A young woman spoke about the unsettling world of 'looksmaxxing' and its roots in dangerous 'incel' extremism. Kseniya Didik, 21, from Russia , is urging people to be careful of an 'addictive' trend taking the internet by storm, after falling into it during her teens. Put simply, 'looksmaxxing' involves changing your physical appearance to adhere to certain beauty standards.
This could be anything from a strict skincare regime to seeking plastic surgery, though it often takes a more sinister, cosmetically-obsessive direction. Dangerous 'bone-mashing' for instance, encourages people to hit their faces with hammers or anything hard to 'enhance' facial features, according to a previous Mirror report. Meanwhile, 'starvemaxxing' promotes disordered eating and extreme exercise pressure to perfect jawlines and sustain 'slim' figures.
Speaking exclusively with Mirror , Kseniya explained: "I’ve always been insecure about not fitting in, I guess. I was bigger than most girls at five, then I was the only one with acne, then I was the late bloomer-ugly duckling in a class full of beautiful girls in high school. "I started taking part in beautifying rituals around 12.
.. I also slipped into eating disorder territory around the same time, because I thought I was so big and ugly compared to other girls, when looking back, I wasn’t even big.
.. "But really looksmaxxing has always been present in my life, consciously and subconsciously – from the women in my family having rigorous skincar.
