Wrinkles Tell Our Story: The Subtle Connection Between Expressions, Emotions, and Well-being
BEAUTY
Nicole Furia
4/21/20255 min read
It was a Sunday in July. The girl who was supposed to cover the front desk shift at my spa in London had a family emergency, and with no one else available to fill in last-minute, I had to go to the shop myself to take care of the reception duties. Of course, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about it—I really needed some rest after a demanding week—but little did I know that within a few hours, I would receive a precious gift... but more on that later.
One of the most fascinating aspects of self-care, in my opinion, is realizing how everything is connected.
We are not just matter—we have a mind, a soul, and we are full of emotions. Some people feel them in their heart, others in their head or gut...
But often, caught up as we are in the fast pace of daily life, we feel these emotions without ever really pausing to reflect on them (not to mention the important messages they carry for our personal growth and evolution—but that’s a story for another time). We don’t stop to consider that these emotions might become crystallized, trapped in the body, where they linger and eventually create real imbalances.
There’s so much to be said about psychosomatics—the field that studies the connection between mind and body, analyzing how emotions, thoughts, and psychological states can affect physical health. In other words, it explores how stress, repressed emotions, trauma, or inner conflict can manifest through physical discomfort or illness.
Of course, these are deep topics, but even staying within the realm of beauty and well-being, it’s interesting to see how our emotions are connected to our wrinkles.
Have you ever noticed—on your own face or someone else's—a wrinkle forming exactly where a facial expression is most often repeated?
I have… maybe it’s just my professional bias at this point.
And if you’ve noticed it:
Does that expression reflect joy? Worry? Sadness? Rigidity? Good humor? Have you ever asked yourself that?
Emotions influence our face more than we think. When we feel something, our brain sends signals to the facial muscles, triggering expressions that, over time, can become chronic. If an emotion is frequently repeated or not released, the facial muscles stay contracted, creating tension and eventually expression lines.
Of course, depending on our anatomy—muscle structure, skin type, collagen and elastin levels—some people are more prone to wrinkles appearing sooner. But generally, if we hold a certain expression for long enough, a wrinkle will form with age. That’s because skin loses its ability to bounce back as we get older.
As we age, collagen and elastin—two proteins that give skin its firmness and elasticity—decrease. The skin becomes thinner and less able to recover its shape after muscle contractions.
This is not just an idea—there are actual studies behind it. The connection between emotions and facial markings has been studied by various disciplines and researchers over time. Some of the most notable contributions come from:
Paul Ekman, a psychologist and pioneer in the study of facial expressions, demonstrated that fundamental emotions (joy, anger, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust) are expressed through specific and universal facial movements across all cultures. His findings supported a theory first proposed by Darwin: that our emotional expressions are evolutionary and serve as innate forms of communication.
Wilhelm Reich – Muscular Tension and Repressed Emotions
Reich, a psychoanalyst and student of Freud, spoke of “muscle armor”—tension that builds up in the body and face due to repressed emotions. According to him, emotional stress manifests as muscular contractions which, if sustained, affect posture, breathing, and even facial expressions.
Try a brief self-assessment based on what I’ve said so far.
Alexander Lowen later expanded on this idea through Bioenergetic Analysis, a therapeutic method combining movement, breathwork, and physical exercises to release muscular tension and unblock emotions. According to him:
Chronic muscle contractions prevent energy from flowing freely through the body, keeping a person stuck in negative emotional states.
And I’ve experienced this myself—still do, in fact.
Pierre-François Fournier, a French cosmetic surgeon, suggested that facial wrinkles reflect aspects of one’s personality and emotional history, claiming that the face "writes" the story of a person’s experiences.
In my years working in the beauty and wellness field, I’ve definitely observed this too.
When it comes to emotional wrinkles, we can also turn to ancient Eastern knowledge.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the face reflects the state of internal organs and emotions. Mian Xiang, or “face reading,” is an ancient practice that links different facial areas to specific emotions and health conditions.
Dien Chan, a Vietnamese facial reflexology technique developed by Professor Bùi Quốc Châu in the 1980s, is based on the idea that the face is a micro-map of the whole body. By stimulating certain facial points, one can rebalance organs, physical functions, and emotions—similar to foot reflexology.
In Ayurveda, the face is also seen as a body map that reveals inner imbalances related to the Doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha), organs, and emotions. This practice, known as Mukha Pariksha (face observation), is a diagnostic tool in Ayurvedic medicine.
So now, I imagine you’re curious to know which wrinkles are linked to which emotions...
Horizontal forehead lines: These appear when we raise our eyebrows, typically in response to surprise, worry, or anxiety. They can reflect ongoing mental tension or stress.
“Thinker’s lines” (between the eyebrows): Vertical or horizontal lines between the brows are often associated with frustration, doubt, anger, or disapproval. Sometimes they reflect deep thought and concentration—signs of positive mental engagement.
Crow’s feet (outer corners of the eyes): These are mainly caused by genuine smiling and laughter, expressing joy, affection, and warmth. They signal a life full of positive emotions, though they can also appear from stress or worry.
Nasolabial folds (nose to mouth corners): Usually formed by smiling or joyful expressions, these lines reflect happiness, affection, and love. As the face sags with age, they can also suggest sadness or fatigue.
Marionette lines (sides of the mouth): Often linked to sadness or frustration, these appear when the skin relaxes and the mouth corners pull downward. They may also reflect emotional exhaustion or discouragement.
Barcode lines (above the upper lip): Vertical lines above the lip, often related to tension, determination, or worry. They may be worsened by habits like smoking or lip-pursing.
Neck wrinkles (Venus rings): Horizontal neck lines, often due to posture (looking down at phones, for instance) and skin’s loss of elasticity with age. They may reflect vulnerability or relaxation—or just natural neck structure.
So let’s go back to that July Sunday, when I unexpectedly had to fill in at the spa. That afternoon, a client came in for a facial, and while paying, she asked to buy the face oil used during her massage. She said that beyond the treatments she enjoyed at the beauty center, she had recently discovered a new technique to release tension and negative emotions from the face. It was taught by a girl from Bath and was becoming quite popular in the UK. That was the very first time I heard the words Face Yoga.
And if you’ve never heard of it—or if you have but want to learn more—we’ll talk about it in the next story.
Because Face Yoga is the perfect tool to work on the tension that builds up in our face and to ease expression wrinkles.