Bix certainly had a nice complexion. A lot of young people even in their very late teens struggled with pimples or acne then as much as they do now (and kids didn't get to go to fancy dermatologists in those days the way everyone's pampered spawn seems to now.)
But that other close-up of a young adult Bix with the Wolverines -- remember that nice one you posted, Albert, in October of 2006? - the close-up of his face, in the photo where he is smiling down at the Tiger Rag record he's holding, taken in 1924 -- I also noted what clear skin he had.
He no doubt kept himself tidy and clean for girlfriends, family events, photo sessions -- Ruth Shaffner always insisted he was "immaculate" when she was interviewed(that 1972 radio show and in Evans and Evans and the new Davenport book), although I do wonder how a guy up all night jamming in a smoky dance hall could be completely immaculate, especially after having had a few nips of hooch behind the bandstand! But still, I think the sloppiness and hygiene lapses were probably just slobbing around with the guys after a drinking jag, or a long boozy recording session where "it didn't matter," and he didn't care about appearing shabby. Anyone could see in his childhood photographs how impeccably dressed and groomed he was by his mom, so the habits were instilled in him to slick up when he was supposed to.
He looks kind of sloppy in the October 1926 Goldkette tour "zoo" picture with the snake handler, where he's about to blow his horn and sitting cross-legged -- socks falling down, broken laces on dusty shoes, no cuff-links on his sleeves and a strand of hair loose from slicking it back. Actually it's charming and amusing -- he looks so jolly in that photo.