Around 4: average
An ordinary, unremarkable face, in the middle of the scale. Most people sit here or close to it. Forums call the area around it “mid-tier normie” (MTN).
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PSL Rater: Rate Your Face on the PSL Scale
Upload a front-facing photo and your browser measures your face’s proportions in about a second, then gives a PSL harmony estimate on the 1–8 scale, with the method printed next to it. Your photo is not uploaded. Below, a plain explanation of what the PSL scale is, where it comes from and what it cannot tell you.
Drop a front-facing photo here
JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC. Level head, neutral expression, camera at eye level.
Measured in your browser. Your photo never leaves your device for this tool.
What is the PSL scale?
PSL is a face-rating scale that came out of online “looksmaxxing” forums (looksmaxxing means working to improve your appearance). The letters come from three of those forums: PuaHate, SlutHate and Lookism. It runs from about 1 to 8, where 4 is read as an average face and the top levels are meant to be model or celebrity level.
It is a community convention, not a standard. No institution defines it, the number of levels and the names of the tiers differ from forum to forum, and the web tools that give you a “PSL score” each invent their own weights. Read any PSL number, including this one, as a rough shorthand and not as a measurement of anything real.
PSL levels and slang, in plain words
Forums disagree on the details, so treat this as the loose, common reading and not a rulebook. This tool never puts a tier name on your result: it gives a number and shows how it was made.
Around 5: above average
A face people tend to notice as good-looking. The slang is “high-tier normie” (HTN). Below it, “low-tier normie” (LTN) and “Sub5” mean below the middle.
6 and up: rare
Forums use “Chad” for the 6 to 7 range and labels such as “Adam” and “True Adam” for the very top, which is mostly theoretical. Almost nobody is rated here, and no photo tool can show it.
Terms you will see
Canthal tilt: the angle of the line through the inner and outer corner of an eye (a “positive” tilt means the outer corner sits higher). Dimorphism: how masculine or feminine the face’s structure reads. Harmony: how well proportions balance. Looksmaxxing: working to improve your looks.
How this PSL estimate is made
Google’s MediaPipe Face Landmarker finds 478 points on your face inside your browser. We measure four things from them: how evenly the two sides mirror across the midline (after levelling a tilted head), how the visible face splits into thirds, how its width splits into fifths, and its length-to-width ratio. Each is scored by how close it is to the typical value of a reference set of 1,088 level, frontal photos from a public face dataset, and the four are combined into a 0–100 face-map score.
The face-map score is then converted to the PSL scale by a simple, fixed rule: the reference set’s typical photo is placed at 4, the scale’s usual “average”, and the result is rounded to the nearest half point. It stops at 6. That cap is deliberate: proportions are only part of what PSL forums weigh, and a photo’s proportions cannot show the rest.
1. Add a front-facing photo
Level head, relaxed expression, soft even light, camera at eye level. A tilted or turned head changes the measurements.
2. Your browser measures it
About a second, with no upload and no account. The lines on your photo show what was measured.
3. Read the estimate with its limits
You get a half-point number, the four measurements behind it and a note on what the number leaves out.
What this estimate leaves out
This is a harmony estimate: proportions and mirror balance only. A full PSL discussion also covers things a single front photo of proportions cannot measure.
Dimorphism and bone structure
How the jaw, brow and cheekbones read in profile and in three dimensions. A front photo flattens them.
Skin, hair and grooming
Tone, texture, hairline and styling, all of which change with light and with a haircut.
Eyes and expression
Eye colour, eyelid shape and the life in a face. These matter to real viewers and do not survive a geometry score.
Photo conditions
A close wide-angle selfie stretches the middle of the face, and a tilted head fakes asymmetry. Two photos of the same person can land half a point apart or more.
Is PSL scientific?
No. The scale itself has no scientific basis. What research does show is narrower and weaker than forum claims: more symmetric and more average-looking faces tend to be rated as more attractive, but the effects are modest and vary between studies (Rhodes, 2006), and skin and health cues matter too (Little, 2014). Attractiveness in real life also depends on expression, voice, movement and who is looking.
So a PSL number can be a fun benchmark for photo geometry, and a way to compare two photos of yourself under the same conditions. It is not a measure of how attractive you are, and it is certainly not a measure of your worth.
Tips for a fair reading
Face the camera
A turned head changes every measurement. Look straight at the lens with your chin level.
Camera at eye level, 2x lens
Hold it at arm’s length and use the 2x lens: close wide-angle selfies stretch the face.
Soft, even light and no filters
Face a window. Beauty filters reshape the face, so you would be measuring the filter.
Compare like with like
Keep the camera, distance and expression the same and change one thing at a time, so a different number has a reason.
If a number is getting to you
A PSL score from one photo is feedback on one photo. If checking it makes you feel worse, close the tab. People who spend a lot of time rating their faces often report feeling worse about them, and if that is you, talking to someone you trust, or to a professional, is a better use of the time than another measurement.
References
- Rhodes, G. (2006). The evolutionary psychology of facial beauty. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 199–226.
- Little, A. C. (2014). Facial attractiveness. WIREs Cognitive Science, 5(6), 621–634.
Common questions
FAQ
PSL is a 1–8 face-rating scale from online looksmaxxing forums. The name comes from three forums: PuaHate, SlutHate and Lookism. It is a community convention with no official definition, and tools that give a “PSL score” each use their own method.
PSL stands for PuaHate, SlutHate and Lookism, the three forums where the scale spread. It is sometimes misread as “pretty scale level”, but the letters come from the forum names.
On the usual reading, 4 is average, 5 is above average and 6 and up is rare. This tool’s estimate stops at 6, because it measures proportions only. A good score for one photo mostly means a level, front-facing, well-lit photo.
Yes, on the common reading of the scale, 4 means an average face. This tool puts the typical photo of its reference set at 4, and your estimate is how far your photo’s proportions sit above or below it.
Your browser measures four things from 478 face landmarks: mirror balance, vertical thirds, horizontal fifths and length-to-width. Each is scored against a reference set of 1,088 photos, combined into a 0–100 score, then converted to the PSL scale so the typical reference photo is 4, rounded to a half point.
No. PSL is a forum convention. Research finds that symmetry and averageness have a modest link to rated attractiveness, but nothing validates the scale or any tool’s PSL number. Use it as shorthand, not as a measurement.
Upload a front-facing photo above. You get the estimate in about a second, with the measurements behind it. For a fair result use a level head, a neutral expression, soft light and the camera at eye level.
Canthal tilt is the angle of the line running through the inner and outer corner of an eye. A “positive” tilt means the outer corner sits higher than the inner one. PSL forums discuss it a lot, but how a photo is tilted or lit changes how it reads.
You can often raise a photo’s reading by retaking it: face a window, hold the camera at eye level, use the 2x lens and skip filters. Changing the structure of your face is another matter, and nothing on this page is medical or cosmetic advice.
No. The PSL estimate runs in your browser and the photo is not uploaded for it. The only thing downloaded is the face model, about 7 MB, once.
Looksmaxxing is working to improve your appearance, from grooming, skin care, fitness and style to more extreme steps. The PSL scale is the shared vocabulary of that community.
No. This page measures proportions only and gives a PSL-style estimate. The AI face rater judges how well a photo presents you, including light, angle and expression, gives a score out of 100 and a retake plan.
More face tools
- AI face raterThe AI’s read on light, angle and expression, plus the instant face map.
- Face shape detectorWhich of five shapes your proportions are closest to.
- Golden ratio face calculatorEye spacing, eye-to-mouth distance and more, against what research found.
- Face symmetry raterMirror balance, plus the AI’s read on the photo.
Nanorater
Want the AI’s read on your photo?
A PSL estimate measures proportions. The AI face rater judges light, angle and expression, scores the photo out of 100 and gives you a retake plan.