My face can’t be symmetrical. In fact, I don’t even want it to be.
But am I inadvertently creating imbalance to some features through activities that could easily be adjusted? Are there ways to bring a little more balance to the teeth, eyebrows and smile?
Imbalanced vs Balanced Teeth
One time I was looking at a picture of Katie Couric. Here’s one that will suffice to illustrate my point. For some reason, when I glanced at the photo, my eye went to her teeth. I saw that one of her front teeth was “bigger” than the other—that the gum was worn higher on her left front tooth than her right.
I thought, “She must brush with her right hand and focus more attention on that one.” I’m not picking on Katie—it’s just that her photo was the first one to draw my attention to this. In fact, be sure to note that the photo I selected is from People magazine’s “Most Beautiful People 2007” issue. Obviously her unbalanced teeth take nothing away—she’s stunning.
Anyway, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and saw that I’m doing the exact same thing! I leaned in, and sure enough—one tooth, bigger. I thought, “Whoa! I’ve got to go easy on the brushing!” I’ve got to ease up on my left one, for sure. In my morning fog, I’ve got to pay more attention to my ablutions.
So that’s the first tip—for more even gum-wear, pay more attention when brushing. Because the gum doesn’t grow back. And I don’t want people to point to me as illustrative of someone who is “long in the tooth.”
Okay, so the second is like it, only different.
Imbalance vs Balanced Eyebrows
One time I was talking with a friend of mine who is a tad older than I. She pointed to one of her eyebrows and said, “Look! One goes up higher than the other. See? The other hardly has any strength to lift at all!” And sure enough, she lifted one high and when she tried to lift the other, it was lethargic.
“Let that be a lesson to you, Ann.”
“What’s the lesson?” I asked.
“I think you should exercise both while you’re young,” she said. “Remember when your mom said your face would freeze that way? I think it kind of does.”
So I went home and looked in the mirror to compare my eyebrow lifting abilities. I’ve always been quite, um, expressive. When I make faces, they are big. I call my face “elasti-face” or “stage face,” as this post explains. So I can lift both eyebrows high. And I can isolate my left eyebrow while the right one stays down, doing sort of a quizzical Spock imitation.
But I can’t lift my right eyebrow on its own.
So at the advice of my friend with the weary eyebrow, I have practiced lifting just the one now and then.
To balance things out a little.
Balanced vs Imbalanced Smile
Oh, and the smile. Corner lifts are something to consider, as well. Does one side of the smile go up higher than the other? Maybe the muscles on the opposite side need a little exercise? When no one’s looking, I practice a one-sided grin. Or, well, I hope nobody’s looking—if they catch me “exercising,” they’ll think I’m smirking.
Keeping a Balanced Attitude about Balance
After 40 years of overzealous, unbalanced brushing, I won’t know if a tamer toothbrush regimen will really make a difference, or if I can one day lift each eyebrow individually, but I figure it can’t hurt.
As for the tooth, I just hope I can avoid using Sensodyne for a few more years.
Symmetry isn’t attainable; in fact, asymmetry offers some visual interest.
I guess this is more about balance.
Like rotating your tires.
I’ve been experimenting with how-to and helpful-tip posts for the past five days. If you’re curious:
Six Questions Worth Asking Myself
7 Keys to a Happier Mother’s Day
13 Tips for Finding Five Minutes of Free Time for Mom (without multi-tasking!)
Hahaha! This was a treat to read and spread a smile across my face 🙂 Thanks
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Rosanne! I’m glad to read that it made you smile–hope you don’t have to do as many “smile-lifts” as I do. 🙂
Yes! More stuff to obsess about.
Speaking of receding gums, I just learned from my hygienist that having braces can cause the gums to recede in certain areas. Until she pointed this out, I had never noticed that I had an upside-down “V” on one of my top teeth. Nice. And then it started hurting. Double nice.
GUMS? in addition to hair removal, staying fit, rotating skin products, eating right, maintaining my haphazard sense of style, and remembering to clip my nails once in a blue moon, I must worry about my GUMS???
::collapses, circuitry overload::
Stretch Mark Mama: Phooey on the “v.” Why don’t they tell a person everything before they commit to something (like the braces)? The hurting part is the worst.
bobbleheadedbob: You’re right. Life’s crazy enough without worrying about my left front tooth and my right eyebrow! I might as well let atrophy set in on my eyebrow and maintain my toothbrushing habits–I have had very few cavities. So I must be doing *something* right!
I have only just begun reading this book– it’s called “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf– but this post reflects something it mentions in the first chapter. Wolf asserts that the beauty industry was in some way invented to take up the time of intelligent, hard-working women. Recently there’s been a rash of articles about “facial symmetry” being more beautiful than lopsidedness– now you are writing this post and altering your life. Vicious, isn’t it?
unlegion: Thanks for your comment–I’m glad to make your acquaintance! I haven’t seen any of those articles about symmetry in women’s magazines. I just made personal observations on my own. I do appreciate your good and healthy warning not to get obsessed. I hope that readers take note.
Actually, just to clarify, I didn’t mean for this whole thing to be taken too seriously. Rosanne seems to have had the most fun with it.
As an aside, friends who know me in person are probably laughing their heads off about this whole post. They can confirm that I am about as un-obsessed about anything beauty related as anyone they know.
We women need to remind ourselves to focus on what really matters–and uneven gum lines don’t fall into that category.
Thanks for writing.