Psychologists have found that even if you're in a fouler, forcing yourself to smile actually has a positive effect on your mood.

2. It makes you healthier:
When you're stressed your body releases the hormone cortisol which can lower your immune system. However, when you smile, your body relaxes, so you're less stressed.

3. Smiles are contagious:
According to scientists, you can actually catch a smile. A Swedish study found that people had difficulty maintaining their grump when they looked at others who were smiling. Their muscles twitched into smiles!

4. Smiles makes you happy:
Your body immediately releases endorphins when you smile, even when you force it. So the happier you try to be, the happier you'll be.

5. It's harder to frown than smile: 
Yep, it's a fact that your body has to work harder and use more muscles to frown than it does to smile. Smiles use from 5 to 53 facial muscles (depending on how happy you are), so go on and give yourself a facial workout for a quick dose of happy.

6. It's recognised all over the world:
Getting the cultural norms right when you travel abroad can be a potential minefield - do you shake hands or bow, do you kiss once on the cheek or three times? Well, you'll be glad to know that in all cultures, smiling is accepted as a sign of happiness and friendliness.

7. Smiling makes you popular:
Smiles make a person seem more attractive, sociable and confident, and people who smile more are even more likely to get a promotion. So start practising at school for when you land your dream job later.

8. Smiles are the most easily recognisable facial expression:
Did you know that humans can recognise smiles from up to 300 feet away (that's pretty far, right?), making it the most easily recognisable facial expression.

9. Smiles are more attractive than make-up:
A study conducted by Orbit Complete discovered that 69 per cent of people find women more attractive when they smile than when they are wearing make-up. That sounds like a very cheap way to update your look, no?

10. You can say a lot with a smile:
Research has identified 19 types of smiles and put them into two categories: polite "social" smiles which use fewer muscles, than sincere "felt" smiles that use more muscles on both sides of the face. And we humans are well able to tell the difference.









Thanks for reading! Make sure to turn that frown upside down because a smile can not only make you look better on the outside it can also make you feel healthier and happier on the inside :)



Samantha x