Intense focus, raised eyebrows, and a slightly open mouth, combine to create a familiar ‘look’ when trying to achieve the perfect lash.
‘Mascara face’, as it’s sometimes called, is thought to be a result of nerves in our brains cross-firing. The two nerves controlling our eyeball and eyelid movements are rooted in a very similar part of the brain to another nerve that controls the opening and closing of our jaw. So, it’s possible that when the two nerves in charge of eye movements are activated, they trigger off the nearby mouth-opening nerve.
This is only a theory, though. A simpler explanation is that we’ve learnt that opening our mouths stretches our skin, which helps with applying make-up, so we keep doing it.
Read more:
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- Why can’t we close our ears like we can close our eyes?
- Why do our hairs stand on end when we’re cold?
Asked by: Amy Mills, via email
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