While a lot of women resort to expensive plastic surgery to get rid of wrinkles, this woman just decided to nip the problem in the bud by not smiling.
Believe it or not, 50-year-old Tess Christian claims she hasn’t smiled, laughed or giggled in the past 40 years!
Although Tess insists that she has a sense of humor, she said that she made a conscious decision not to laugh or smile – not even when her daughter was born – in order to maintain her youthful appearance. Admittedly, the technique seems to have worked in her favor.
“I don’t have wrinkles because I have trained myself to control my facial muscles,” she said. “Everyone asks if I’ve had Botox, but I haven’t, and I know that it’s thanks to the fact that I haven’t laughed or smiled since I was a teenager. My dedication has paid off, I don’t have a single line on my face.”
Tess’ unusual beauty regime has earned her a fair bit of criticism – people have accused her of being too vain. But she remains quite unfazed, saying that her strategy is “more natural than Botox and more effective than any expensive beauty cream or facial.”
Interestingly, Tess isn’t the only one to skip smiling in order to keep the wrinkles at bay. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian are reported to have tried not smiling or laughing ‘because it causes wrinkles’. And a few skin experts even believe that the trick might work.
“It can be an effective anti-ageing technique,” said dermatologist Dr. Nick Lowe. “Wrinkles happen because of the constant creasing of smile and forehead lines by the muscles in your face, which fold the connective tissue under the skin. If you can train yourself to minimise your facial expressions, you won’t get as many lines.”
“We know this because it is exactly how Botox works — by reducing muscle activity. Not smiling is a DIY option, although I would have thought it difficult to keep up, not to mention boring for your partner and confusing for your children,” he added. “Undoubtedly, there are some actresses who have retrained their facial expressions to this end.”
As effective as the treatment might be, it has got to be hard not to laugh in an amusing situation or when you hear a good joke. But Tess says it isn’t too difficult for her because she went to a strict Catholic school where the “joyless nuns didn’t like children to smile.” So she learned early on to smirk instead of smile.
As she grew up, Tess realised that a serious expression suited her better. “If I did smile I developed big hamster cheeks that made me look deranged. I looked up to old-school Hollywood icons such as Marlene Dietrich for inspiration; she never smiled and I loved the way she smouldered glamorously.”
So Tess began to consciously control her laughter. “When I found something funny or I was tempted to laugh — which happened on a daily basis — I learned to control my facial muscles by holding them rigid,” she explained. “The corners of my mouth might go up a little, but I never looked anything other than faintly amused. Friends knew I was fun to be around, so it wasn’t an issue.” She also mastered the art of laughing inwardly while watching comedy films.
Some psychologists have pointed out that not smiling can affect the mental health of a person. “When you smile you release endorphins, known as “happy hormones” that make you feel good,” said London-based psychologist Amanda Hills. “When you smile you release endorphins, known as “happy hormones” that make you feel good.”
But Tess isn’t deterred by this information. Instead, she’s happy that while most of her friends have developed lines around their mouths, her own skin is still wrinkle-free. “It dawned on me that I looked younger because I’d spent my life not smiling,” she said.
Tess also revealed that her daughter Stevie, now 24, has no problem with her refusal to smile. “She is the opposite of me — she has a pretty smile that, of course, I would never stifle,” says Tess. “She knows my sullen expression doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy her company.”
