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Do you find yourself continually baffled by other people?

Do their actions, beliefs and responses surprise you?

Learning to understand people by reading their faces can fix that.

One of the best reasons to learn face reading is not just to “get” where someone is coming from, or to predict how they might act.

It’s in seeing their real nature. Then, you’ll have little choice but to respect their talents, peculiarities and mannerisms, which can be so different from your own. There are few better ways to avoid conflict and resentment while encouraging diplomacy.

Analyzing faces is a great business tool. In a nutshell, understanding and patience are required to do bigger and better business. Plus, knowing what to look for in a new employee or partner can turn a floundering company around.

Personal face profiling can be a miracle for romantic partners who aim to get along with each other for the rest of their lives. If we can appreciate the other’s sensitivities – or lack of them – we can downplay the annoyance we feel for the seemingly senseless emotions and actions of our partner.

Single and dating? Learning face reading is a superior way to save the time, money and heartache that can go along with dating – or even being married to – the wrong person for months or years.

For instance, think of the person who is quick to respond, who sees the big picture, who doesn’t like loud noises or extremes of temperature, and who is generally physically sensitive. Will this person match well with someone who is boisterous, rough, somewhat insensitive, who isn’t bothered by discomfort, pressure, cold, turbulence and noise?

If the sensitive person doesn’t understand the less sensitive one, they may not tolerate their lack of compassion for long.

Examples: my husband Paul takes his time thinking, talking, responding. On occasion I can’t help but finish his sentences for him.

I would probably die of hypothermia if I tried to live in Alaska in summer. He might barely notice that winters there are 10 to 30 below.

He thinks burps and other loud bodily expressions are cute. I just smirk and roll my eyes. I even catch myself responding in kind once in awhile. Whoops.

That’s a big difference from stuffy old me BFR (before face reading). Tact and playfulness – both benefits of understanding the personality behind a face – are two types of glue that hold my husband and me together.

Because I get his quirks thanks to face reading, I can be much more patient with the differences between the two of us. Unlike me, he doesn’t have to work quite as hard on being easy-going; judging by his eyes, forehead and lips, I know he naturally has plenty of patience.

Now and then I’ll mention to him traits that I have in my handwriting or face and say “isn’t it interesting how accurate that is?” He’s smart and open-minded, so he gets my hints. As a result he takes my little trespasses less seriously. He’s more obliging when, say, I start to talk for him or ask him to go get firewood because it’s too darn frigid for me to go outside.

Even though he doesn’t directly study personality profiling, clues I drop help him know me better. I think he relishes using it on the guys at work, too.

Without the basic understanding of how very different we are, thanks to the work I’ve done with personality profiling, as a couple we wouldn’t have made it this far or had so much fun together.

That’s just one way you can benefit from face reading. What about people you work with, family members, friends?

Here, in alphabetical order, are the most obvious human facial features and the basic personality traits associated with each one.

Beards

Covering up softer side, sensitivity

Cheeks

Personal power

Chin

Ability to rebound, take criticism

Ears

Listening style, view of reality

Eyes, width between

Tolerance, detail orientation

Eyebrows

Work and thinking patterns, detail orientation

Eyelids

Ability to trust, intimacy, world view

Eyes

Mental state, discrimination, emotional selectivity, acceptance

Face width and shape

Confidence, attitude

Facial symmetry

Mood

Forehead

Thinking style, information processing

Jaw

Determination, stamina, power

Lines

Life responsiveness, health issues

Lips

Giving, self-expression

Lip size and shape

Upper lip – internal, feminine

Lower lip – external, masculine

Mouth angle

Processing life’s experiences

Mouth size

Expression, disclosure

Nose

Handling of details, money, energy, financial attitude, work style

Nose tip angle, profile

Trust factor

Nostril width

Reliance, support

Smile

External expression of true inner character

Teeth

Decision making, inner strength, poise, survival

Texture, overall (fine, medium, rough)

Responsiveness, sensitivity

Zones

Upper zone (brow to hairline) – thinking

Middle zone (bottom of nose to brow) – feeling

Lower zone (chin to bottom of nose) – action

Luckily you don’t have to learn the nuances of every nose size or eye shape to do a little face reading just for fun. You could simply pick a few favorites and learn them well. Are you interested in spotting honest people, a giving nature, or a certain type of intelligence? Specializing is certainly allowed.

Knowing the basic meanings behind a few individual features will offer the low-down on anyone you meet. Just remember, being able to combine a cluster of facial features and how they work together will give you the best insight.

Kristina Powell-Raines, CHA, CFR