How can I learn to smile pretty?

Smile from the heart, sincere and without spite and ill will. That is the prettiest smile you can have.

The best photos of smiling me are when the photographer is someone I love.

I don’t really see how a smile can not be pretty. As long as it’s a genuine expression of your happiness, a smiling face is going to be nice to look upon. Try not to think too much about it. Then it won’t appear as though you’re forcing it.

I’m going to go with the others and guess it’s difficult when you’re trying to smile on command—like for photographs. Smiling on command can be difficult but you can practice getting it down.

Focus on your eyes. Next time you find yourself caught in a laugh or a spontaneous smile, try to notice how your eyes feel. Notice what muscles are pulling. Notice how your eyes feel—maybe they feel softer, and the bottom lids push up just a little, and your eyebrows relax and drop down, and the outsides of your eyes crinkle. I think of my eyes in a smile as warm eyes, or bright eyes. And when I’m smiling on command, that’s the part of the smile I find first, because that’s what comes first in a spontaneous smile. Once you get your eyes in “place,” you’ll notice that the corners of your mouth naturally start to pull upwards, and there’s a muscular space for your mouth to open in a grin, and suddenly the smile that had initially felt forced starts to fall into place.

Another good strategy is to try and psych yourself up in the countdown before the picture. Look down and imagine you feel a swell of happiness, and let that feeling pull your eyes into a smile which pull the rest of your face into the smile.

@Soubresaut is so right about engaging your eyes. The eyes smile along with the rest of the face. Eyes can be the difference between a grin and smirk, or between beaming and leering.

@cecilia09 Not an answer for you but just to let you know, you are not the only one who has problems smiling. It does not come naturally to me either. I feel like I am forcing it so I don’t very often. Those few times a smile does come to my lips are a wonderful, treasured feeling and, as others have said, it comes from being comfortable with friends, family or lovers.

practice makes perfect….smile from your soul, pretend you are a movie star…just go into your bathroom and practice….it may feel stupid but I used to have your problem

@cecilia09 It’s said it’s a real smile when it reaches your eyes.

Practice in the mirror and then smile at random strangers. Keep doing it until it feels natural. I find strangers are great for a lot of things. There is no expectation to be perfect because you’ll probably never see them again.

I had a conversational problem when I was younger. I read some books and then struck up conversations with random people in lineups. You’re there waiting anyway lol. Now my kids complain that I talk too much to strangers and they marvel at what a stranger will tell me.

@cecilia09 The smile begins in your heart and travels to your lips and is reflected in your eyes.