If you’ve been active on social media throughout the past year or so, you’ve most likely heard the term “looksmaxxing” being thrown around. What started as a small internet trend, “looksmaxxing,” has been associated with the concept of appearance supremacy in dictating the content of one’s character. The trend stresses the significance of “luck” determining the quality of your appearances – and the quality of your life.
Clavicular (often referred to as “Clav”), a 20-year-old from New Jersey, is a main pioneer for the expansion of “looksmaxxing.” A large portion of his TikTok content includes harsh motivators for weight loss or tutorials regarding the “ascension” of one’s being. This toxic motivation has sparked various issues across social media, including claims of bullying and white supremacy. Clav often provides advice to his viewers on TikTok and critiques others for features that don’t meet the looksmaxxing criteria. Specifically, Clav’s “looksmaxxing” tactics have gained intense discourse on his viral social media videos.
In Clav’s opinion, looks are everything. This, from a cultural standpoint, reverses any progress made towards the abolition of toxic beauty standards. Clav often goes to universities or public spaces in hopes of finding a “mogger,” a deeply degrading act. Attractiveness, in Clav’s eyes, determines inner happiness and fuel a plentiful life. Additionally, Clav is a controversial figure on TikTok – especially due to his frequent racism. Spectators can’t help but point out the obvious – looksmaxxing standards often fall along the lines of white, European males. Blue eyes and fair skin are the standard for full “acension.” Many argue that this isn’t blatant racism, but classifying someone’s attractiveness based on Eurocentric beauty standards isn’t exactly a great look.
It’s hard to dictate exactly what Clav does, but his career is mostly structured around his popular live streams and development of the looksmaxxing chain. During Clav’s livestreams, individuals (usually women) are brought in and introduced to his looksmaxxing mechanisms. Clav often visits universities across America in an attempt to “mog” or find anyone close enough to beat his current standing.
Recently, a groundbreaking event occurred that struck all social media platforms quickly. Clav, while making his visit to ASU, was “frame-mogged,” or outranked in attractiveness, by a frat leader at the university. This moment, undeniably, showed flaws in the career Clav has constructed for himself.
Returning to his allegations of racism, in 2025, Clav accompanied fellow livestreamers on a broadcast. During the broadcast, Clav read a comment out loud. The comment read, “Marlon ‘mogs’ all of you.” In a split second, Clav responds with “Yeah, but he’s black.” This blatantly racist comment still didn’t deter Clav’s fanbase – yet outsiders began to pick up on the new craze. “Looksmaxxing is like the early 2000’s skinny craze, but for men,” one comment read. Hate doesn’t stop Clav’s content, though. He operates under a rigorous schedule, not permitting time for unhealthy habits or healthy motivation. In Clav’s world, attractiveness dictates every facet of success in one’s life.
His controversial viewpoints aren’t his only indication of fame, however. Clav has unintentionally created an entire fanbase that circulates the levels of attractiveness within a person. “BP,” or “Black-pill,” is a subgenre within the looksmaxxing community. BP centers around the idea of choosing conventional attractiveness over the pursuit of happiness. You’ve most likely heard other looksmaxxing terms you may be unaware of – low cortisol is a common one. Cortisol is a steroid hormone that your adrenal glands (the glands on top of your kidneys) make. Cortisol affects several aspects of your health and helps regulate your body’s response to stress. Looksmaxxing stresses the idea that living life as an “unattractive” person indicates high levels of stress and exhaustion, heightening one’s cortisol levels. Looksmaxxers often use this as an insult towards lower-tier looksmaxxing individuals.
Speaking of tiers, looksmaxxing has specific rankings that are allotted to specific individuals, whether they’d like to be ranked or not. According to the PSL scale, a below-average, conventionally unattractive individual would be known as a Sub-5. Clav declared that most individuals fall under the Sub-5 scale, only creating a hierarchy for the looksmaxxers. According to that Looksmax.org PSL guide, low-tier normies such as Steve Buscemi and Michael Cera are “noticeably below average and widely considered unattractive and unappealing.” High-tier normies are “some of the most good-looking people you may see on a daily basis,” such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gigi Hadid, and Dua Lipa, according to another popular Looksmax.org ranking. Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet are a high-tier Becky/high-tier normie power couple.
The top 1% between 6 and 7 are categorized as Chadlites and Stacylites. This is the domain of models and the most attractive actors. In looksmaxxing theory, their attractiveness makes life easy and finding love simple. According to one guide, “They typically encounter no difficulties with attracting romantic partners unless facing severe mental health issues.” Past 7 are true Chads and Stacys, the most beautiful people on earth. “These individuals are rare, with only a handful found globally,” says one guide. “Near-perfect facial symmetry, unique features, top-tier bone structure, and incredible facial harmony are common in this rating,” says another. Commonly cited 7s include Tom Cruise, Matt Bomer, Margot Robbie, and Angelina Jolie.
Clav stresses the idea of “ascending” to his viewers, suggesting that higher rankings can be achieved through different processes. On his livestreams, Clav remains incredibly transparent about his looksmaxxing tactics. For example, Clav shares a device he uses to effectively “bonesmash.” This tedious procedure entails the use of a large, hammer-like device against the human skin, particularly surrounding the jaw. The process aims to change the shape of the jaw itself, refining the skin and bone structure. According to Clav, this is a successful procedure and worth the hours of pain and suffering. Clav often injects what he refers to as “medical meth,” an unknown substance injected to enhance attractiveness.
As of late, (and for Clav,) the looksmaxxing community remains a prevalent part of social media. Many users have transformed looksmaxxing into a consistent joke, but it’s hard to declare which users genuinely consider looksmaxxing a viable skill. For the most part, Clav’s career has exponentially shot up after the ASU frat leader run-in. While the internet mocks him, Clav disregards any hate from the outside. It’s hard to say exactly where the looksmaxxing community will be in a few years, but the phrase has certainly made its rounds to generations outside of Gen Z. My parents are concerned about the harmful effects looksmaxxing may have on their young children, due to the promotion of unhealthy habits and an obsessive disorder with one’s appearance. Clav seems to remain consistent with his beliefs and avid devotion to the looksmaxxing community. Chances are, the looksmaxxing community will die off (among other trends). In the meantime, however, looksmaxxing has made a serious dent on the youth, with high regard to the ultimate ringleader; Clav.
