The ASCNDED Blog
Looking better, measured.
Guides on looksmaxxing, facial proportions, the eye area, jawline, app comparisons, and how measurement actually works.
Looksmaxxing
What the term means, what has evidence behind it, and what is nonsense.
Looksmaxxing: What It Actually Is, What Works, and What Is Nonsense
A straight guide to looksmaxxing: where it came from, the vocabulary, what has evidence behind it, what doesn't, and what is genuinely dangerous. Written without the hype.
Read →The PSL Scale Explained: Where It Came From and What the Ratings Mean
The PSL scale explained properly: its forum origins, what each tier supposedly means, why it runs several points below normal ratings, and why the numbers are unreliable.
Read →Mewing: What the Evidence Actually Supports
A straight account of mewing: the technique, where it came from, what happened to its main proponent, what research supports in children versus adults, and what the before-and-after photos really show.
Read →Facial Aesthetics: The Measurements That Actually Matter
A framework for facial aesthetics built on the measurements that describe a face: what each one captures, how they interact, which are modifiable, and where the ideals came from.
Read →Rating & assessment
What attractiveness tests measure, and what they cannot answer.
Attractiveness Test: Measure Your Facial Proportions From One Photo
A facial attractiveness test based on measurement rather than a guessed score. 13 proportions measured from one photo, each with the method shown and a confidence rating.
Read →How Attractive Am I? What a Measurement Can and Cannot Tell You
An honest answer to a question people ask constantly. Why you cannot judge your own face, what attractiveness research actually supports, and what is worth measuring instead.
Read →Am I Ugly? A Straight Answer
Why the question cannot be answered the way you are asking it, why your own judgement of your face is unreliable, and what is actually worth doing about how you feel.
Read →Eye area
Canthal tilt, hunter eyes, orbital vector, and what drives the look.
Hunter Eyes: What the Term Actually Describes
Hunter eyes broken into the four measurable traits behind the term: canthal tilt, brow position, upper lid exposure, and orbital vector. What is genetic and what is not.
Read →How to Get Hunter Eyes: What Works and What Does Not
An honest breakdown of what actually changes the hunter eye traits, what only changes appearance, and what does nothing. Ranked by effect size, with the surgical options covered plainly.
Read →Orbital Vector: Positive, Neutral and Negative Explained
What orbital vector means, how to assess yours from a profile view, why it drives under-eye hollowing, and what genuinely changes how it looks.
Read →Jaw
What actually changes jawline definition, and what does not.
Facial proportions
How individual measurements fit together as a face.
Facial Harmony: Why Individual Features Do Not Explain a Face
Facial harmony explained: why measurements interact, the six pairings that matter most, and why a single feature almost never accounts for how a face reads.
Read →Philtrum Length: What It Is and What It Affects
What the philtrum is, typical lengths, how it affects upper lip appearance and perceived age, why it lengthens over time, and what actually changes it.
Read →Male Facial Attractiveness: What the Research Actually Says
A fair account of the research on male facial attractiveness: what has replicated, what has not, the effect sizes involved, and where popular claims outran the evidence.
Read →App comparisons
Honest looks at face rating and looksmaxxing apps.
Best Looksmaxxing Apps in 2026, Ranked and Compared
ASCNDED, Qoves, Umax, LooksMax AI, RateByFresh, Hiface and Prettyscale ranked on what actually matters: whether the method is disclosed, where the paywall lands, and whether the score stays the same when your face does.
Read →Best Face Rating and Analysis Apps Compared
Face rating apps ranked on scoring transparency and measurement stability rather than features. ASCNDED first, then Qoves, Umax, LooksMax AI, Hiface and Prettyscale, with what each one will and will not tell you.
Read →Methodology
How we measure faces, and why tools disagree.
How Facial Measurement Works, in Plain English
The measurement pipeline explained for a general reader: why we do not output a score, how two landmark models cross-check each other, and the anatomical trick that gives us real-world scale.
Read →Why Face Rating Apps Give You Different Scores
Five reasons the same photo gets different numbers from different face analysis apps, how to test any app yourself in ten minutes, and what a tool should be telling you.
Read →More guides
Eyebrow Grooming for Men: The Highest-Leverage 5 Minutes in Looksmaxing
Why eyebrows quietly make or break the male face, and exactly how to groom them - trimming, cleanup, unibrow, and when to consider microblading.
Read →The Best Men's Hairstyles by Face Shape (2026 Guide)
How to pick the most flattering haircut for your face shape - oval, round, square, oblong, diamond, heart or triangle - with the cuts to choose and the ones to avoid.
Read →Male Facial Proportions: Facial Thirds, Fifths and the Golden Ratio Explained
What facial thirds, facial fifths, FWHR and the golden ratio actually measure, the male reference ranges, and how much they really matter for attractiveness.
Read →