The LooksMaxxing Trend Much of the Same
Level 2- Value Investor
Welcome Avatar! Social trend update. As many of you know we’ve stated that we expect a few trends to develop: 1) men becoming more obsessed with looks, 2) “hagmaxxing” and 3) more extreme versions of both of those to ramp up over the coming decade. Probably one of the only places where selling to men might work is in the insecure looksmaxxing region.
Is Any of This Actually New?
Not really. Socially it is just getting more extreme. That’s the real difference. Information has been disseminated broadly. Guys don’t view women as harmless princesses. Women have become more comfortable being socially competitive/vicious. Just how it goes.
If you’re a young guy (18-25) or so, there is no reason to ever spend real money chasing women. At this age band the vast majority just care about "having a good time”. A good tell is following some major youtube accounts like Content Machine which have humorous videos on how this happens over the years.
If you go through that quick short it basically goes: 20 needs to be everything, 25 money becomes more important, 30 standard drop big and more emphasis on being stable, then 35-45 escalation to more desperation.
As usual “not all people are like that”. There are people who are compatible with various looks, income and personality traits. The “love is love” standard deviation from norm, doesn’t disprove the trend.
In fact, if you go back 5, 10 and 15 years ago all of these age band discussions are about the same. Just with various twists on how they meet/interact. Netflix and chill, white collar worker + pool boy trolling, so on and so forth.
Same Trend Just More Competitive
The one thing that has changed is the competition. Due to social media/internet proliferation, the vast majority of people have had the chance to go way above their “looks match” or “sexual market value” as they said back in the 2010s.
18-23: If you’re a young guy and spending anything more than a few drinks and cheap dates, you’re wasting your time. This is pure Disney mode. Everyone thinks their guy is going to turn it around and somehow be a multi-millionaire by his mid 30s. In reality this is statistically impossible and the top 1% is always going be 1/100. Top 1% can refer to looks, money, status etc. Doesn’t matter.
24-28: Typically where most people end up finding a mate. The women have wisened up seeing that a large chunk do not make it. No need to waste time “investing” in someone since their ideal person is already stable enough to think about kids/family/house etc.
29-33: Standard drop big and it becomes a strange range where you see a lot of *women* settle for guys they usually wouldn’t even give a chance. Also explains why this age gets real dangerous. Enough experience to manipulate a guy to do what they want and eventually they get tired of him because he wasn’t their “first choice anyway”
We’re not going to go through the older ranges as there is too much volatility. Lots of guys check out, lots of women check out, lots of divorced/already had kids people in the mix once you’re out past this rough band.
What This Means for the US
Once you see that and you combine it with a K-shape economy, it becomes clear. Some women will end up making tons. Starting a business, using AI to scale something digital/SaaS, big dispersion in outcomes. Even in wealthy areas like Beverly Hills it is quite common for the kids to be a small fraction of the success relative to their parents. If they grew up in some $4-6M place, the kids end up in a townhome or something like that by the time they are in their 30s or so.
Hagmaxxing - Guys Quit
This is going to get much worse. People who graduated somewhere in the 2000s see the writing on the wall. Their idealized version of where they would be does not match up with where they are. This might be due to decision making, bad luck, so on and so forth. The reason is less important than the psychological impact
Also at this age (35-45 or so) most guys just lose interest in the constant going out, same script and living a low quality life. You can usually tell who is going down this route as they begin finding humor on the comment “Marry first for money, you can marry for love later”. Said differently, if things didn’t work out, around age 40 guys end up thinking like women around age 30 (not perfect but rough math).
Most likely you’ll see this in the more vain cities in the USA first. That means Miami, Los Angeles etc. Places with an emphasis on consumerism will see a big increase in guys dating older women. You’ll see it in small increments (2-3 year age gap) and it’ll eventually get up into the 5-10 year band. We wouldn’t be surprised to see 50 year old women with men age 42-44 or so.
Again. Doesn’t really matter how the woman got her money. Could be family money, could be from her own extreme success. Just doesn’t matter. The trend is the trend.
Impact on Consumer Goods: This means luxury goods are not going to slow down any time soon. While the packaging may change (watches, shoes, cars etc.) the direction is the same. Just as a young woman wouldn’t date an older broke guy (9/10 times) a guy dating an older woman doesn’t want to take the ego hit and eat at the Olive Garden (unless he’s down huge).
What is really interesting here is that it’ll make the K-shape recovery even more in your face. We’ve reached a tipping point where the wealthy areas of the USA see no economic impact. Gas could go to $10 and no one will operate any differently. If you’ve got $10,000,000+ you’re not even tracking your gas fill up that’s for sure. In fact, it’ll make the trend accelerate as they’ll notice the price changes on a subconscious level and realize they have economic leverage.
Men Become More Appearance Focused for Longer
Usually obsession with looks peaks out around 25 years old or so for men. They go through the big gym and fitness obsession. Tracking macros, working out, getting their clothing right and traveling to see the world.
The difference is that this is going to extend and explains why adolescence seems to be common even in middle age “40 is the new 30” or whatever slogan they are using to justify their partying.
Good Angles: Women have gone through botox and fillers. Men are going to go down the same general slope as well. While they unlikely go through the extreme levels of plastic surgery that women go through, we did not expect bone smashing (breaking your face with a hammer) to come this quickly. Wasn’t on the bingo card that’s for sure.
Instead you can expect to see growth in med spa products tailored to men as well. This is all a symptom of the root cause: 1) lower quality of life/economic opportunity outside the top 1% and 2) loneliness as people lose the ability to keep the candle burning on both ends by around mid/late 30s or so.
Beyond MedSpas, you’d be a fool to fade anti-aging longevity type businesses as well. That’s probably the biggest growth segment because men will need a spin on it. Peptides, hormone replacement etc. It’s already useful for people and it can be spun into a looksmaxxing angle that is good for you as well.
Aging naturally doesn’t make sense. And. All of this will accelerate the below
Expected Outcome: More growth in all kinds of health related optimization. People are going far beyond a few botox injections. Moving into height increasing surgery, peptides, TRT, HRT and full on cosmetic surgery such as the newly popularized jaw line changes. These procedures cost tens of thousands of dollars.
If you’re thinking about doing anything medical related with your life, this is where we would go (as usual not financial/medical advice).
We didn’t even touch on hair transplant/hair system type products. Those will be printing as well.
As a bonus, this will likely impact people’s feet/lower legs over time. Don’t think it’ll make sense to see a guy who is 6’ 3” with a size 8-9 shoe. Can’t be good on the body and likely shortens lifespan quite a bit as the heart as to work in overdrive to reach the much further extremities of the body (feet/toes)
Going Mainstream
Our working assumption is that this will all go mainstream. In fact we might be there already. It means that signs of wealth will include: 1) full head of hair, 2) HGH glow from improved skin, 3) being 6’ tall or more - whatever reason this is the obsessed cut off on the internet and 4) prominent jawlines.
Once it goes mainstream, this will be an expectation for people in general. We’ve already seen a big movement related to JD Vance. He needs to be “more attractive” to win the future. There is certainly some truth to this now. Back when the TV came out, it actually caused a big shift in the type of politicians that would get the green light to run for the presidency.
Summary
Looksmaxxing crowd is 100% correct in their current youth/dating/culture assessment. The suggestion that it is new? Not so much. Has just gotten more extreme due to massive spam related to social media. Men and women now have visual access to what the truly wealthy can and will do.
You’ll see all of these trends pick up, lots of money will be made and it’ll be up to you to adapt or not!
Oh and if you’re wondering. Yes this post is still relevant.
Have your fun in the states just don’t mess it up. The answer was solved back in the mid 2010s. Just now mainstream accounts are talking about dead cities like Medellin and Krakow. Up to you to figure it out.
Can’t do it for you can just give you the outline!
Disclaimer: None of this is to be deemed legal or financial advice of any kind. These are *opinions* written by an anonymous group of Ex-Wall Street Tech Bankers and software engineers who moved into affiliate marketing and e-commerce.
Old Books: Are available by clicking here for paid subs. Don’t support scammers selling our old stuff
How ETH is Staked: Covered (here)
Crypto: The DeFi Team built a full course on crypto that will get you up to speed (Click Here)
Crypto Taxes: We have a suggested Tax Partner and 25% discount code, for information see this post.
Security: Our official views on how to store Crypto correctly (Click Here)
Social Media: Check out our Instagram in case we get banned for lifestyle type stuff. Twitter will be for money
Slight disagreement on the age bracket preferences of women. Depends on where you live. I live in Los Angeles, and the more attractive a woman is, I've found, the late 20 - mid 30s crowd is the most demanding. As a man, just money won't cut it. You need to look good and do well financially. That age bracket has the highest standards I've seen to date.