FACING FACTS
SMILE MORE... IT ONLY TAKES 12 MUSCLES
1 We can make around 10,000 different expressions – but only 12 muscles are active when smiling.
2 Shorter muscles in the face occur when there is an irregular zygomaticus major, meaning during smiling there’s a gap where they should be. The result is cute dimples like those sported by Cheryl, below.
3 The human face has evolved so much over time, with brow ridges vanishing as our ancestors learned to get on with each other and flatter foreheads helped communicate expressions.
4 Lip prints are unique just as finger ones are, apart from on the faces of identical twins, which are often the same.
5 Genuine expressions are symmetrical so look out for a wonky side if you think someone is telling a fib.
6 Muscles at the base of the mouth that hold our tongues are the only muscle in the body attached to one end.
7 Resting Bitch Face – the term coined for looking angry when faces are expressionless – started long before supermodels such as Kate Moss. King Louis XIV of France was famous for his.
8 Our faces shrink as we age after being born. The extra fatty tissue to help a baby drink milk disappears slowly when no longer needed.
9 The line which connects the nose and upper lip is called the philtrum and was considered sexy by ancient Greeks despite it having no purpose at all.
10 Our upper eyelids have around double the number of lashes than the lower lids – 200 vs 100. Every day, approximately five drop out and take a month to regrow.
11 We have five sense organs in the human body – and four of them are in the face – eyes, nose, ears and tongue.
12 Below the brain at the back of the skull is the fusiform face area, which helps us recognise the faces of other people.
13 Someone with the neurological disorder prosopagnosia is unable to recognise faces, in severe cases meaning they don’t even know their own.
14 Human body hair grows fastest on the face. The 2023 Guinness World Record holder for the longest beard on a living person belongs to Sarwan Singh from Canada whose 8ft 3in beard won the title twice previously.
15 Dimensions of the face match or align with other body parts – the face is around the same size as your hand and eyebrows are on the same line at the tops of ears.
16 Lip skin is thinner than anywhere else on the face, only five layers of cells compared to 16, which is why they are red.
17 Eyelids narrow to make creases in the corners when we are genuinely smiling.
18 Seeing faces in everyday objects like headlights or electric sockets is called pareidolia.
19 Jaw muscles are the strongest in the entire body.
20 Scientists believe in the near future juvenile facial features will stick with us into adulthood.