Masks Are Causing Our Smiles to Evolve

The rise of the ‘smize’

Maria C. Hunt
Elemental
Published in
5 min readAug 26, 2020

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A man smiling while wearing a protective face mask.
Photo: kyonntra/E+/Getty Images

All smiles are not created equal: We have different smiles for different situations. There are spontaneous smiles that indicate true joy. And then there are “social smiles,” the ones people use to communicate — like the no-you-go-first smile at the grocery line, the hello-neighbor smile when you pass someone you recognize on a hiking path, the…

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Maria C. Hunt
Elemental

Maria Hunt of MH Media is a journalist and content strategist on wellness, design, wine + food. She wrote a champagne cocktail book for Random House.