why thirds are structural, and why we never quote millimetres.
- fWHR: facial width-to-height ratiofWHR compares cheekbone width with midface height. What research does and does not support, why it is structural, and how body fat changes apparent width.
- MaxillaThe maxilla is the upper jaw. What it does for the midface, why adults cannot grow it forward with tongue posture, and what a photo can honestly show.
- Midface ratioMidface height against the width across the eyes: what forums mean by long or compact, why it is structural, how camera height changes the read.
- Nasal projectionWhat nasal projection is, why an arm's-length selfie exaggerates the nose, what research supports instead of a nose ideal, and what changes how it reads.
- Philtrum lengthNose base to upper lip: why philtrum length is structural, how expression and lip fullness change the read, and why no selfie measures it.
- Sexual dimorphismWhat dimorphic facial features are, what perception research actually says about masculinity, why forums oversell it, and what changes how it reads.
- Zygomatic bonesWhat the zygomatic bones are, what high cheekbones means, why cheek prominence in a photo is mostly fat and lighting, and why the bone is a band.
Approaches
- HardmaxxingSurgical and procedural change: implants, jaw surgery, rhinoplasty, fillers. What the term covers, and why BecomeTen's potential score leaves it out.
- MoggingWhat mogging means on looksmaxxing forums, why one photo cannot fairly compare two faces, what perception research says, and why BecomeTen never ranks.
- SoftmaxxingSkin, hair, body composition, grooming, sleep: what the evidence supports for each, and why softmaxxing is the whole scope of the BecomeTen plan.
Scales
- Looksmaxxing tiersThe eight BecomeTen tiers from Baseline to Apex: score ranges, why the names are neutral, where an average groomed person lands, and what potential adds.
- PSL scalePSL meaning: the 1–8 attractiveness ladder from the PuaHate, SlutHate and Lookism forums. What each rung means, why 4 is average and 6 is rare.
Hair
How to read an entry
Every term follows the same shape. First the definition, in plain anatomical language rather than forum shorthand. Then what a single photograph can and cannot show about it: BecomeTen reports structural traits as directional bands, more or less, positive or negative, never as a degree or a millimetre, because a phone photo cannot support that number. Then whether the trait is workable or structural under the methodology, and finally what genuinely changes how it reads.
Workable or structural: the distinction every entry uses
Bone does not move without surgery, so the bony terms here are structural: gonial angle, ramus, maxilla, facial thirds and facial fifths. What changes is how they read, through body fat, posture, hair framing, grooming and the camera. Skin, hair and composition are workable, which is why the softmaxxing entry is the longest list of things that actually work and the bone smashing entry is a refusal.
- Scales: PSL scale and looksmaxxing tiers explain the numbers a rating uses.
- Eye area: canthal tilt and hunter eyes.
- Harmony: FWHR, midface ratio, philtrum length.
- Approaches: softmaxxing, hardmaxxing, mewing.
Where the vocabulary comes from
Most of these words started on the looksmaxxing forums of the 2010s and spread through short-form video. Some name real anatomy and are used by surgeons and orthodontists; some are community inventions with no clinical meaning; a few describe practices with no evidence behind them. The glossary keeps the words, because that is what people search for, and corrects the claims. For the longer view, start with the looksmaxxing guide.