Psychologists warn over dangerous online beauty trend Psychologists say a growing influx of looksmaxxing apps are causing young people to "obsess" over their looks, warning it may be a "slippery slope" to eating disorders, cosmetic surgery and steroid use.
There are at least 26 apps available on Google Play and the Apple Store that offer to rate a person's appearance based on their photo.
Once a person uploads their picture the apps, which have been downloaded millions of times, suggests how that person can fix their apparent flaws through skincare, makeup or hair products.
It can be revealed that some of these apps are receiving payments from brands when the user clicks on the link after being told it can fix the issue with their appearance.
One lesser-known "lookmaxxing" app called 'Level Max: AI Face & Looksmax', confirmed it received funding through affiliate links.
"If a user chooses to purchase a product through one of these links, Level Max may receive a small commission," a spokesman for Level Max said.
"Our educational content actively discourages harmful trends that have circulated online, including dangerous practices that claim to alter facial structure. We encourage users to focus on healthy lifestyle habits, proper skincare, fitness, and self-care rather than pursuing extreme measures," he said.
President of the Australia Clinical Psychology Association Erika Penney said the apps were causing adolescents to become obsessed with their looks.
"It creates an overfocus, an obsession or compulsion to try and have the perfect skin, the perfect hair, the perfect shape, the perfect weight," she said. She said it was causing worrying issues.
"We're seeing these young people coming in with all sorts of worries like anxiety, eating, body image ... concerns that are potentially associated with frequent body comparisons."
She said apps that promoted "softer self-improvement techniques" (such as skincare) paved the way for more damaging practices.
"The softer versions of apps can look more benign, like someone trying to improve themselves but it also opens the door to a potential slippery slope to harder trends," she said.
Director of the Australian Psychological Society and clinical psychologist, Kelly Gough, said apps were "monetising insecurity" and young people were extremely vulnerable.
He slammed any business or brand that paid the apps to promote their products, saying they were profiting off people's insecurities in a damaging way.
"I'm not remotely surprised that brands may be finding ways to profit from people's insecurities. Much of the beauty industry is based on that," he said.
"It's reinforcing very narrow and harmful ideas of what it means to be attractive or masculine," he said.
He said he was concerned the recommendations could lead to more drastic measures of self improvement if the ratings did not increase.
"You start on skincare but then move to injectables and more extreme things such as laser resurfacing or actual surgery," he said.
TAYLOR: I like to think I have of pretty tough skin to a handful thanks siblings and a strong track record of moving schools. However, when I saw there was an app called Umax that rated my attractiveness, I hate to say it but I paid the $6.
The app gives you an overall score out of 100 and provides tips on how to "become hot". For females, its calculations are based on potential, femininity, skin quality, jawlines and cheekbones. So for about five seconds after the 89 popped up on my screen, I felt my ego rise a notch. But the app also has something called a "femininity score".
While I know it should not get to me, as a 21year-old, only getting 58 out of 100 knocked me down quite a few pegs. I was prepared for these scores and still felt slightly insecure, so I can only imagine what this is doing to young girls who have not yet realised their self-worth.
ARIS: A s people, we naturally take criticism personally. How could we not? So when I was told I should change my skin, lips and face "styling" after putting my photo into a looksmaxxing app, it provided me with insecurities I had not previously had before.
The app told me to change things that were fundamentally unchangeable about me to go against my mum's advice to be "just the way you are" in hopes of bumping up my 87 overall score.
What's worse is that some of the changes it suggested to me were veiled in objectively good health advice. Eat healthier, exercise, drink water, and sleep more. But underneath lies a scheme designed to peddle beautifying products to someone who has just been told they aren't good enough. Classic. Break them down just to build them back up again.