Women are paying for facial scanning services that evaluate their beauty and offer numerous cosmetic procedures, raising concerns about their impact on self-esteem and mental health.
Danielle, 37, hasn’t always had issues with body image: she was a model and recalls receiving positive attention from men. However, two years of unemployment plunged her into a period of financial instability, and her confidence vanished. “It was easy to wonder if it would have helped if I were prettier, if some of my features were different?” she said. When Danielle saw a video on TikTok about a “facial analysis” service that claimed to provide “scientifically based” advice on improving her appearance, she purchased it without hesitation. After paying 330 dollars and sending a selfie for analysis, Danielle received her personalized 30-page report from the company Qoves. Qoves evaluated everything from the shape of Danielle’s ears to the femininity of her features. The company recommended she get rhinoplasty, lower blepharoplasty, canthopexy, chin implants, and malarplasty. Additionally: microblading, eyelash extensions, fillers in the temples and cheeks, a mix of fillers and Botox in the chin and jaw, and Botox around the mouth. “I believe that the standard of beauty I have set for myself is impossible to achieve without spending thousands of dollars,” noted Danielle.
Danielle, who now works in the tech industry in Colorado, is postponing any cosmetic surgeries until she pays off the credit card debt accumulated over two years without a salary; after that, she is interested in going to Mexico for nose and eyelid procedures. She has also recently consulted with a Botox and filler injector. Qoves claims that attractive people “receive better treatment everywhere, from hospitals to courts,” and states that it is easier for them to find jobs and make money. There is some truth to this: the “halo effect” is a documented phenomenon where attractive people are perceived as smarter and more sociable than their average peers, and studies link attractiveness to better pay. For Danielle, who asked to be referred to only by her first name for confidentiality reasons, this promised material advantage was an appealing factor: “It gave me motivation that I didn’t have in the past, seeing it as a potential help to my career and financial security.”
Spread of facial analysis services
Plastic surgeries and non-surgical cosmetic enhancements, such as Botox, have undoubtedly grown in popularity over the past two decades, to the point where the aesthetics of “purchased” beauty have become an integral part of social media. This has opened the door for “looksmaxxing” influencers — those who take the fixation on appearance to the extreme. Uniting around the language of science and “self-improvement,” “looksmaxxers” claim that attractiveness can be quantified — that individual features should be analyzed and empirically evaluated, and physical improvements made as necessary. The ultimate goal is to achieve “facial harmony,” or the ideal proportions of the nose, eyes, and other features relative to each other.
Now a number of facial analysis services are benefiting from the “looksmaxxing” ethos, capitalizing on people’s insecurities about their appearance under the guise of helping them become the “best version of themselves.” Qoves, used by Danielle, cites peer-reviewed studies to lend credibility to its idea of quantifiable beauty. It provides analyses for men and women, and for 150 dollars recommends “non-surgical” changes such as injections, with an additional upgrade for 180 dollars for surgical recommendations. Cheaper tools like Facemaxify and Epica use AI to assess components of the user’s face against an opaque facial harmony metric. In addition to recommendations for expensive procedures, these services often offer paid subscriptions. Epica specializes in skincare and makeup plans for women and directs users to affiliated links for cosmetic products and care items. “I believe that the standard of beauty I have set for myself is impossible to achieve without spending thousands of dollars,” said Danielle, noting that her confidence decreased when she started using TikTok. “All the people I look at [on social media] and consider beautiful have had plastic surgery.”
Ocean, 25, discovered Qoves through one of its beauty videos on YouTube, where the company has over 1 million subscribers. Body image has been a long-standing issue for her: “I have always loved beauty, makeup, and appearance, but I have never liked my own image. My parents always put me down,” she said. “My mom wanted to pay for my rhinoplasty when I turned 18.” In school, kids bullied her. “They called me a dolphin because of my nose.” Ocean, who lives in France, paid an additional 80 dollars for express delivery and received her results from Qoves in two days. It gave her a sense of relief: the report did not recommend any changes to her nose and otherwise “confirmed what I already knew about my flaws,” she said.
Expert warnings and scientific validity
Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt, a psychology professor at the University of Ottawa and one of many scientists cited by Qoves in its promotional materials, expressed concern about the negative psychological impact of facial analysis services on self-esteem. “This is what women are most insecure about: their appearance,” she said. “There will be those who are told they look better than they thought, and that’s great. Will it last over time?” In other words, can a service that emphasizes appearance as a metric of self-worth ever provide anyone with lasting peace, or does it perpetuate a cycle of self-criticism? Additionally, although Qoves and Epica restrict their services to adults aged 18 and over, age restrictions are easily bypassed by minors. Users of Qoves are expected to self-report body image issues, with few safeguards to deter people with body dysmorphic disorder before presenting them with a list of their flaws. “You can bypass this so easily, it just creates the appearance of due diligence and assurance that they are not exploiting vulnerable people — but ultimately, they will exploit vulnerable people,” said Vaillancourt. “Such things are very destructive for people with body dysmorphia, dysphoria, a history of eating disorders, and people with low self-esteem.”
Qoves referenced Vaillancourt’s work in a video titled “The Cost of Being Too Beautiful” to show that beautiful women face envy from others. But Vaillancourt is not a beauty researcher: she studies bullying, mental health, and violence prevention. Although Qoves correctly interpreted her research on physical appearance and hostility, she is uncomfortable with her research being used for paid services like Qoves, which she believes can harm women’s mental health. In addition to Vaillancourt’s research, the application
