Look at pictures of yourself that were taken when you were laughing, or work yourself into a belly laugh by watching something funny and then take a selfie. Make sure you’re really feeling happy when the picture is snapped. Now compare the picture of you smiling with happiness to a picture of yourself giving the type of fake, jack o’ lantern-esque smile you’ve probably flashed for a dozen school pictures. See the difference in the eyes?
Once you identify the feeling of smiling with your eyes, try to memorize it. Practice engaging your whole face when you smile. The more you do it, the easier it will become. On the other hand, remember how it feels when you aren’t smiling with your eyes. When that tell-tale forced feeling takes over your face, you’ll be able to correct your smile to make it look more genuine.
Each time you smile, no matter what the reason is, try to remember to squint a little. Don’t overdo it, or your face will look distorted; just a bit of a squint will add the appropriate twinkle to your eye. Try making eye contact as you squint to have a big impact on the person you’re smiling at.
This type of smile is good to use when you want to express playful mystery. It’s for when you don’t want to give away too much by breaking into a wide grin; you simply want to project that you’re satisfied with the situation. You could also smile without using your mouth when you need to hold a pleasant expression on your face for a long time. Let’s say you’re in a long board meeting and you want to look like you’re having a decent time without looking fake. Smiling with your eyes will make you seem approachable and positive. Smiling with your eyes is really about communicating with your gaze. [2] X Expert Source Traci HalvorsonModeling Agent Expert Interview. 28 May 2021.
This exercise will help you recognize what really makes you happy. Look in the mirror and cover everything below your eyes with a handkerchief or similar. Then start thinking or talking out loud about your happiest memories. Smile as you do so. You’ll notice that at some points, your eyes “twinkle” and you get “crows’ feet” wrinkles near your temples. There’s your Duchenne smile! The closest you’re ever going to get to smiling with your eyes on command is to channel your happiest memories and let your face do the rest.
Look into whitening your teeth and getting rid of bad breath to take care of two easy-to-fix sources of self-consciousness. If you really want to rock the Duchenne, play up your eyes as well. Maintain your eyebrows and use a little eye makeup to make your eyes stand out.
Check out the other person’s smile when you’re talking. Is the person smiling with his or her eyes? If you see a Duchenne smile on the other person’s face, you know it’s genuine, which might set you more at ease and help you relax into the conversation a bit. On the other hand, if the person’s smile looks fake, it might be hard to flash a genuine grin. If you want to seem sincere, you might have to channel some happy thoughts for a bit, or at least remember to squint!
