There are many possible reasons why people refrain from flexing their smile muscles. The research will surprise you on how some people consciously avoid smiling for various reasons they think valid. There are tonnes of more celebrities that pull a stone-like expression not only for red carpet events but even for Instagram selfies. It has now become a universal rule for selfies – most people just do not ‘do’ the smile anymore. Gone are the days when we smiled “cheese”, shamelessly displaying our pearly whites for the camera. No smiles for the camera are a new ridiculous trend that everyone is unconsciously following. There is another theory which states that people might not smile a lot to make themselves look fierce and unapproachable. Could the celebrities be using this method as a stunt for self-defence against fans and paparazzi at events, especially against the ones who do not understand the meaning of personal space? SMILE GIVES ME WRINKLES — what a sad fact to implement! Keeping an expressionless face to avoid wrinkles? Tess Christian was a woman who got famous some years ago due to her claim to not have smiled in 40 years to slow down any signs of ageing on her face. “I don’t have wrinkles because I’ve trained myself to control my facial muscles,” Tess Christian said. “Everyone asks if I’ve had Botox, but I haven’t and I know that it’s thanks to the fact 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,” Christian says. “Yes, I’m vain and want to remain youthful. My strategy is more natural than Botox and more effective than any expensive beauty cream or facial.” Christian isn’t empty of humour, but for 40 years, she made a conscious decision to not laugh or smile. A table full of laughing people, even on the funniest jokes, Christian maintains a stony poker face for the love of a wrinkle-less, young face. Even though it’s such a foolish concept to follow you would think, but most experts have confirmed that not using too many muscles on the face can actually delay ageing. Kim Kardashian-West Tweeted a picture of her smiling with a friend and captioned it, “See I do smile, even laugh on occasions. Not too often though because it causes wrinkles.” There you have it! So apart from all the Botox and fillers, Kim Kardashian-West uses another trick to keep her skin looking tight. Kim also shared in an interview how she felt hurt by the comments made about her when she was pregnant. Kim was bloated and suffered from preeclampsia during her pregnancy. She said, “Before I was smiling and so into being out and about. After I had the baby, I was like, ‘These are the same people that made fun of me, and posted the stories that were so awful, calling me fat for something I couldn’t control’.” So apart from the wrinkle theory, the social media can sometimes be such a nasty place to be. NOT SMILING MAKES ME LOOK FASHIONABLE — Victoria Beckham is another famous, smile-less face. We rarely see the Spice Girl band member smile. In Vogue’s 73 questions, the famous football star David Beckham’s wife said, “I’m smiling on the inside. I feel that I’ve a responsibility to the fashion community.” For another interview, Victoria Beckham explained why she blamed the fashion industry for her stony expressions, “I actually used to smile a lot in pictures,” she told Glamour. “I think I only stopped smiling when I got into fashion. Fashion stole my smile! I’ve created this person. And I’m not saying that’s not me, but I wouldn’t say that’s the whole me. It’s an armour that goes up.” Whatever her reasons be, we do wish she could smile more often. I CAN’T SMILE — Kristin Stewart is another very famous actress, known for her very stiff, expressionless face. “I can do it,” she explained on Jimmy Fallon in 2015, before adding it’s a different story “whether or not I smile at you”. There are some who refuse to smile to save their face from wrinkles- there are some that just don’t have a habit to smile and then there are others who think that smiling makes them look ugly. SMILING MAKES ME LOOK UGLY — ‘The Empire’ award winner, Keira Knightly has a unique reason why she gave up her smile, “I’ve been told I’ve a horrible smile. I had a fashion photographer tell me once, ‘Remember never smile, it doesn’t look good on you’. It was when I was about 16. Every time I have my picture taken I think, ‘Oh God, I’m not going to smile. It looks horrendous’. So thank you very much,” she told The Huffington Post. SMILING TO THE CAMERA MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE — and who could have thought-model Bella Hadid, the world famous model actually feels uncomfortable to smile around a camera. In one of her interviews Bella Hadid shared, “People always tell me I seem mean or intimidating on social media,” she told The Guardian. “But I really love engaging with new people. I feel uncomfortable, sometimes, smiling in front of the camera.” I DON’T SMILE TO LOOK COOL — and lastly, the most rigid and inelastic face of the music industry, Kanye West defends his case, “People, you know the paparazzi, always come up to me, ‘Why you not smiling?’ and I think, not smiling makes me smile. When you see paintings in an old castle, people are not smiling ’cause it just wouldn’t look as cool,” he explained at The Daily Front Row’s Fashion Los Angeles Awards. Well Kanye West, your smiling face would still be cool. The writer can be reached at zarimua@gmail.com