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The SoftMaxx Field Guide

Research-backed essays on face analysis, softmaxxing, and the science of looking better.

Featured essay

What is softmaxxing? The complete 2026 guide

The definitive primer: how softmaxxing differs from looksmaxxing, why it matters, and the 11 areas to focus on first.

Comparison

Umax vs LooksMax AI: both leaders stopped shipping in 2024

Nearly 94,000 ratings between them, both sitting on builds from 2024 — plus the third app people keep mistaking for one of them.

7 min read Read article
Comparison

QOVES vs Umax: human review vs mass-market scanner

The expensive option against the popular one — and the weekly-price arithmetic that flips which is which.

7 min read Read article
Comparison

Umax alternatives: 5 options by what you actually need

Sorted by why you’re leaving — price, trust in the score, or noticing the app hasn’t shipped since 2024.

8 min read Read article
Comparison

Face Harmony vs Umax: 2.3 stars vs 4.6

Three unrelated apps share the Face Harmony name. Which one this is, and how it actually compares.

7 min read Read article
Comparison

The best face analysis app for women: an honest field guide

Every women-facing app we checked has zero ratings. So this judges the options instead of inventing a ranking.

8 min read Read article
Comparison

QOVES vs FaceIQ: human review vs instant app

$150-a-year reports that take weeks vs a $6.69-a-month scanner — and the thing most comparisons miss: there are several products named FaceIQ.

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Comparison

QOVES alternatives: 5 options by what you actually need

The right alternative depends on why you’re leaving — speed, price, or the human expert. Sorted by job, not affiliate payout.

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Concepts

The PSL rating scale, explained honestly

The forum origins, the 0–8 scale where 4 is the true average, and how to translate a PSL number without the brutality theater.

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Guide

Rate my face: every way to get an honest rating

Friends flatter, forums deflate, free AI inflates. Every rating route with its bias named — so your number means something.

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App review

QOVES review: is the $150 human-reviewed report worth it?

What the membership includes, the 28-day human-review turnaround, who it’s right for — and when an instant measurement tool fits better.

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App review

Umax review: what the PSL scores and weekly tiers really mean

4.6 stars from 51K ratings, four different weekly prices, and the one thing the app never publishes: what any score is measured from.

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Comparison

Free AI face analysis: what 6 free tools actually measure

Fotor, Vidnoz, Facewow and friends vs a measurement layer — and the three questions that expose any face score’s basis in seconds.

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Routine

How to look better: an evidence-based 30-day guide

Skip the bro-science. Here's what actually moves the needle in 30 days, ranked by impact.

12 min read Read article
Foundational

Looksmaxxing vs softmaxxing: what's the difference?

Both aim at the same outcome. They disagree about the methods, the audience, and the ethics. Here's the honest breakdown.

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Anatomy

The 11 facial metrics that determine attractiveness

What the peer-reviewed research actually says, mapped to the 11 categories SoftMaxx measures.

13 min read Read article
Compare

AI face analysis apps compared: QOVES, FaceIQ, SoftMaxx, and the rest

We tested every face-analysis app worth comparing. Here's where each one wins and where it falls apart.

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Anatomy

Canthal tilt explained: what it is, how to measure it

Positive, neutral, negative. What the canthal tilt actually does to your face, and whether you can change it.

10 min read Read article
Anatomy

Hunter eyes: the science, examples, and how to assess yours

The most-searched concept in the entire looksmaxxing space. Real anthropometry, real examples, no mysticism.

11 min read Read article
Anatomy

Gonial angle and jawline: a measurement guide

How orthodontists actually measure it, the ranges that read as masculine or feminine, and what mewing does (and doesn't do).

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Anatomy

Mouthbreathing and facial structure: what changes, what doesn't

The reversible changes, the developmental window, and what the research actually proves.

12 min read Read article
Routine

The 30-day softmaxxing routine: AM, PM, weekly

A protocol designed so you can run it without thinking about it. Photo-tested, deadline-driven, evidence-backed.

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Anatomy

How to mew properly, step by step

A resting posture, not an exercise. Finding the full-tongue position with the "sing NG" method, and the five mistakes that make people quit.

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Evidence

Mewing before and after: what those photos really show

Head tilt, lens, lighting, body fat, time of day. Six variables that move a jawline more than any posture habit — and how to photograph yourself honestly.

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Anatomy

Mewing benefits: what it actually does

Four things adults genuinely get — tongue posture, nasal breathing, submental tone, attention — and the claims about adult bone that do not hold up.

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Safety

Hard mewing: side effects and why force backfires

Tooth movement, jaw joint strain, gum recession. Why pressing harder has a mechanism for harm and none for benefit.

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Anatomy

How to get hunter eyes: what is actually changeable

Four of the five defining traits are bone. Here is the honest shortlist of what you can change, and what the non-surgical options really do.

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Anatomy

Hunter eyes vs prey eyes: the five traits

Two ends of one spectrum, not two categories. Trait by trait, and why the binary framing causes more distress than it is worth.

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Measurement

Negative canthal tilt: causes and what helps

Most people who think they have it measured it from a phone held above eye level. How to measure properly, and what genuinely changes it.

8 min read Read article
App review

Face Harmony by Clavicular: an honest review

What Apple’s own listing says — 2.2 stars from 91 ratings — the weekly tier that costs $519 a year, and how to judge any face-scoring app.

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Anatomy

Does mewing actually work? Evidence, technique, and what changes

The honest split: real influence on growing teens, no credible adult bone change, and the modest gains that are actually on the table.

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Foundational

Am I attractive? How accurately people judge their own faces, how much raters agree, and what the numbers actually look like

Self-ratings of attractiveness correlate only r = 0.24 with how strangers rate you (21 studies, 5,226 people), and the least attractive overestimate the most. Any two raters agree about half the time; a panel agrees strongly. Across 221 real scans the median is 4.8/10. How to get an honest read, with the research and its limits.

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Anatomy

Facial symmetry and attractiveness: what actually matters

Why symmetry matters modestly, why perfect symmetry looks wrong, what makes a face asymmetrical, and what you can change.

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Foundational

The golden ratio face: myth, math, and what really matters

Why phi (1.618) is largely pseudoscience for faces, which proportions have real support, and where to spend your attention instead.

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Anatomy

Facial thirds and fifths: the proportion map of a balanced face

The neoclassical canons that surgeons use, how to measure your own thirds and fifths from a front photo, and what deviations mean.

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Anatomy

Orbital vector: positive, neutral and negative explained

Orbital vector is the front-to-back relationship between your eye and the bone beneath it. What positive, neutral and negative mean, how it is measured, and what it does and does not predict.

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Evidence

What is the average face rating? Real statistics from AI scans

Real score statistics from SoftMaxx AI face scans: the average rating is 5.2/10, the median is 4.8, and half of all scans land between 3.5 and 6.0. Full distribution table (n=221), methodology, and what these numbers can and cannot tell you.

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App review

Is QOVES worth it? What $150 buys, how long it takes, and what buyers say

QOVES now sells one thing: a $150/year membership with one facial analysis, delivered within 28 days, refundable only before you upload photos. Whether that is worth it depends on which of three buyers you are. Facts read from qoves.com and Trustpilot on 2026-09-07.

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App review

Mogged app review: three apps share the name — here is which is which

"Mogged" is not one app. The April-2026 PSL-rating app was renamed Handsome AI, the 3,000-rating Mogged is a men's habit tracker, and a third barely exists. Prices, the free boundary, and the evidence behind each — read from Apple's own listing data.

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Comparison

QOVES pricing explained: the $150 membership, what it includes, and the prices you may have heard

QOVES pricing in 2026 is one number: $150 USD per year for a membership with one facial analysis. Why you may have seen $160, $175, $230 or $435, what express delivery and refunds involve, and why there is no free tier. Read from qoves.com on 2026-09-07.

6 min read Read article
Anatomy

Buccal fat pad: anatomy, normal size, how it changes with age, and what removal does

The buccal fat pad is a deep, encapsulated fat lobe in the cheek, about 9–10 mL per side. Surgeons remove ~2–3 mL for a ~2% change in lower-face volume. Every systematic review reports zero long-term follow-up. The anatomy, the numbers, and the premature-ageing question, with sources.

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Measurement

Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) and bizygomatic width: the measurement, the claim, and the replications

Bizygomatic width is cheekbone-to-cheekbone distance; fWHR divides it by upper-face height. A 2008 paper tied it to aggression in men. Larger samples since put the sex difference near zero and the behaviour link at r ≈ 0.11–0.16 — or nothing. What the ratio measures, how, and what it does not tell you.

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Anatomy

Philtrum length: normal range, how it changes with age, and what it does not tell you

The philtrum is the groove from nose base to upper lip. Young adults measure about 14–16 mm; men run 1–2 mm longer than women; it lengthens ~5 mm across adult life. What the measurement means, how it is taken, and why attractiveness tracks lip proportion rather than the number.

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Comparison

Face Harmony app cost: what each of the three apps charges, what is free, and who is behind them

"Face Harmony" is three different iOS apps. Clavicular's charges $9.99/week, $9.99/month, $19.99/month Pro or $49.99 lifetime with no listed trial; Stuke Digital's price-tests $3.99–$9.99/week; a third sells $6.99–$9.99 weekly. None is on Android. Prices read from the App Store on 2026-09-07, with the free boundary and the ownership facts.

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Anatomy

Hunter eyes in women: the traits on a female face, how eye-area anatomy differs by sex, and what the research actually supports

"Hunter eyes" in women means the same cluster — positive canthal tilt, low-set brow, little visible upper lid, almond opening — but the measured sex averages run in mixed directions: women's brows sit ~2.5 mm higher, men's eye openings are ~0.7 mm wider, and canthal tilt is steeper in women in some populations and not others. What is supported for female faces, and what is not.

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