Latest news with #facialexpressions
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Expert shares the telltale facial expression that can reveal if a person is toxic
A confidence coach has identified five facial expressions that 'reveal a nasty or toxic person'. Self-styled 'charisma expert' Liz Rose, from Australia, believes that people's expressions - from 'the contempt smirk' to 'the micro-glare' - show 'exactly what their words won't.' Liz, who has 147,000 followers on TikTok, told fans to be wary of five different looks that will expose even the most charming person as toxic or malicious. She added that the meanings of the specific facial expressions are grounded in science, having been classified by the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). According to The Emotional Intelligence Academy, FACS is a 'globally recognised tool used to measure and analyse the full range of human facial expressions.' In a video that's been more than 201,000 times, Liz argues that toxic people, no matter how likeable they seem, 'leave micro-expressions that reveal their true nature.' The first expression that can give someone away as toxic is 'the contempt smirk.' For Liz, this 'subtle, one-sided smile' is a particularly harmful micro-expression, which indicates a person's contempt or their sense that they are superior. 'Research shows that this expression is a strong predictor of relationship breakdown because it signals disrespect masked as charm,' Liz elaborates. Convinced that 'the face leaks what the mind hides,' she warns viewers not to mistake a smirk for warmth, explaining that it is actually a sign of 'ego'. Next, Liz highlights the hidden meaning behind eye-rolling or 'rapid eye-darting.' An expression that most people would have witnessed at some point or another, eyerolling signifies that the person finds someone annoying, she explains. Liz says: 'It's a non-verbal way of saying, "You're beneath me."' Eye-rolling or eye-darting might crop up in conversations that the person sees as 'unworthy of their attention'. Viewers are equally reminded that if it is accompanied by derision or a head-tilt, it definitely indicates 'scorn.' A nose wrinkle, while it might appear innocuous, actually reveals disgust, according to Liz - and is a huge 'red flag'. @lizroseofficial Some facial expressions silently reveal a toxic or nasty personality, before a word is spoken. Backed by the Facial Action Coding System, here's what to look for. #MicroExpressions #FacialCues #ToxicPeople #BodyLanguagePsychology #EmotionalIntelligence #facereading #facialexpressions #NonverbalCues #NonverbalCues #ReadingPeople #PsychologyTips #HumanBehavior #SocialDynamics #psychologyfacts #psychologyhacks #LizRoseOfficial #lizrose ♬ original sound - Liz Rose | Charisma Expert When 'the nose scrunches slightly' and is accompanied by 'a slight upper lip raise,' it signals both physical and moral disgust. 'People show it when they believe that someone is inferior, embarrassing or weak,' Liz warns. The fourth facial expression that suggests the person is toxic is 'the micro-glare.' According to the confidence coach, this occurs when 'the brow lowers tightly [and] the eyelids narrow'. While it is easy to miss, a micro-glare has the potential to alter the 'entire energy' in a room. Most often it indicates that the person is annoyed - though it may also signal that they are 'plotting dominance,' Liz adds. The fifth micro-expression to be aware of is what Liz calls 'the smile freeze.' This is when 'the mouth smiles but the eyes stay cold, or [when] the smile lingers too long after the emotional moment has passed,' Liz says. She warns: 'That's not friendliness, it's a rehearsed social mask and it always slips eventually.' Liz's video received a great deal of attention online, attracting more than 350 comments in just a few days and sparking a passionate debate. One person said: 'When I caught my friend give an eye roll with a scoff I knew our relationship was over.' Another person had a different perspective, writing: 'I actually think people who make no expressions are the most dangerous. 'You don't know what's happening in their brain.' Someone else was keen to find out if there were hidden meanings behind other facial expressions. They asked: 'How about overly open eyes? 'One of my aunts will glare at people like her eyes will pop out. There's no expression anywhere else besides the eyes'. Liz's video attracted a lot of attention online and provoked a passionate debate Others, however, took a more lighthearted approach. One person said: 'My husband is contempt face. 26 years together. He has other faces too'. While a second added: 'Funny, I use all these facial expressions when I have to talk to men'. Some TikTokers, however, rejected Liz's analysis, pointing out that the five micro-expressions that she identified could have multiple other meanings - or mean nothing at all.
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Forgive me if I raise an eyebrow at Botox mania – it's because I still can
If, like me, you have watched agog, alarmed or just confused at the speed at which tweakments and cosmetic surgery have gone mainstream, then consider this minor piece of celebrity news. Earlier this month, Jennifer Garner became the latest A-lister to say that having Botox was a mistake. 'Botox doesn't work very well for me,' she told Harper's Bazaar. 'I like to be able to move my forehead.' She joins a growing list of high-profile women including Courteney Cox, Nicole Kidman, Ariana Grande, Cameron Diaz and more who have described quitting Botox, fillers or other injectables because of undesired results – namely looking 'weird' (direct quote from Diaz there), and losing the ability to make certain facial expressions. Which presumably, for people whose income is directly linked to their ability to make you feel stuff using their faces (also known as 'acting'), must be a serious setback. I'm no actor, but as someone plagued by a 'face that gives it away', I am delighted to hear it being said that facial expressions are, in fact, quite great. Beautiful. Powerful. Worth having in the round, even if there are downsides, like getting you in trouble at every karaoke night ('You look like Wallace smiling at Gromit,' said a friend of mine about my 'pretending to enjoy this!' face. ) Or in the case of the Hollywood set, looking a little older. ('You need movement in your face,' said Cox. 'Those aren't wrinkles, they're smile lines. I've had to learn to embrace movement.') I really do think this bears repeating: facial expressions are ace! Our superpowers, really. Remember how your parents just had 'a look' that said 'stop that right now'? Magic. And what about crow's feet? Surely, they're the ultimate lie detector: they only appear when you've really – properly – made someone laugh. How wonderful are these meek crevices that convey emotion as deep as the sea? Tiny but mighty. And they only get better over time. Grande agrees. 'I want to see my well-earned cry lines and smile lines,' she said in 2023. 'Ageing can be such a beautiful thing.' (Did I mention she was in her 20s then? I'd recommend a pillow if you need something to scream into.) Perhaps it is ridiculous to spell all this out. A bit obvious, maybe. But we would all miss facial expressions if they disappeared from our screens. Just ask Erika Jayne, one of the stars of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, who was caught up in a controversy when she broke down on TV about filing for divorce, mascara streaks running down her face. Fans said this was contrived, given she famously wears waterproof mascara, but when you can't move your face, what else can you do? A clever turn from the makeup artist, if you ask me. For clarity, none of this is to say that Botox and injectables are bad, even if the way we talk about them is. Our conversations are fraught, and any critical point about these products must be caveated with 'I ACCEPT OTHER WOMEN'S CHOICES' repeated at volume, lest you be accused of being a bad feminist. Or it descends into prudish hectoring of women for having a bit of fun or choosing to improve their prospects in an image-obsessed world which they did not create, but have to live in. But it is possible to defend women's rights to do whatever they choose with their bodies while also questioning this seismic cultural shift, ideally while giving side eye to the capitalist machine working to sell these treatments despite no one knowing the long-term impacts. (Though whether that side eye has had a hyaluronic acid filler to combat bags is irrelevant because WE ACCEPT OTHER WOMEN'S CHOICES.) But this is not about that. This is a simple love letter to the forehead crease. A paean to the smile line. Change is inevitable, as are some things being lost along the way. Can we imagine a world where every groove and crinkle being smoothed out is as standard – as basic – as combed hair and brushed teeth? It's not inconceivable. Nor is it inconceivable that, when the cost gets too high and the headspace too big, all of this falls away; no more than a passing trend, like getting a tattoo in Chinese. And maybe, just maybe, this all leads to a massive societal overhaul where some fabulous female revolutionaries overthrow The Man by thwarting facial recognition cameras by literally having the same face. Well, it could happen, though maybe I'm getting carried away. Who knows what the future holds and how quickly we will see it? For now, perhaps it's one to watch, to raise an eyebrow at or furrow our brow – and to enjoy doing it, while we still can. Coco Khan is a freelance writer and co-host of the politics podcast Pod Save the UK
Telegraph
29-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
The expressions that reveal how a horse is feeling
There is more to horseplay than meets the eye, scientists have found after discovering a wide range of equine facial expressions and their meanings. A total of 22 facial behaviours were identified, falling into one of four categories – playing, friendly, alert or aggression. Scientists gathered videos of 36 horses at an equine centre in Winchester, Hampshire, and used a computer system to track precise muscle movements in the face. Each facial change was linked to specific muscle actions to allow for precise matching of behaviour to expression. When horses were in a jolly mood and playing around, they tended to open their mouths, the scientists found. This, they said, was similar to how carnivores and primates are agape when playing with a friend or family member, suggesting a universal origin of horseplay among mammals. Other telltale signs of playfulness were lots of eye white being visible, rotated and flattened ears, and a raised chin. In contrast, signs of agonistic behaviour that foreshadowed aggression were a lowered head, flared nostrils and raised eyebrows. When on alert, or in a high attentional state, horses had their ears facing forward and blinked more, often raising or lowering their heads to see or smell better. Friendliness was harder to identify, the scientists found, with neutral expressions often meaning the horse was in a good mood. Pushing noses forward was the only big indicator, according to the study. Dr Leanne Proops, the study's author and an associate professor in animal behaviour and welfare at the University of Portsmouth, said: 'This work is a game-changer for anyone working with horses. 'It gives us a new lens through which to view and interpret their behaviour, ultimately leading to better care and stronger human-animal relationships.' Horses have a more limited range of facial expressions than humans or dogs, the scientists wrote in their study, and as a result many facial movements are seen across different behaviours. 'Based on the systematic measurement of individual muscle movements, we have provided the first comprehensive ethogram showing that the domestic horse is capable of producing a wide range of distinct facial behaviours,' the scientists wrote. 'While this is a comprehensive ethogram of captive horses, the full range of horse facial behaviours is likely to be wider when we consider sexual interactions, male herding behaviours, adult-young interactions and rarer/lesser performed behavioural interactions.' Conventional wisdom in horse care has stated that if a horse has its ears forwards it is happy, and if they are back it is upset or in pain, but this study has challenged this. Its authors wrote: 'We therefore recommend that care is taken to not automatically attribute ears back or flattened to aggressive intent or pain.'
The Guardian
28-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
More than a long face: horses use ‘rich repertoire' of expressions to interact
They might get quizzed by bartenders about their long faces, but horses pull a variety of expressions when interacting with each other, researchers have found. While facial movements can help members of the same species communicate emotions or other signals to each other, they can also be important for inter-species understanding – such as helping humans glean insights into the experiences of domesticated animals. In horses, for example, ear movements have long been viewed as important indicators of their internal state. However the new work suggests there are many more signals to look out for. 'Horses produce a rich and complex repertoire of facial expressions, and we should not overlook the nuances in these if we want to truly understand the subjective experiences of horses,' said Dr Kate Lewis, first author of the research from the University of Portsmouth, adding the new work could also be important for improving the care and welfare of horses. Writing in the journal Peer J, Lewis and colleagues report how they drew on an existing directory of horse facial movements known as Equine Facial Action Coding System (EquiFACS) to unpick the combinations of facial expressions and behaviours made by 36 domestic horses during different types of naturally occurring interactions. These were classified by the team as friendly, playful, aggressive or attentional. The team analysed 72 hours of filmed observations to explore which facial movements tended to occur in each context. 'Something of this size has not been attempted before in horses, and it's really exciting to see the subtleties in how animals communicate with each other,' Lewis said. While the researchers found almost all facial movements occurred in all of the different contexts, some were more specific to certain types of interaction. In particular, they found during friendly, peaceful interactions with other horses, the animals tended to put their noses forward. By contrast, when paying attention to something, the horses' ears were typically forward and pulled together. During aggressive encounters the ears tended to be flattened and backward-facing, while the inner brows were raised, the nostrils dilated and the head lowered. However during play the lower lip was often depressed, the chin raised, lips parted, mouth stretched open wide, and the ears rotated and flattened backwards. In addition, the team noted that during play horses often had an increase in visible eye white, while the nose was pushed forward, and the head tended to be up or turned to the right, or both. 'These results really highlight the importance of not relying on just one aspect of the face, such as the ears, to understand what the horse is trying to communicate,' said Lewis. 'Instead we need to consider how the individual facial movements work together to create the overall facial expression.' Primates and some carnivores, such as bears, also open their mouths during play, Lewis added – with the movement used to indicate the interaction is not aggressive, thereby preventing unwanted fighting. 'This face has been anecdotally described in horses previously, but here we were able to show that it definitely exists and, crucially, that it involves the same muscles as it does in primates,' Lewis said, adding the similarity suggested that the 'play face' evolved in mammals earlier than previously thought, before horses and primates split on the evolutionary tree. 'There are both similarities and differences between the facial expressions made by non-human primates and horses, so if we are to gain a comprehensive understanding of facial expressions and their evolutionary origins, we need to look beyond our closely related primate cousins,' she said.
