WARNING: The following contains sensitive content: Ksenia Didik, a 21-year-old from Russia, spoke about falling victim to “Looksmax,” a social media trend that encourages people to dramatically change their appearance.
A young woman speaks out about the disturbing world of “lookmaxing” and the dangerous “incel” extremism at its roots.
Ksenia Didik, a 21-year-old from Russia, is urging people to be careful about “addictive” internet trends, after falling for them as a teenager. Simply put, “looksmaxing” means altering your appearance to meet certain beauty standards.
This could be anything from strict skin care regimes to seeking plastic surgery, but it often veers towards more sinister, beauty-obsessed practices, such as the dangerous practice of “bone-smashing”, which encourages people to smack their faces with a hammer or any hard object in order to “enhance” their facial features, as previously reported by the Mirror.
Meanwhile, Starbmax encourages poor dieting and pressure to exercise excessively in order to maintain a perfect jawline and a “slim” figure. In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, Ksenia explained: “I think I’ve always been insecure about not fitting in. At five I was bigger than most of the girls and the only one with acne, and in high school I was the late bloomer and ugly duckling in a class full of beautiful girls.”
“I started participating in beauty rituals when I was about 12 years old… Around the same time, I also fell into an eating disorder because I thought I was big and ugly compared to other girls. Looking back, I wasn’t even that big…
“But with the women in my family being so into skincare, makeup and diet, and the influx of magazine tips and ads, LuxMax has always been a part of my life, consciously and subconsciously. So, regardless of the situation, I think I’d do LuxMax.”
For Ksenia, Luxmax was mainly about facial plastic surgery: before she turned 18, she often underwent pore removal and laser resurfacing to remove acne scars, and dreamed of getting lip fillers, eye bags and a nose job.
Unfortunately, unsafe dieting habits were also a big part of her life growing up, at one point even causing her menstrual cycle to stop.
Currently, she spends about seven hours a week “maintaining my appearance,” excluding salon visits, treatments, and working out. “On the one hand, it has a huge impact on my self-esteem. When I look pretty and in shape, I feel good.”
“It also gives me a sense of control – I know that even on the busiest days, I’ll at least get my skincare routine done. Luxmax, on the other hand, takes a lot of time and money – and it’s addictive. The average monthly salary in my area is around 59,000 roubles (£526). My routine costs around a third of that.”
In the past, the Luxmax craze has often been associated with an online group known as “incels,” or “involuntary celibates,” which, on the surface, refers to people (often men) who want but can’t find romantic or sexual partners, according to The Conversation.
More recently, however, incels have gained notoriety as violent extremists. The term gained notoriety following several mass murders, including the 2014 Isla Vista murders by Elliot Rodger and the 2021 Plymouth shooting.
Nevertheless, Ksenia claims she is not associated with extremists and that her habit is rooted in society’s beauty standards: “If you take the original definition, [of an incel] “Of course,” she said, “I’ve always been single, and that’s it. But definitely not in the hateful, love-and-sex-taking society we know today.”
“I really don’t like how Luxmax has essentially been co-opted and rebranded for men. This is pretty much the same thing women have been doing for years, only now it’s been given a ‘for men’ sticker and layered with self-deprecation and pseudoscience behind it.”
“I looked for communities just for women or focused on specific issues, but they were nothing like that. It was just a group of like-minded people sharing experiences and trying to help each other.”
In response, counsellor Georgina Starmer stressed that anyone tempted by looksmax should seek help. She said: “If we [this]…There’s likely some strong underlying emotional motivation behind it.
“We may be suffering from low self-esteem, anxiety, depression or feelings of isolation, or we may be trying to regain a sense of control when everything around us feels out of control… There are plenty of organisations out there who are happy and ready to help.”
Dr Laurence Cunningham, GP, UK Care Guide, added: “Maintaining appearance through healthy lifestyle choices is normal and can be beneficial, but a line needs to be drawn when such habits become extreme and harmful.”
“Creating a network of positive influences, whether through friends, family or professional counselors, can make a big difference to your mental and physical health.”
If you are worried about your health or the health of others you can contact the SEED Eating Disorder Support Service on 01482 718130 or via their website
