Your Smile is More Important Than You Might Think

A bright and happy smile is one of those things that everyone enjoys seeing in others. It’s contagious, immediately providing an instant boost of confidence for whoever is smiling, whether it’s you or that other person. So, how do we develop our own smile to look that great?

First, a smile is formed mostly by flexing the facial muscles in the corners of our mouth. Some smiles have an involuntary contraction of these muscles in the corner of your eyes, a term called a Duchenne smile, which also helps to create an overall brighter smile. Another way to help form your smile is to smile when your mouth is open. When your mouth is closed your mouth muscles contract involuntarily, this gives an otherwise unseeing smile a lot more presence.

There are certain styles or kinds of smiles that lend themselves particularly well to certain corners of our mouths. For instance, if you have a long crooked smile with lots of wrinkles around the corners of your mouth then you’ll want to curve your smile so that the corners of your mouth appear to be more prominent, giving a much wider smile pattern. Also, if your mouth is narrow or pointed then you’ll want to make your corners a little higher. This will allow more of your lip and overall gum area to show, creating a wider smile.

While you’re studying how to smile correctly, be sure to pay close attention to where your facial muscles should relax when you smile. You should try to notice which corners of your face, if you’re trying to be more alert while you smile, relax the most. Also, pay attention to the time when your lips and eyes must shut in order to smile properly. This gives you a good idea of what sort of facial muscles you use most while you smile.

Also pay close attention to the strength of your facial muscles while you smile. When you smile your mouth should move upward and outward, not downward and inward. While frowning, your lips should drop and appear less round than they did before you started frowning. A smile should not only make you happy and light-hearted, but also give others a good impression of who you are.

Remember that everyone looks at other people differently, even if those same people smile at us all the time. When you smile it makes other people like you, and they’ll begin to smile at you as well. That’s why having a positive facial expression all the time is so important. If you’ve ever noticed that someone smiles when they’re happy or excited, or that they look angry when they’re sad, then chances are that they’re using their facial muscles in some way, to either affect the way that they look or to make the facial expression a little bit happier.