Should You Smile in Your Dating Profile Pictures? (And Other Big Questions of Life)

Should you smile in your dating profile pictures? Yes, at least in your first photo. A real smile makes you look warm, relaxed and easy to talk to, which is exactly what someone wants before sending a first message. The catch: it has to be a real one. A forced smile looks like a hostage video, and a moody serious face only works if it's one photo among several. Here's the full verdict, plus our rulings on the other big questions of life: teeth or no teeth, sunglasses, shirtless, the fish, and the dog.

Smile or no smile: the verdict

Smile. Not because a smile makes you prettier (it might, we're not here to judge), but because of what it says before you've typed a word: I'm friendly, I'm fun, you can talk to me.

Think about how people decide to message someone. They're not hiring a model. They're asking one question: "Would a conversation with this person be nice?" A smile answers yes. A blank stare answers "maybe, if you survive the interview."

• Photo one: smile. This is the photo that does the heavy lifting.
• Photos two to five: mix it up. A laugh, a focused face while you cook, a calm look out the window. Range is attractive.
• Zero smiles in the whole profile: people start wondering if you're okay. Or if you're a perfume ad.

And if your smile is the thing you're insecure about? Show it anyway. The date will see it in about four seconds. Better that they match with it.

Teeth or no teeth?

The great debate. Our ruling: whatever your real smile does. Some people smile with teeth, some with closed lips, both are great. What doesn't work is the smile you're performing.

You know the one. Lips stretched, eyes dead, chin slightly raised like you're waiting for the flash at a school photo. People spot it instantly, because a real smile happens in the eyes too, and a fake one stops at the mouth.

How to get a real one:

1. Get someone to make you laugh. A friend, a terrible joke, a voice note from your group chat. Shoot during the laugh, not after.
2. Shoot in burst mode. Somewhere between frame 12 and frame 40, there's the real you.
3. Think of something funny right before. Cheesy, but it works better than saying "cheese".
4. Relax your shoulders. Tension shows up in your face first. Breathe out, then smile.

For the rest of the setup (light, angles, the five-photo lineup), our dating profile photo tips cover it all.

Look at the camera or look away?

Both, but not in the same photo slot.

• Looking at the camera feels like eye contact. It's direct, it's warm, and it's the right call for your first photo.
• Looking away (laughing at something off screen, watching the sea, reading a menu) feels like a candid moment. Great for photos three, four or five.
• Looking away in every single photo feels like you're avoiding someone. Possibly the camera. Possibly us.

The other big questions of life, ruled on

Our very serious committee (three people and a group chat) has reached decisions.

• Sunglasses? One photo, max, and never the first one. Your eyes are half of your face's personality. Hiding them is hiding you.
• Shirtless? At the beach, on a hike, in a photo where being shirtless makes sense: fine. In the bathroom mirror, flexing: you're advertising your abs, not you.
• The gym mirror selfie? If the gym is a real part of your life, one photo of you doing the thing beats one photo of you posing next to the thing.
• Holding a fish? A dating app classic. If fishing is your passion, keep it, and maybe mention it in your bio so the fish isn't doing all the talking. If you just held a fish once, it's time to let the fish go.
• The dog? Yes. Obviously. But if it's your friend's dog, say so before the date, or prepare for one very disappointing first meeting.
• Black and white? One artsy photo is fine. A full black and white profile looks like you're hiding something (your skin, your hair color, your era).
• Travel photos? Great, if we can see you. You as a dot in front of a mountain is a postcard, not a profile.
• Filters? A little light fix is just photography. Changing your face is a different conversation, and we had it in is using a filter catfishing?

The one rule behind all of it

Every single question above has the same answer hiding under it: does this photo look like the person who'll show up to the date?

A real smile passes. A laugh with your friends passes. A photo from three haircuts ago, a smoothed face, or a smile you only do for cameras doesn't, because the date will meet the other version.

That's the whole idea behind Ghosted, a no-filter dating app: photos are posted as they are, with no beauty filters, no retouching and no AI, and heavily edited pictures get taken down. So the smile in the photo is the smile at the bar. Wild concept, we know. 👻

FAQ

Is a serious face bad on a dating app?

Not at all, as one photo among several. A serious or thoughtful shot adds range. As your only expression, it reads as cold, so balance it with at least one real smile.

I hate my smile. What should I do?

Try a closed-lip smile or a photo mid-laugh, where nobody's analyzing teeth. And remember the person you date will see your real smile anyway, so it's better to match with someone who already likes it.

Should every photo have a smile?

No. Smile in the first one, then mix expressions. Five identical smiles look like five copies of the same photo.