Considering taking beauty advice from an influencer? Read this first.
Find yourself considering whether shaving your eyelashes could improve your manliness beauty factor? Put the razor down. Image by Freepik.
I mean… I feel like I should just start this blog off with one word:
No.
Removing your eyelashes is a no-good, terrible idea. Full stop.
There’s nothing inherently ‘feminine’ about eyelashes (despite what the latest ‘bro-sphere’ influencers might be saying). They are functional. Eyelashes ‘brush’ dust and particulates away from your delicate eye tissue and can even signal eyes to close when something gets too near. Their fan shape also traps moisture in, helping to prevent dry eyes.
I wish that were the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bad beauty advice targeted towards men online.
Not by a longshot.
But before I tackle the worst offenders, we need to address the larger cultural shift behind all the concerning and questionable beauty practices taking off: Why are so many young men flocking to risky, unproven, and sometimes outright bizarre practices in the name of ‘looks-maxing’?
Looks-Maxing: The Male Edit
Trying to improve your appearance isn’t new. Women have faced intense beauty expectations for centuries: the right hairstyle for your face shape, the perfect eyeshadow palette for your eye colour and shape, makeup tutorials geared towards ‘fixing flaws’ and highlighting assets. Even workouts are often sold not for health, but for sculpting the "ideal" aesthetic.
Beauty trends are no longer only targeted at women. They’re coming for the other half with questionable, often confusing, and mixed advice. Image by KamranAydinov for Freepik
Men aren’t immune to these pressures, either. But what's new is the sheer volume of bad beauty advice targeting men right now—much of it coming from other men who have crowned themselves guru-like experts.
"Looks-maxing" is based on the idea that your natural appearance holds ‘untapped potential’—and that, like a video game character, with a pit of elbow grease and effort, you can grind your way to a higher level of attractiveness. For goal-oriented young men, it's a tempting narrative: that you're just a few tactics away from leveling up your dating life, confidence, career prospects, and social status.
Note, there is nothing wrong with self-improvement. Striving to improve your physical appearance through exercise and diet reaps lifelong health benefits, and even well-chosen, appropriate, and thoughtful plastic surgery has a place as a tool for improving confidence and outlook.
I’m all for that.
But the version being sold in parts of the manosphere? It's riddled with misinformation, aesthetic extremism, and often, flat-out deception.
Men Advising Men on Beauty: On Steroids (Literally)
Many of these self-styled beauty influencers are either misled themselves, or worse, outright lying to their audience.
Let’s start with genetics. When it comes to issues like androgenic alopecia (male-pattern baldness), there are real, evidence-based medical treatments—but they take time, consistency, and carry potential side effects. That kind of nuance doesn’t play well on TikTok and Instagram.
Recently, I’ve noticed a big uptick in an appetite for ‘natural,’ ‘side-effect-free’ beauty solutions. To be blunt, these don’t exist. But that doesn’t stop influencers peddling products and ‘hacks’ that ultimately won’t work (hello, rosemary oil) or offer up potentially dangerous clickbait (like sunning body parts that were never meant to see the sun).
It also bears mentioning that many influencers are not disclosing what they’re really doing to obtain their adonis-like physiques, including:
- Anabolic steroid use (to rapidly increase muscle mass.
- Undisclosed cosmetic procedures (jawline fillers, buccal fat removal, surgical implants)
- Image manipulation (filters, lighting tricks, camera angles, and outright editing)
Those impressive physiques being shown off by influencers alongside their surefire workout plans and supplements? They might be down to amazing genetics and time spent in the gym, but more and more frequently performance enhancing drugs are being used but not disclosed. Image by Drazen Zigic for Freepik.
Not unlike how women feel pressured to chase a ‘ski-slope’ or ‘Cindy’ nose, today’s men are being told that attractiveness necessitates a square jaw, deep-set eyes, and hyper-vascular physiques. It’s not true. Beauty isn’t one-size-fits-all. Harmony, not any singular coveted feature, defines attractiveness.
Letting someone convince you there’s only one way to be desirable? That’s a fast track to another big problem on the rise care of the manosphere:
Body Dysmorphia: The Manosphere's Quiet Side Effect
Constantly scrutinizing your face or body doesn’t build confidence—it chips it away. Yet that erosion seems to be the business model for many of these influencer hucksters.
Trying to maximize your potential — and staring into the mirror evaluating yourself obsessively as a result — carries its own risks. Image by Freepik.
Body dysmorphia is a clinical condition where you become obsessed with a perceived flaw in your appearance—often one that only you can see. And the more you fixate, the worse it gets. People with body dysmorphia can make dramatic changes to their appearance and still feel ugly (Megan Fox has talked about body dysmorphia in interviews). That’s because they’re not chasing confidence—they’re chasing perfection.
Body dysmorphia also makes it hard to trust good advice. A helpful, confidence-boosting procedure can be truly valuable—but if your perception is skewed, you might never believe the results are enough or can inadvertently put yourself in unscrupulous (re: dangerous) hands.
And if you're constantly comparing yourself to filtered influencers? You're training your brain to chase something that doesn’t exist.
The Worst Beauty Advice from the Manosphere
Here’s a quick list of manosphere beauty advice that’s not just questionable—it’s potentially dangerous:
- Shaving your eyelashes – Your lashes protect your eyes from dust and debris. Shaving them won't make your eyes look bigger—but it could increase your risk of infection and irritation.
- Sunning your genitals – Thin, UV-sensitive skin + no SPF = extreme sunburn and increased cancer risk. There's zero medical benefit here. If you’re considering this in any form, think about how you’d feel asking your GP to check a mole down there. Enough said.
- Jaw workouts and chewing devices – Overuse can cause TMJ problems, facial muscle imbalance, and asymmetry. You can't "chew" your way to a square jaw.
- DIY facial implants or filler – Injections and implants belong in the hands of licensed professionals. Period.
- Untrained microneedling – Done improperly, it can lead to infections, scarring, and long-term skin damage.
- Testosterone ‘optimization’ without real medical supervision – Often code for steroid use, which can wreck your hormones, skin, and health if done unsupervised.
What If You’re Not Happy with Your Appearance?
If you've spent time in the manosphere and walked away feeling worse about how you look, you're not alone. But here's the truth:
- There are evidence-based treatments to address concerns like hair loss, acne, or facial symmetry.
- Confidence comes from feeling good in your skin, not checking off a list of so-called ideal traits.
- A good provider will never sell you a one-size-fits-all solution. They'll help you define your goals—and support you in reaching them safely.
Final Thoughts
You deserve to feel good about your appearance. But beware of ‘gurus’ whose entire platform is built on making you feel like you’re not enough.
If you’re curious about safe, medical-grade treatments to help you feel more confident in your skin, we’re here to help. And no—we’ll never ask you to shave your eyelashes.
The content of this newsletter is for entertainment and educational purposes only. This content is not meant to provide any medical advice or treat any medical conditions. Patients must be evaluated by an appropriate healthcare provider on an individual basis and treatment must be tailored to meet that patient’s needs. Results and particular outcomes are not guaranteed.
