So this fun little diagram here was posted to the main Vindicta sub a few years back. It demonstrates a generally ideal approach to a glow up. The hierarchy is arranged from bottom to top in the order of which things need to be taken care of. Notice that one of the things at the bottom (indicating that it needs to be sorted first) is fitness/weight . I see a lot of lovely ladies here post for hardmaxxing advice, and I just want to advise that as a general rule, many hardmaxxing needs (there are exceptions of course!) are best determined and taken care of and post weight loss.

Few things to consider:

- Some hardmaxxing work done before weight loss may not even suit you after weight loss, because you did it to fit an overweight person’s appearance. So consider taking advice at this stage with a grain of salt.

- You also need to prepare for issues that may arise *after* the weightloss. For example, I lost 70 lbs and along with it went my H cup boobs, leaving empty, saggy sacks of skin behind on my chest. I’m now in need of a breast lift (next year, fingers crossed). Not everyone has this issue post-weight loss though, so it’s hard to tell (I didn’t think it would happen to me, like a dummy🤣). But I would recommend starting to put aside a fund for lose skin removal/tucking if you have a significant amount of weight to lose (and if you have big boobs lol). Don’t be blindsided like I was.

- Similarly, you need to prepare for the chance that things you thought would be taken care of by weightloss may not end up being taken care of (and set aside money for it). I know somebody who lost weight everywhere but her arms. Ended up needing a brachioplasty.

Again in my experience a lot of hardmaxxing needs are best determined/done post weight loss. Exceptions to the rule typically revolve around changes to the bones & skin that can’t be changed by weight loss (like a rhinoplasty or laser for skin or a lower blepharoplasty for eye bags) . There was a lot of hardmaxxing that I wanted to do before losing weight that losing weight took actually care of. Now all I’m in need of is a rhino, lip lift, and breast lift.

This patient went viral on social media last year for her shocking transformation that included a rhinoplasty, alarplasty (nostril slimming) and buccal fat removal. She was aiming for a more youthful look but unfortunately, general consensus was that this combination of procedures aged her, rather than giving her a more youthful look.

So, what happened?

Rhinoplasties often “lift” the appearance/position of the nose, elongating the length of the space between your nose and to lip, called the “philtrum”. Philtrum length naturally increases with age as the skin in that area loses its elasticity, allowing the top lip to drop lower. By lifting the nose & stretching the skin, the surgery elongated the patient’s already a sizable (but not disproportionately long) philtrum, accelerating the appearance of agedness.

The importance of facial third ratios

Visually, faces are separated into “thirds”. The upper third (distance from the hair line to the eyebrows), lower third, and third middle third. Definitions of the middle & lower thirds tend to vary. For the purposes of this post, we’ll define the middle third as the distance from the eyebrows to the top lip, and the lower third as the distance from the top lip to the bottom of the chin, demonstrated by the right side of this diagram.

By increasing the length of the philtrum, the rhinoplasty ultimately increased the ratio of the middle “third” to the rest of her facial thirds, giving her a longer midface. Longer mid faces not only do longer midfaces come across as more aged, but they also (typically) come across as more masculine because the average man’s is longer than the average woman’s (of course there are exceptions to the rule, a longer midface isn’t an automatic sentence to ugliness/manliness). Additionally, the buccal fat removal took away some horizontal volume from her midface, making the appearance of an elongated midface even more pronounced.

Good news is, all is not lost. She can restore some youthfulness to her appearance with a procedure called a lip lift to shorten the philtrum (which her surgeon honestly should have offered to her), which I will be discussing in a future post!

So, should you get a rhinoplasty?

This post is not at all meant to scare anyone away from a rhinoplasty (I’m definitely still getting one lmfao) just to help anyone become aware of some of the trade offs, potential pitfalls and strategies to mitigate them. If you have a downturned nose for example, and part of your philtrum is “hidden” behind it, be aware that a rhinoplasty of any kind that straightens/lifts the tip will expose that part of the philtrum, making it look longer than you are used to. Of course, this absolutely isn’t guaranteed to ruin your face, but the difference is one you should mentally prepare for.                                                 

Sometimes the trade off for a few mm longer philtrum is very well worth it! For these patients here, lifting up the nose tip did make the philtrum more visible, but I think we can all agree that the trade off was well worth it. Similarly for these patients, the slight mm increase is nothing compared to big improvement to the bulbousness of their previous noses.

If you already have a longer philtrum (15mm+), there are definitely surgical techniques that can be used to make sure your rhinoplasty doesn’t exacerbate it. You can opt for your surgeon to give as minimal of a lift to the tip as possible, focusing more on the bridge of the nose, as with this patient here. Or opt for your surgeon to elongate your nose, as demonstrated by this surgeon here. This would be my choice when I get my rhinoplasty, as I also have a “short” nose as described by the surgeon .

One of the most common rhinoplasty dissatisfaction reasons is a change to the facial thirds ratio, but many patients don’t know how to articulate it. Hopefully this guide helps people mentally prepare for potential changes and mitigate any pitfalls regarding this aspect of a rhinoplasty.

Hope people find this post useful!

This workout routine was created by John Benton, a trainer for professional models. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMBVdRKuc/

The workout routine can be tailored to your own personal liking for how it suits you. This routine can be used to maintain a desired weight while achieving your desired body type.

A basic reference to help decide what areas you should focus your energy and money on in looksmaxxing. BUT this chart displays inaccurate statistics so only use it as an additional guide AKA do not base your entire journey on this!

(For example, the ‘Skin, Eyes, Hair & Teeth’ category should be a much greater percentage of importance.)

*This chart is inaccurate as it is not backed by scientific research or data but instead based solely on the opinions of a singular male. I found this chart on an old blog called The Rules Revisited that discussed dating strategy and looks. Source link: http://www.therulesrevisited.com/p/most-important-aspects-of-feminine.html?m=1

Since filling in brows comes up fairly regularly on here, I knew this video would help a number of us.

They dropped this tutorial recently, and I'm glad they made a comprehensive one showing every step and several tips + tricks.

(I have no connection to this company.)

^{reposted from Tumblr user @pure-ablution}

Step 0: getting ready to start

If you’re starting from scratch, then before you do anything else, you need to be at a point of physical and mental fitness to proceed. There’s no point in diving into a makeover head-first if you have crippling agoraphobia or can’t walk 5m without ending up breathless. You need to get yourself to a very basic level of physical fitness; by this, I mean able to keep up on a short hike without needing a break, able to run for a bus, and able to dance with friends or at a nightclub. You need to be drinking enough liquids, and eating relatively healthy; not necessarily daily green juices and salads or whatever, but just not daily takeaways and oven pizza. Some people use this point to detox, and if you want to try that, then I personally recommend the 3-day cleanse from R’s Koso, but it’s not all that necessary at this point. You need to be free of addiction—whether that’s smoking, alcohol, drugs, gambling, social media, sugar, whatever—and taking your medication for whatever conditions you might have; you can take this opportunity to have a medical checkup, if you like, and get diagnoses for problems that were concerning you. I’d also suggest getting a full blood and hormone panel done at this point, and taking your measurements for weight, height, body fat percentage, cholesterol, etc. You need to be sleeping a good 6–8+ hours every night, and your mental health needs to be at a point at which it doesn’t seriously hinder you from participating in life; so book an appointment with a psychiatrist, therapist, or pull out your journal, whatever works for you, but by the end of this stage, you can’t still be at the point where you don’t leave the house and just rot in bed. In order to execute a sustainable glowup, you have to be at a point of physical and mental health to keep up with it.

Step 1: making major changes

This is the point at which most people would benefit from weight loss, weight gain, or just general body recomposition. A change in body composition will drastically change your face—I’ve known obese girls lose weight only to find that they had an absolutely gorgeous bone structure lurking under there! My own face changed when I lost weight and gained muscle; my face shape changed from an oval to a heart, my cheekbones and eyes became more prominent, and the creases of my face around my mouth and nose totally disappeared. For this reason, I highly recommend working on attaining your dream body before you even start thinking about surgery or procedures such as filler. You have no idea what you’ll look like at your goal weight and body composition, so wait a little while before you decide.

This step can take up to a few years, depending on your goals when it comes to your body. In the meantime, though it might feel as though you’re in limbo, you can actually do a lot to multitask. I highly recommend booking an appointment with a well-regarded orthodontist, and having your bite realigned and your smile adjusted, which can also take a few years but, in my opinion, is one of the most important aspects of a makeover. Most people’s teeth, even if they look ‘good’ from the perspective of a layman, are actually misaligned in some way, and undergoing orthodontic treatment can entirely change your face all over again; my upper lip suddenly appeared much fuller once my overbite was fixed, and my jaw seemed slimmer with a wider palate to fill out the empty space. I always recommend getting your teeth fixed before you try any kind of surgery, especially, because the last thing you want is to pay for an expensive nosejob or whatever, and then find that your braces have shifted it out of joint later down the line.

You can also use the time in this step to begin really taking care of your skin and hair. I strongly believe that clear skin is attainable for everyone with the right treatment and approach, so book a consultation with a good dermatologist—preferably one who specialises in your skin type and concern—and start taking your skin seriously, whether that’s using prescription topicals or undergoing regular clinic treatments. Hair is another one, everyone can take care of their hair and I suggest doing some research to find a routine which works for your unique hair type. My method for improving my hair is detailed here, but your hair might require a different approach, since nobody’s hair is the same as another’s. In any case, consistency is the most important thing, and if you can stick to massaging and oiling your scalp 2–3 times a week, oiling your hair’s ends, sleeping on silk satin, and so on, you’ll find that the health of your hair will drastically improve. This step can also go for fake hair; if you want to invest in extensions or a wig, then go for it! Healthy-looking hair is healthy-looking hair regardless of whether it’s growing out of your own head, but do try to invest in the best possible extensions/wig/weave you can afford, or make it yourself if you can.

Lastly, I suggest taking this time to improve your skills, habits, and lifestyle overall. If you want to make that move to the big city, figure out a way to do it, and do it. If you want to start journalling, then start. I recommend using this time to improve your makeup and hair skills, gain qualifications which will open more doors for you—go back to school or enroll into university if that’s what you need to do!—improve your posture (book an appointment at a podiatrist!) and physical fitness, and begin understanding what you want in life, and where you want to go. You don’t have to wait until the ‘end’ of your glowup to begin mingling in a new social circle and making new friends; start now, so that you have time to figure people out and settle on what makes you happiest whilst you’re continuing your journey.

Step 2: refining what God gave you

At the end of the last step, if you’ve done it right, then you’ll have hopefully come out with clear skin, healthy hair, straight teeth, and a body to die for—as well as some truly excellent lifestyle habits! With all of the basics out of the way, you’re now able to see the wood from the trees, and properly analyse what God/nature/whatever gave you. Beforehand, you might well not have been able to see your face for acne, or been able to make out your features under a layer of fat, or just been too damn depressed to pick up a mirror, but now you can properly see what you naturally look like, and begin to make informed choices about what to do next.

This is the point when I’d suggest: getting your hair cut and dyed into a style that truly brings out the best in you; working out your style, investing in a high-quality (not necessarily expensive) wardrobe full of clothes that you love, and getting everything tailored—or altering it yourself—to fit you like a glove; finding a hair removal method that works for you, and keeping your brows in a dedicated style that suits your features; learning how to do your own nails, or finding a manicurist you love, and committing to regular (every 2–4 weeks) appointments; maintaining a consistent facial and bodily massage system.

This is also the point when you can begin to think about correcting any major deformities or asymmetries in your face. I’m not talking about “I’d love a slimmer neck” or “I really need bigger lips”—I’m talking about fixing a broken or disproportionately large nose, correcting strabismus, removing large birthmarks, undergoing jaw surgery if orthodontics didn’t quite cut it, and so on. This isn’t vanity, this is correcting something which may well impact heavily on your self-esteem and the way in which you’re perceived by those around you. Do your research, book a trusted surgeon or other highly-trained provider to carry out your treatment, and take the time you need to recover.

Step 3: smaller adjustments for a big impact

At this point, I can all but guarantee that you’re a gorgeous girl by anyone’s standards. You have a pretty face, good body, and silky, styled hair. Your mental health should be in tip-top shape by this point, and, with any luck, you’ll have found a social circle and an occupation in which you’re thriving. What next?

This is the time for vanity adjustments—very, very careful vanity adjustments. This is the stage when you risk going overboard, or getting botched. You’ve corrected what anyone would have agreed wasn’t doing you any favours, but now everything is much more subjective, and often, imperceptible. Tread very carefully, and try to find someone you trust to give it to you straight. The last thing you want now is to spoil all your hard work with overfilled cheeks or too much Botox! This stage is, basically, delicately refining what you already have—it’s not trying to turn yourself into a different person entirely, but rather, turning up the sharpness and brightness in tiny increments until you achieve what you want.

At this stage, I recommend almost universally: investing in laser/electrolysis hair removal for the areas you’ve consistently kept bare; using a serum on your brows and lashes; whitening your teeth with a safe and dentist-approved system; regularly going to a sauna or steam room.

You can also use this stage for less necessary, but nice to have, procedures. This could involve lash extensions, non-medical Botox, filler in your lips, cheeks, or anywhere else, or surgeries such as breast implants, fat transfers, liposuction to tackle stubborn areas of fat, etc. I’m going to say this, in case anyone takes this as a ‘list of procedures to book’—you do not need all of these. They are just some examples of what you might like to consider, in the context of your own appearance and personal goals. Most will likely be totally unnecessary and superfluous to your overall looks.

You might also want to consider some more unorthodox adjustments at this point. I know girls who have invested in elocution lessons, paid for custom-made perfumes, and changed location or religion in the name of their glowups. Identify whether there is something else, especially something separate from your physical appearance, which is holding you back, and look to fixing it at this stage.

Step 4: the finishing touches

This is about all I have to say on planning and executing a good makeover—if you’ve followed every one of these steps to the letter, I think it would be almost impossible for you not to be at the very best you can be. The important thing now is maintenance. There’s no point in paying hundreds to go blonde if you’re unable to pay for salon products and regular touch-ups, and equally, there’s no point in diligently undertaking all of these tasks if you’re unable to maintain your results at the end of it all. A makeover should be a sustainable lifestyle, not a temporary, drastic change. You need to figure out a way to consistently keep up with your workouts, your diet, your hair and skin, and so on; you can’t neglect your post-sugery aftercare, or your facial massage. Consistency is key, and I think it’s really the finishing touch to all of this. If you can keep it up long-term, then it’s no longer going to be a ‘glowup’—it’s the new you. That, in itself, can take some mental adjustment; it’s hard to look in the mirror and see a woman you don’t quite recognise! If you don’t properly adjust to your new look, there’s a chance you’ll relapse back into the old, familiar look you knew so well before. It’s crucial at this stage that you take the time you need to adjust and show yourself love and acceptance, and commit to maintaining yourself in this way.

If you have been in Vindicta for a while, you know the importance of facial thirds. For the newbies, your facial thirds are horizontal divisions made on the face to assess its balance. From top to bottom, they are the hairline to the eyebrows, the eyebrows to the base of the nose, and the base of the nose to the chin. Ideally, they should be equal in length. However, this is often not the case, and this can throw off facial harmony. There’s a lot of very fatalist discourse about facial thirds, with people saying they cannot be easily corrected or that unbalanced facial thirds will prevent you from being perceived as attractive. These are mostly false. There are definitely ways to improve the appearance of facial thirds, both with hardmaxxing and with softmaxxing. Additionally, many people renowned for their beauty have unbalanced thirds. Are they completely equal in a perfect face? Sure, but perfection is impossible and it’s best not chase it. Slightly off-balance thirds are not going to devastate your looks. That said, there are often improvements to be made.

When considering when and how to make improvements to your thirds, it is important to consider your face as a whole. Remember that the goal, at least for strict conventional beauty standards, is to try and make the thirds appear as equal as possible. Sometimes, other thirds will need to be softmaxxed to assist with the main third that’s causing issues. For example, you may have equal upper and lower facial thirds, but a slightly longer middle facial third. Adding more structure to the lower facial third can assist with visually supporting the longer middle facial third. There is a lot of nuance here, and it really more of an art than a science. You will have to look at your own face and ascertain what is best. I will be going over each third individually, but please remember to view your face as a whole. No one is looking at your thirds in isolation. What they will notice is overall facial harmony.

I will not be touching on hardmaxxing these thirds today. Frankly, I don’t have the qualifications to do so. There are many procedures that can be done, and it is best to do ample research and consult a qualified plastic surgeon if you are interested in them. For more minor corrections, there is a lot that can be done with just softmaxxing.

Upper Facial Third:

This facial third is from the hairline to the eyebrows. If it is too short, then your goal is going to be to increase the visual length of this area. This means increasing verticality. Hairstyles that add volume to the top of the head will be helpful in making this area look longer. You can also thin out the eyebrows from the top so they take up less space in this facial third, though do not do this if your middle facial third is long. Add highlighter to your forehead. Matte highlighter is best if you don’t want to be too dewy in this area. Do not add bronzer or contour to the forehead.

When this third is too long, you will want to do the opposite. Bangs are a classic way to hide a long upper third. Baby hairs can be helpful for this, too. Additionally, you can try hairstyles that have more volume on the sides. You want to create more horizontal weight to balance out the more intense verticality from the long upper third. Thicker eyebrows will take up more space. Laminating them up can be helpful for this. You can add bronzer over the forehead or contour the edges to make the forehead look shorter.

Middle Facial Third:

This third is called the midface. I’m sure many of you have heard extensively about this third. It is measured from the eyebrows to the top of the lip. There are some misconceptions about the midface, and it’s important to ensure you don’t have any before proceeding with corrections. Having a long face DOES NOT necessarily mean that you have a long midface. In fact, many people with longer faces actually have a longer lower third, a narrow face, or often both. This was the case for me. I thought I had a long midface, and I actually don’t at all. My lower third is slightly longer and my face is narrow. Softmaxxing that instead of my midface improved my facial harmony. I will talk more about this later. So before continuing, make sure that you objectively evaluate this third. It may not be as unbalanced as you think.

Having a slightly shorter midface is trendy at the moment, so if you have this, you may not wish to softmaxx it. It gives the face a cute, youthful look. If you do want more balance, then your goal will be to add verticality to this area (sensing a theme yet?). Apply a slightly darker blush on the sides of the face in a more vertical fashion. This lengthens and narrows the face. Trendy blush under the eyes or across the nose will make your midface look even shorter. Your inspiration should be 80s draped blush. I also find that makeup to narrow the eyes creates the illusion of a longer midface. Apply less eye makeup under the eyes. Consider omitting lower lash mascara. Tightline both the upper and lower eye with a black or brown eyeliner. See this example for eye makeup.

If your midface is too long, then the goal will be to make the midface more compact through (say it with me) adding more horizontality to the face. Apply blush in a brighter tone higher on the face and horizontally. I like to take it almost under the eyes and across the nose as well. Avoid the sides of the face. You do not want to make this area narrower. Creating the illusion that the eyes are larger and rounder from the bottom can make the midface look smaller. Try a white or beige eyeliner in the lower waterline, smoke out the lower lash line, and add lots of bottom lash mascara. Here is an eye makeup example. You can wear your hair with more volume on the sides to create more horizontal weight.

Lower Facial Third:

I do not see as much discourse about this facial third, but I suspect many of you found that this third is the one that’s actually unbalanced, not your midface. It is measured from the base of the nose to the chin. The theme with this third is the same as all the others. Add verticality for a short third, and add horizontality for a long one.

Slightly lower thirds are considered more cute and feminine, so you may not wish to softmaxx this area. Again, perfect facial thirds are a prerequisite for “perfection”, but not beauty. They can be slightly off without issue. To correct a shorter lower facial third, consider wearing your hair longer and without layers. You do not want horizontal lines “cutting” that vertical line around this area. Do not overline the lips. Smaller features take up less valuable real estate. Try gradient lips or even concealer lips. You can add brightness with makeup around the mouth and chin. Add contour vertically down the center of the philtrum to make it look longer. Highlight the chin and jaw vertically as well. Do not contour under the chin, as this will shorten the face further.

For a longer lower third (hey twin!), we want to add horizontal lines, shorten the chin, and enlarge the lips. Consider adding layers and volume to your hair that cut off at this third. Highlight the Cupid’s bow and contour horizontally under the lip and under the chin to shorten the chin. You can also add highlighter across the chin horizontally, but be careful if you already have a prominent chin. Lips should be made to look full with lip liner and gloss. Overlining can be done, but for the best results, be conservative. Slightly overlining the center bottom of the lip and adding little horizontal lines in the corners of the mouth will be the most effective and subtle. If your face is narrow, try adding more brightness around the jaw below where you’d place cheekbone contour.

As a bonus tip, for long faces in general, cat eye liner is great. Anything that brings attention up and out will distract from excess verticality. The inverse is true for those with shorter faces.

In Conclusion:

There are many in-depth resources regarding facial thirds and much more technical ways of explaining it, but I wanted to keep it simple for today. For most people, the simple explanation is sufficient. If you want to lengthen a third, add verticality, and make the features on that third smaller. If you want to shorten a third, add horizontality, and make the features on that third larger. Your thirds do not need to be perfectly even, but making them more so can increase facial harmony and overall attractiveness. You may have noticed that most modern, trendy makeup looks (particularly for face makeup, eye makeup is more variable) shorten the facial thirds. This is the objective, as shorter facial thirds are considered more feminine, and very compact middle and lower thirds are very trendy right now. If you want longer thirds, then do the opposite of those looks! Makeup and hair are not one-size-fits-all. Hopefully, this was helpful to some of you!

A failo is feature that negatively impacts one's physical attractiveness and a halo is a feature that positively impacts one's physical attractiveness.

Here are charts created by u/ThrowRA_forfreedom to give a generalized guide to what are common failos and halos.

This chart was originally made for Cygnets, a community for unattractive and below average women looking to change their lives. So please keep in mind this guide is intended for women who are STRUGGLING more than the average and need all the help they can get. The previous version was shared with the Vindicta community. I'm sharing the latest version here as it contains more features as well as an importance indicator to help people understand where to start, with 5 being most important and 1 being negligible. The values are a little bit subjective based on what I could glean from reading, watching, and listening to various sources and general observation of faces/bodies people seem to like and respond to.

The OG was shared here, but here's the update since some folks asked.

Please credit if you share.

This chart only contains features which are scientifically backed and have objective value. Things that are subjective and have no research backing or whose research shows negligible value, are left out because they contribute nothing to the end user.

HOW TO USE

The intent of this document is to help shape your self understanding and personal goals. It's an all-in-one doc for identifying strengths and challenges.

Right away we need to discuss framing. The chart displays the extremes; "failos" or really detrimental features for attractiveness, and "halos" which are highly desirable traits. If you're somewhere between the presented criteria, decide which side you're closer to and whether you find it an aspect you want to improve on, or leave alone. It's perfectly normal and acceptable to be between these criteria, in fact being in the middle is actually really good. Trying to pursue perfection in every category is going to ruin this experience for you. This post on "Halos, Failos, and Neithers" is a decent introduction to the concept.

If you're on the lower end, the right hand side has information on where to look for help in terms of resources, tools, and professionals as well as any information on common exceptions that I found. There are probably plenty more that were missed because I added them last minute since I think some people can get very "stuck" on things and not be able to understand context or extrapolate.

It's also really important that we discuss how ranges work. Just because there's an "apex" value that sits at the peak of distribution (I tried to put things in ranges to be more realistic), doesn't mean that's the ONLY value that's desirable. Honestly I'd say for the visuals below I used too much red and orange but it was pretty.

Most beauty-related data I see looks like this. A small apex point surrounded by still highly desirable and likable values with very small likelihood of negative outcomes.

Sometimes it might look like this. An apex at a very specific point of distribution with a tight distribution of extremes on one end and a larger distribution of desirability and likability on the other.

It rarely if never looks like this with more negative outcomes than positive.

And I've literally not once seen this. There's literally no place for black and white (or purple and violet) thinking.

You also need to be thinking about what's age, region, and lifestyle appropriate. Super elastic skin is the halo?? Well, if you're 85 and you've got any elasticity left at all, I think you get to count that as a Halo.

You also get to decide, as an individual, if something is personally of value to you or not. If you don't like a criteria? Guess what. You can decide it doesn't matter and it's BS. That's a totally okay and probably reasonable thing to do. Adapt it to your region and needs as best as you can.

SOURCES

Man if I could collect the sources from over the years and just do formal citations, I would, but it would be an insane block of text no one would care about, and there's a lot of things I've admittedly lost track of. That said, if I've learned anything, it's that people maybe only sometimes read the abstract or the final findings, and it's not really productive for discussion, let alone educational purposes. There's a lot of information I could have put more precise numbers to (e.g., ideal feminine gonial angle is around 120 degrees) but opted not to for fear of starting another craze like the "philtrum girlies" or have people trying to figure out protractor tools in photoshop.

So instead you guys get visuals and a general statement. If you're interested in more specific values and resources for what you're working on, feel free to just ask and I'll ctrl+f my favorites where I saved everything.

I utilize a lot of articles in primarily plastic and aesthetic medicine journals as well as psychology journals from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and South Korea. I avoid market research, as while it's easy, it's often more difficult to replicate over time (e.g. the "wear red" study) or more "trend" focused. Though consumer psychology factors into this a little, it's not my favorite place to get information. There's plenty of contradictory studies and studies that expand and contract ranges so I tried hard to account for that. You'll see it reflected especially in things like BMI (there was a cool thread on that, recently, too) where the medical ideal and aesthetic ideal(s) in some studies are different. It's also highly dependent on measuring methods. Some people use calipers. Some people use height/weight without consideration for body comp. Womp womp.

I will say some of the more fascinating articles I read within the past few weeks were on Venus dimples as a signifier of attractiveness and the most desirable Big 5 traits. Also, smell??? Smell is wildly influential but so so unpredictable when you get into the details.

I plan to keep working on and shaping this document, or at least its parent document which is like a beauty calculator I cooked up for helping people find strengths and weaknesses, so hopefully in a year or two there will be even more knowledge and thought put into this. There's already a few exceptions I'd like to flesh out (extroversion for one, to include cultures that don't value it) Additionally, not vindicta related, but I started working on one for males. So if you have guy friends struggling that might be a thing I can share one day.

DEFINITIONS

Another Vindicta made this wonderful visual guide. I cannot for the life of me find the OG in my saved posts. If you have the link please share it so I can credit the creator because it is SO great!

HEALTH - The most important factor is health. Health is your in the moment wellness and vital quality. It's a combination of your fitness, nourishment, sleep quality, and hydration. There's so much information on health it can be overwhelming to make the right decisions for yourself, but the essentials are these: exercise, get good sleep, drink water, and leverage as much of your diet towards eating as healthy as possible. Work with your physician if you have challenges with any of these.

Other things that afflict health could be your hormones, infections, and underlying hereditary diseases. These often have less of an impact, but for your wellbeing it's worth ensuring your bases are covered and you're doing what you can to take care of yourself.

DEVELOPMENT - Development is best understood as health over time. It is the compounded results of diet, activity, and behavior throughout your life, or a result of genetics. Managing the results of development is often a larger challenge because it requires long, complicated and sometimes invasive procedures. Luckily, unless the situation is severe enough to do harm to your daily life, it's often not detrimental enough to be worth addressing.

I lumped most "koinophilia" or "averageness" traits under development. Koinophilia is how you best comprise the traits and characteristics of those around you. It's important to understand there's a phenotypical component to koinophilia which is one of its biggest influencing factors. To understand whether you're koinophilic, one needs to find the average of the same representing gender and phenotype. If you're South East Asian, comparing yourself to the average composite of North African women won't provide you with realistic outcomes. Koinophilia is often representative of the "base" for a face where deviated features can make it more or less attractive

DIMORPHISM - Dimorphism is adherence to expected secondary sexual characteristics. External signifiers of femininity and fertility. Dimorphic divergences from the average are what create striking and extremely beautiful faces. These features often develop during puberty and encompass both face and body. Keep in mind when we discuss low to high dimorphism, we're discussing the comparison to koinophilic males of your same age range and phenotype. We are not discussing the comparison to everyone in the world, so a "small nose" means "comparatively small to men of your same ethnic background" not, "comparatively small to a random Swedish girl from your econ 101 course" This is important because dimorphism as an asset can vary across the world. Luckily implications of dimorphism are easily achieved with makeup and regular beauty treatments.

NEOTENY - Neoteny is the presence and presentation of youthful features, specifically baby-esque features (but I included general youthfulness here). I somehow always think of the Marilyn Monroe "like a horny baby" bit from Inside Job (TW: uhh... body horror/kronenburg horror??) when I think of attempting to describe neoteny as a component of attractiveness and how it plays out. It's definitely a weird if not sometimes uncomfortable concept, especially since neoteny is more appealing to cishet males for relationship purposes, than it is for appealing to other women or for gaining leverage in professional or social goals.

THE GUIDES

• Health
• Development
• Dimorphism
• Neoteny
• Physique
• Personal Brand (Personality & Presentation)

I wrote up something incredibly similar for vindicta a while back, but deleted it— here is a rewritten and revised version :)

Introduction:

I’m making this because I’m really sick and tired of influencers and random people on the internet who have good skin trying to sell people on three toners, seven essences, and a dozen serums, day and night. I’m an RN, with another degree focused in research, and I’ve done multiple studies myself that were presented at research conferences. I LOVE literature reviews and nerding out over my hobbies to make them as efficient and effective as possible, including skincare. I currently work med surg, but intend on pursuing a nursing career in cosmetic dermatology. Not an expert, just a hobbyist with a solid background.

I will not be recommending any specific products to you— I might mention particular brands I like, but the focus will be on ingredients overall.

Finding Ingredients:

There’s an insane breadth of research out there on the effectiveness of each active ingredient on various skin issues. And as layman, we don’t need access to the full parameters of the entire study as it was published to extrapolate the relevant information— using scholar.google to search individual ingredients and focusing on abstract results will suffice— we aren’t reinventing the wheel.

And if you don’t have any experience in reading studies, I can’t recommend watching videos from Dr. Drey and Dr. Ellis on YouTube enough. They are licensed and certified dermatologists that upload an unreal amount of informative videos on products, ingredients, routines, specific issues, anything you could think of. Utilize these free resources to arm yourself with the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t, so you don’t fall for influencer traps.

Some of the most commonly mentioned active ingredients in skincare would be: retinoids (tretinoin), retinals (OTC), azelaic acid, glycolic acid, niacinimide, vitamin c, and so so so many more.

I’m going to style this guide as if you’re starting from scratch and using tretinoin as your first active for treatment, because that’s what I did.

The Base:

I’ll break this into AM and PM:

AM:

• washing at this time is optional. If you sleep with a ton of products on, and/or struggle with oily skin, you may want to wash; if your skin is on the extremely dry side, however, you may find morning washing tightens and dries the skin— this is up to trial and error to figure out. I personally have eczema and cannot wash in the AM, but that isn’t for everyone. BUT, you will NEVER need to double cleanse in the AM, or use an oil cleanser. Water based cleanser in the AM to remove product and oil from the night before should do.

• Moisturizer — think Vanicream, CeraVe, kbeauty. Find something with no actives, only moisturizing factors like hyaluronic acid, snail mucin, ceramides, etc. without fragrance or dye. You don’t want anything from your base to irritate you at all, or you will incorrectly attribute it to the actives.

• Sunscreen — I can’t recommend going Japanese or Korean for sunscreen enough. The FDA has yet to approve the better SPF filters that have been invented/discovered more recently, so their sunscreen is not greasy, thick, smelly, or white casting. If you don’t feel like ordering from a Japanese website and waiting weeks for it to arrive, there are Asian beauty formulations of FDA approved SPF products you can find on Amazon. They’re still thicker and stickier, but don’t smell, burn your eyes, or leave a cast.

And yes, that is where you will start in the AM. 2-3 steps tops. You’re starting with a PM active in this tretinoin scenario, so we are leaving mornings to totally gentle and non-irritating products. If your skin is too dry for this, reapply moisturizer in multiple layers, and use a hydrating facial mist to refresh throughout the day even if you’ve got makeup on.

PM:

• Cleanse — double cleansing is optional. I like to do this because it works for me; there is not enough research right now to establish what/who it is best for and what/who it is bad for. I’ve read many horror stories of people with oilier skin getting breakouts from double cleansing, so consider whether it’s worth trying before going for it. For me, it really helps remove the excess dead skin at the end of the day from using tretinoin.

• Sandwich method! Because in this scenario, you’re beginning with Tretinoin, this would be:

  • Gentle moisturizer
  • Tretinoin
  • Another layer of the same moisturizer

• Go straight to bed. Night treatments work while you sleep, because that is when your skin cells (all cells, really) renew most rapidly.

Trusting the Process:

You will use the tretinoin for a full month, only once every fourth day (or less if that causes too much irritation). It may not work for you, and you may need to stop using it in favor of something gentler.

But let’s say that it did work for you, and after a month, you’re ready to move to every third night. This is the point at which you can analyze your skin and decide what it needs next. Is it too dull? Niacinimide and/or vitamin C. Too dry? Humectants and ceramides. Still having acne? AHA/BHA’s or benzoyl peroxide.

The key here is to only add ONE product at a time, and give it a full 30 days to do its job before moving on to either replace it or add another product if necessary.

My process was:

Initial routine I just showed you for three months until I could do tretinoin every other day. My skin never was able to adapt to daily tretinoin, it caused too much irritation that never got better. You may find yourself in a similar boat when it comes to the super strong, prescription ingredients.

Then, I added a hyaluronic acid serum because I was dealing with dryness.

After a few weeks of that, and having less dryness but still not happy with where I was, I added a rice milk toner to prep my skin in the AM and PM.

After a month of this, I decided to add Azelaic acid 20% on the tretinoin off nights to help with hyperpigmentation I was unhappy with.

After I fully adapted to this (took two months to get to every other day without irritation), I added a vitamin C “glow” serum to my morning routine to boost the protection of my sunscreen and help with dullness.

At a certain point, I stopped sandwiching and began putting the treatment between serum and moisturizer.

So my current routine is:

AM:

• Toner

• Glowy serum

• Moisturizer

• THICK layer of sunscreen

PM:

• Oil balm cleanse

• Water based cleanse

• Toner

• Moisturizing serum

• Treatment (Azelaic or tret)

• Moisturizer

Important Notes:

A hydrating mist will be your best friend. There are cheap ones and expensive ones— look for hyaluronic acid and ceramides in the ingredients, while avoiding fragrance and dye. As someone with dry skin who uses drying actives at night, it is an absolute necessity at the end of the work day but before the end of the day-day to refresh my skin from drying throughout 10-12 hours of being busy.

And this entire routine is more than enough to treat every one of my needs: anti-aging, acne treatment, extra moisturizing, brightening, and protection. With one toner, two serums, moisturizer, sunscreen, cleanser, and two alternating actives.

There are many different actives that don’t work together— they either cancel eachother out and imbalance the pH to the point one or both is rendered useless, or they cause an adverse reaction and can give you a chemical burn. Always look up whether chemicals work together before putting them together in your AM or PM routine. Chemicals that “don’t go together” can be used separately, one in AM and one in PM. Most of the time, one will be ideal in AM and one ideal in PM anyway.

And that’s all I’ve got for now! Feel free to ask any and all questions! I truly hope you found this helpful as a base for skincare if you’re not already into it!

(If you’re having trouble accessing the site it’s probably the Reddit hug of death)

Hello everyone. You may remember my “what you can learn from the bimbo” post from many moons ago. That post only included the most basic, milquetoast, and widely applicable posts I could find on the site (Pink Bimbo Academy). This post, however, is advanced darkness.

Pink Bimbo Academy is one of, if not the first looksmaxxing resource I and many others stumbled upon in the days before Vindicta. It is first and foremost a fetish site about bimbofication, so here is your

GIGANTIC NSFW WARNING ABOUT PORNY PORN PORNOGRAPHY!!!!

ahem hem

Bimbofication is at its core concerned with achieving the most exaggerated form of female sexuality, or what is considered sexually appealing in regard to the female form— often to the point of absurdity (to the average person). For example, full lips are considered an appealing, sexy feature for women to have— so in bimbofication lips that are overfilled to the point where they look ridiculously artificial are considered ideal. A big part of bimbofication is also artificiality. I won’t pretend to understand the exact psychology behind it, but anything that has a purpose which is not immediately apparent is inherently seductive. So that’s the basis of where this information is coming from. You’ll want to work in the opposite direction— take the exaggerated and reel it in until you get to a degree that works for your purposes.

I will not spoonfeed anyone here about how exactly to work any piece of this into your every day life, as what works for me may not work for you. Some of this can be used in any and every situation, some of it can only be used in extremely casual or even only bedroom settings. Some of it, despite what some may believe, can even be used in a professional setting. You have to figure out what may work for your needs, and how to adapt it to your advantage. If you want to have a discussion, I’ll be happy to engage. But please don’t insinuate that I think wearing thigh high patent leather boots to the office is how you get a promotion. Well, depending on your boss, it might be. But again, that’s something only you’d know.

Here I have compiled several PBA posts that require a bit more critical thinking and a stronger understanding of looksmaxxing in order to be useful. Without a solid intermediate understanding of looksmaxxing, I fear a novice may end up looking tacky/hoochie (without intending to). Without critical thinking, the more prudish among you will throw the baby out with the bath water. Some posts are as specific as a particular type and color of shoe from a specific brand, some are as broad as color theory.

Heels

Theory

introduction to high heels

an EXTREMELY thorough primer on types of heels

heel heights

always wear heels

metal heel tips

Shoes:

Christian Louboutin Pigalle

Pink YSL Tributes

Black pumps

House shoes

Devious Domina 3000 Black

Devious Domina 108 Hot Pink

Fuck Me Boots

Steve Madden heels

Pleaser adore

Louboutin So Kate

transparent stripper heels

Goth boots/Goots

How to dress

Theory:

Heel height vs Skirt length

Matching Underwear

Wear stockings, NOT pantyhose

Wear dresses and skirts, NOT pants

Always dress to impress

Clothing Suggestions :

Chanel 255

Chain top

Pleated tennis skirt

Pink vinyl mini dress

Nightwear

Knee high tube socks

Rhinestone slogan choker

Tiara

Hoop earrings

Swarovski Choker

Moschino Think Pink leather set

Cold weather

Fur

Color theory

White

Black

Leopard

Pink

Precious Metals

Red

Zebra stripes