This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at App State chapter.

Remember when there were a lot of people making fun of us collegiettes for doing the signature “duck face” in selfies? There would be people over-exaggerating the puckered lip expression.

Well, fear not, collegiettes! There’s a new signature facial expression for selfies, one that is a little harder to poke fun at, and it’s called the fish gape.

What is the fish gape, you ask? Take a look at any celebrity’s instagram, like Kendall Jenner and her model friend, Hailey Baldwin, Zendaya Coleman, Selena Gomez and JLo, and you’ll see.

First, like the duck face, you’re not smiling. However, unlike the duck face, you shouldn’t even have excitement in your eyes. According to some celebrities, you should look like you’re staring right into the soul of the camera, creating a sultry expression. (It helps if you imagine you are looking at a picture of Ryan Gosling or Ryan Reynolds. How would you react then?)

By this point, you should make sure your mouth is parted just slightly. It’s not called the fish gape for just any reason. It’s called the fish gape because when fish breathe, they force water to their gills through their mouths, and to do this, they have to have their mouths open.

So you don’t want a big gape, but you also don’t want too little of a gape. Don’t be afraid or disappointed if the bottom of your large, upper teeth show. It means you’re doing it right! Look at Zendaya Coleman, for instance. You can see her two top teeth, but it doesn’t matter because she looks ~flawless~.

Or if you don’t have larger top two teeth like her, you might be like Selena and have virtually flawless upper teeth. Look at those pearly whites as even and straight across as they are!

A few tips: Take a pointer from JLo and suck in your cheeks (if you can).

Or pout your lips like Hailey.

Or use your finger as a prop like the fish gape queen, Zendaya.

Or use your hair to make your shot extra fierce like Selena and Zendaya do.

Or use a lollipop as a prop like Hailey.

Most importantly, for this look, you need to relax!

So go ahead. Give it a whirl, and selfie on, collegiettes!

Websites used:

https://www.instagram.com/ddlovato/

https://www.instagram.com/selenagomez/

https://www.instagram.com/zendaya/

https://www.instagram.com/haileybaldwin/