- Daily sunscreenproven
- Not smokingmeasured
- Ten-day stubblemeasured
- Enough sleepreal, small
- Collagenreal, fragile
- Mewingno evidence
- Symmetryno effect
What the rating sees, and what it does not
The LooksLadder rating measures the geometry of your face. It sees neither your skin, nor your hair, nor how tired you are. The people looking at you see all of it. This article covers both, and each time says which one.
Sunscreen
A randomised trial of 903 adults over four and a half years: those who applied it every day showed 24% less skin ageing than those who applied it when they thought of it (Annals of Internal Medicine, 2013). The rating sees none of it. People do.
Beard
Ten men photographed clean-shaven, at five days, at ten days and full-bearded, rated by 528 people. A full beard looks more masculine, but ten-day stubble is the one people find most attractive (Evolution and Human Behavior, 2013).
Smoking
79 pairs of identical twins where only one smokes. A five-year difference in smoking is enough to create a visible gap: eyelids, bags, folds, lip wrinkles (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2013). Twins cancel out genetics, which is what makes this result hard to argue with.
Sleep
After 31 hours without sleep, observers rate people as less attractive (BMJ, 2010). After two nights of 4 hours, the effect exists but it is tiny: 0.09 points on a 7-point scale (Royal Society Open Science, 2017).
Facial fat
Researchers estimate a person's weight from the face alone, with good accuracy. The link with attractiveness is negative but curved: there is a level where attractiveness peaks, and going below it brings it back down (Frontiers in Psychology, 2018). LooksLadder makes no estimate of weight or health. The rating only measures the shape of your lower face.
Collagen
26 randomised trials find a real effect on skin hydration and elasticity. But the trials are small and uneven, and nobody reports how many were funded by collagen sellers (Nutrients, 2023).
Mewing
Maxillofacial surgeons looked at mewing as it spreads on social media. No controlled trial shows that tongue posture reshapes adult bone (Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2019).
Haircut
The beauty of a face spills over onto how the hair is rated. The reverse does not hold: hair does not reliably change how the face is rated (Frontiers in Psychology, 2015). A haircut matters for your overall look. That it makes your face more attractive is far less proven than people think.
The angle of your photo
The more a face is seen from below, the more masculine and dominant it looks, and the less attractive (Evolutionary Psychology, 2020). The effect is clear on women's faces and absent on men's. Your angle is a measured variable, not a detail.