The technique in this video is mascara. Tony Huge sits down with a makeup artist who tells him his eyes could look stronger, and the argument that follows is the interesting part: darker, longer lashes do not feminize a male face. They make it more dimorphic, because men naturally have longer and denser lashes than women, a fact hidden by the makeup women wear. From there the conversation covers where contour works and where a beard ruins it, why a bottom-lid pencil beats mascara on the lower lashes, concealer for dark circles, and a sock. Tony gets his eyeliner done on camera at the end.
Video: This Looksmaxxing Technique Is Game Changing. Published March 23, 2026. Watch on YouTube.
What the video covers
- 00:00 The claim: Mascara makes the male eye area more masculine, not less.
- 00:40 The history: Pop performers, rock stars and warriors have all worn eye makeup; only a soft modern culture reads it as feminine.
- 01:42 Jaw contour: Subtle is the point, and a beard makes it hard to blend.
- 02:00 Beard placement: Why hair below the jaw reads as a neckbeard rather than definition.
- 02:17 Elsewhere on the face: BB cream and concealer, used sparingly.
- 02:34 Under the eyes: Concealer to brighten dark circles and reduce hollowness.
- 02:48 Tony’s starter routine: Mascara on top, a little on the bottom, light pencil on the lower lid, darker brows.
- 03:03 Pencil versus mascara below: Why mascara smudges on the bottom lashes.
- 03:34 The makeup sock: The on-the-go kit, in a sock.
- 04:03 Live demo: Eyeliner applied to Tony, eyes open, with a flinch or two.
Why lashes are a masculine feature
The whole technique rests on one anatomical claim, and it is the reason this is a looksmaxxing video rather than a grooming video. The artist’s position is that men have longer and denser eyelashes than women, contrary to what most people assume, and the assumption exists because women wear makeup that covers the gap. So a man who darkens and lengthens his lashes is not borrowing a female signal. He is amplifying a male one. The result is a more intense gaze and an eye area that reads as more dimorphic, more striking and more masculine.
The cultural objection is dealt with directly. In the present culture, mostly women wear makeup, so makeup reads as feminine. But that is a local and recent reading. Pop performers wear mascara and undergo surgery, rock stars have worn eyeliner for decades, and warriors across history painted their eyes. The artist’s line is that only a very soft society sees eye makeup as feminine, and that the men in it are already softer than the men who came before. Tony, who has spent years arguing that “natural” is a cultural default rather than a biological one, finds this a comfortable place to stand.
“Men actually have longer and denser lashes than women, contrary to popular belief. That’s just covered up by makeup.”
Makeup artist to Tony Huge, 01:20
Contour, beards and the blend problem
Tony asks whether the contour under his jaw is darkening his beard or defining the bone. The answer is that it is a slight contour, probably overdone in this case, because contour has to be blended, and blending into beard hair does not work. So a contoured jaw and a beard along the jawline fight each other. Tony’s follow-up, whether growing a beard under the jaw could do the contouring job, gets a flat no: hair below the jaw reads as a neckbeard, not definition. The beard belongs on the jaw itself, and the artist says he is only wearing one because he is mid-recovery and not concerned with how he looks for the moment; normally he would be clean-shaven.
The rest of the face gets less attention, deliberately. BB cream or concealer sometimes, not often. The exception is under the eyes, where dark circles and hollowness are common and concealer brightens the area noticeably. Tony’s question about eye bags is the one most men his age would ask, and the answer is that it is a worthwhile addition when the shadows are there.
The starter routine
Asked what he actually needs, Tony gets a short list. Mascara on the top lashes, maybe a little on the bottom. A very light eye pencil along the lower lash line to darken it. Darker brows, through dye or a pencil. The practical detail that follows is why the pencil exists: Tony has tried running mascara around the whole eye and it smudges everywhere. Mascara is difficult on the bottom lashes. A clean pencil, traced along the lower lid, does the job without the mess, and Tony’s worry about whether it is bad for the eye gets a plain no.
Then the artist produces the kit. It is a sock. He calls the makeup sock the best invention that ever existed, which is a joke with a real point: the tools are small, cheap and portable, and there is nothing precious about the routine. He applies the pencil to Tony’s lower lid on camera, eyes open because it is easier that way, with both men remarking on how hard it is not to flinch when the other moves. The result is not high on the waterline but, in the artist’s judgment, decent.
Where this fits in looksmaxxing
Most looksmaxxing content on this site ranks interventions by evidence and cost, and most of the expensive end is surgical or pharmacological. This technique sits at the other end. It is reversible, costs almost nothing, takes a minute, and its entire justification is a claim about sexual dimorphism that you can check in a mirror. Whether it is “game changing” depends on the face, but the logic is sound: if a feature is naturally more pronounced in men, enhancing it moves the face toward the masculine ideal, not away from it. That is the same reasoning Tony applies to jaw, shoulders and hairline. Here it is just applied with a pencil.
Cheat Sheet Pivot
What the video demonstrated and what Tony was told, not instructions.
- The premise: male lashes are naturally longer and denser than female lashes, so darkening them amplifies a masculine feature.
- The starter routine given to Tony: mascara on the top lashes, a little below, a light pencil on the lower lid, and darker brows.
- Pencil is used on the lower lash line because mascara smudges there; the pencil has no drawback for the eye, per the artist.
- Jaw contour must be subtle and blended, and does not work over beard hair; hair below the jawline reads as a neckbeard.
- Under-eye concealer is the one face product worth adding when dark circles or hollowness are present.
This is the cosmetic layer; the compound-based layers of looksmaxxing are catalogued in the Miracle Molecules Cheat Sheet. For the ranked overview, read Looksmaxxing Ranked by Evidence: What Actually Works, and for the protocol Tony has written for his own age bracket, see Looksmaxxing for Men Over 35: The Real Protocol.
Where the evidence stops
The claim that men have longer and denser lashes than women is presented by the artist as fact and is not sourced in the video. The rest is technique and taste: what reads as masculine, what blends, what smudges. None of it is measured, and the “more attractive” claim is an aesthetic judgment, not a study finding. The history of male eye makeup is offered as cultural context, not evidence of effect. Nothing in the video makes any health claim, which is part of why it is the lowest-risk item in the looksmaxxing catalogue.
Keep going
For another overlooked dimension of how you come across, read Smellmaxxing and 2-Nonenal: The Science of Old People Smell. Companion articles go out first to the tonyhuge.is email list, and the looksmaxxing archive is on tonyhuge.is.