Can you believe there was a time when the term "duck face" didn’t exist?
The infamous Instagram pose has become so prevalent, the likelihood your octogenarian grandpa has heard the term is high. Gramps probably can’t send an email but he can identify duck face if you showed him a series of images!
Duck face and Instagram go hand-in-hand. Sure, you can take any old photo with the cheek-hollowing pucker but today, if it isn’t posted to Instagram, it didn’t happen. Sad but true.
It’s an interesting phenomenon but as mocked as the pose is, it continues to garner likes and follows. Post your best duck face and we can guarantee it will amass more likes than your snap of this morning’s latte art.
We’re going to bet the most popular Instagram poses are descendants of tips from models and fashion photographers on how to manipulate your face to achieve the most flattering photo.
Love them or hate them, these are the Instagram poses that will get you the most love.
It’s halfway between a pucker and a pout. Some people prefer a more subtle approach to duck face and some will go full-on Donald Duck. It has since become less popular in favour of newer more flattering faces but we can’t see it ever dying out completely.
Fish gape is less forgiving than duck face if executed improperly. I would venture to say it requires a lot of mirror time. The pose, which replaced duck face as the It-pose of the moment is exactly what it sounds like. You’re emulating a fish face, which actually sounds terrible but not when you get it just right.
Part your lips slightly and allow your teeth to show like you’re surprised and happy at the same time.
Sparrow face has an air of innocence to it and is similar to fish gape.
Channel your favourite anime character and start by staring blankly into the camera. Once you’ve found the most flattering angle, open your eyes a bit wider but not so much that you look like a deer in the headlights. Part your lips and think innocent thoughts.
This pose is especially flattering paired with a perfectly executed cat eye.
We have Tyra Banks to thank for this one. Smizing is the grandmother of all Instagram facial expressions. However, this one might be a little advanced for someone who has never studied the art of the perfect selfie.
For those who have perfected the duck face and the fish gape, we have confidence you can nail the smize.
The Cole Notes version of achieving this famous gaze is to relax your entire face and tilt your chin down slightly but not so much that your neck disappears. Squint your eyes but follow that up by relaxing that squint slightly and part your lips just as you would for the fish gape.
Your first few attempts will appear more like you’re terribly near sighted, waiting for your friend to toss popcorn in your mouth but you’ll get it eventually. We have faith.
Fashion photographer Peter Hurley came up with this much-used Instagram winner. If your goal is to appear smoldering and sexy, the squinch is your one-way ticket to that "come hither" gaze.
If you’re not great at manipulating your eyes or if winking is a struggle, squinching is going present a bit of a challenge.
The idea is to lower your upper eyelid slightly and pinch your lower eyelids, which will move them up. If this is totally confusing for you, luckily, Hurley has created a YouTube tutorial for all you future squinchers.
The LOL is contrived but comes off the most genuine of the poses. It’s also the easiest to achieve. You kind of just laugh as if someone said something hilarious even if they just said, "Pretend I said something hilarious."
Of course, before you casually LOL, angle your camera to feature your best side.
So you’ve nailed your best angles and your face looks flawless every time you take a snap. Up the Instagram ante by throwing in some T-Rex hands while showing off your fresh manicure or highlight your new lipstick or fresh blowout.
This pose is ultra flexible. You can touch your cheek or caress your lip as long as you curl your hand a bit and delicately place it on whatever your target happens to be, whether it’s your hair, cheeks, lips or eyes?
The kissy face is a classic pose and a fan fave. It’s the more blatant version of duck face and easy to execute.
As bizarre as it is to pretend to kiss thin air, this pose generally never fails to make your face looks slim and sculpted.
Pucker-up, angle your face so it looks its most sculpted and snap away.
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