Your looksmaxxing baseline: front and profile photos.

Assign a question to each view

Use the front view to inspect the whole outline before focusing on symmetry, brows or apparent widths. Keep the eyes level and the expression natural. For a skin-related reference, retain ordinary texture and record lighting rather than choosing the smoothest-looking exposure.

Use the profile for a different question: the relationship between the lips, chin and neck outline, or the contribution of beard length. Do not replace it with a three-quarter portrait. Save the two views as one baseline set and write which feature-level question you will revisit.

Choose a setup you can reproduce

Put the camera at eye level and use a stable surface or a stand. Keep the same device, camera and distance for later check-ins. Avoid holding the phone so close that your nose dominates the frame. Move the camera back and keep enough detail for a clear portrait, following the capture instructions of the app you are using.

Camera distance changes perspective. This matters when comparing facial proportions: a result from an arm’s-length selfie is not interchangeable with one from a camera farther away. Research on photographed faces has also found that estimating distance from smartphone portraits is unreliable in some conditions. Do not treat an apparent change in proportions as proof of physical change.

• Use the same camera for each comparison.
• Keep the lens around eye level.
• Save your setup notes with your baseline photos.

Give the front and profile different jobs

For the front photo, face the camera naturally. Keep your eyes level, shoulders relaxed and expression neutral. Move hair only enough to keep the face visible; do not pull the skin or deliberately tense the jaw. Remove beauty filters and portrait effects that change the shape or surface of the face.

For the profile, turn to a true side view instead of a three-quarter angle. Keep your normal head position. Raising the chin or stretching the neck creates a different presentation and makes comparison harder. The point of two views is context, not finding the most flattering version of each angle.

Read observations before scores

A report can help you notice the relationship between haircut shape, facial hair and your overall presentation. Start with those observations. Ask whether the explanation matches the photos and whether it suggests a practical next step you actually want to take.

A FaceScore or PSL-style number is not a measurement of your worth, health or future. Lighting, expression and model assumptions all affect the output. An unexplained score difference should send you back to the input conditions, not straight to a new appearance routine.

Make the next comparison fair

Choose one visible experiment, such as a different parting or a neater beard outline. Keep the rest of your setup stable. Compare the same view beside the same view and look at the whole portrait before zooming into tiny details. If you cannot reproduce the lighting or camera position, label the images as different conditions.

MogRise uses front and profile photos to connect an AI report with personal priorities. Use the report as a starting point for your own decisions. Keep your original photos, record what you changed, and leave enough time between checks for the question you are trying to answer. You do not need to rescan every day to make a useful decision.

Make a capture recipe you can repeat

Write down the place, camera, approximate distance, phone height and light direction. Use the same lens mode and avoid comparing a close selfie with a portrait taken from much farther away. Mark a practical standing position if it helps. The setup does not need studio precision; it needs to be consistent enough for the feature question you are asking.

Leave room above the hair and below the chin so the full frame remains visible. Keep the neck and upper shoulders in the reference when they help show posture. Check focus on the face before saving the image. A simple recipe reduces the chance that a later comparison is driven mainly by a different crop, lens position or shadow.

Take the profile without creating a pose

A useful side reference shows the forehead, nose, lips, chin and neck relationship from a consistent direction. Keep the shoulders and head comfortably positioned. Avoid pushing the chin forward, lifting it sharply or changing the facial expression to manufacture a cleaner outline. Those actions may suit a styled portrait, but they complicate a baseline comparison.

Review the original image before cropping. Check that the forehead and chin are visible and that hair, beard or a high collar is not hiding the region you need. If your question concerns facial-hair contour, record the beard length and finish. The view and the grooming state together explain what the lower boundary represents.

Reject an input when the question is hidden

A good-looking photo can be a poor assessment input. If a fringe hides the hairline, glasses obscure an eye corner or the chin is cut off, the image cannot answer every facial question equally well. Select a reference for the information it contains. Keep presentation portraits in a separate set if you also want to explore a photographic style.

Do not retake the entire set because of one small imperfection. Retake when blur, obstruction, extreme perspective or inconsistent expression affects the area you need. This gives the photo check a clear stopping point and prevents the preparation stage from becoming an endless search for the most flattering baseline.

Label a comparison before you interpret it

Give each reference a date and a brief setup note. For a styling test, add the variable that changed: fringe finish, beard length, frame pair or collar. Keep the comparison at similar screen size. If the original and new photo have different lighting or camera distance, describe the result as uncertain until you can repeat the conditions.

Use the notes to ask one question about the result. ‘Does the shorter chin trim reduce added lower-face length?’ is more useful than ‘Do I look better?’ The baseline is a tool for answering that question. Once it has done the job, save the decision and close the comparison rather than repeatedly re-rating the same two images.