Natural Style Essence

Highly Natural faces may embody an appealing equilibrium: they tend to appear confident and assertive but not aggressive. They also tend to appear friendly and approachable but not so overly nice that you can take advantage of them. So we could say that Naturals’ vibes fall between Dramatics’ intimidating vibes and Ingenues’ sweet vibes. If we wanted to capture Naturals’ essence using a psychological term, we could say they appear extraverted.

Supermodel Elle Macpherson has the Natural style type. Hers is a rare face without signficant amounts of other essences.

Disclaimers: first, a face’s vibes (defined as the figurative meanings that we derive from a face’s literal features) are somewhat, and arguably highly, subjective. I may perceive different vibes from a given face than you do, and no perception is necessarily right or wrong. Second, a face’s vibes don’t reflect actual, internal personality. So, while highly Natural faces may appear visually extraverted, many people with highly Natural faces will have introverted personalities.

Why Do Natural Faces Appear Extraverted?

Some theories divide Extraversion into two main sub-traits: assertiveness/dominance and sociability. Of all seven style essences, Natural may most visually embody both traits.

Assertiveness

Highly Natural faces are characterized by long and wide, blunt-edged, straight lines. Natural faces may appear assertive and confident because this strong bone structure can effectively protect a face’s features from physical attacks. (See Qoves’s video for more on this; as a side note, I find Qoves’s evidence-based approach to defining beauty interesting but ultimately philosophically flawed. Topic for another post.)

In a more figurative sense, straight lines tend to appear more assertive than curving lines, because straight lines are by definition linear and straightforward, rather than vacillating. (We can even see this visually in language: commas and parentheses have a softer, gentler vibe than dashes—like the one I used there and will use here—which have a more forceful, straightforward, assertive vibe.)

Dramatics also have strong, straight bone structure, but the extremely sharp lines that characterize Dramatic faces tend to appear more intimidating than sociable. So Dramatics don’t maximize the two sub-traits (assertiveness and sociability) of extraversion the way Naturals do.

Instead of having Dramatic features’ sharp corners, Natural features typically have blunted edges. This is part of why Naturals look assertive rather than aggressive, and why they can also look carefree and laidback—bluntness makes Natural faces appear more relaxed, in contrast to Dramatics’ pointed intensity.

Sociability

Why do Naturals appear sociable? One reason may be that their confident vibes, coupled with the absence of aggresive vibes, simply makes them seem outgoing and gregarious. Additionally, compared to all the types, a Natural’s resting expression may best approximate a genuine smile—resting friendly face, we could say.

To visualize this, look into the mirror with a neutral expression and watch the changes that occur when you smile. Your jaw widens. Your lips stretch, appearing wider and perhaps flatter and thinner. Your eyes may seem more horizontal in shape.

We just essentially described what a highly Natural face looks like all the time. People high on Natural tend to have wide jaws, mouths, and overall facial structure. This also suggests that Naturals may be the type who looks most harmonious smiling, which can give their smiles a genuine and intoxicating quality, further contributing to their apparent friendliness.

Ingenues also appear friendly, but Ingenues’ soft, rounded features don’t tend to seem highly assertive or dominant. So no other type maximizes this combination of apparent sociability and assertiveness, of extraversion, the way that Naturals do.

Naturals’ Appeal

Their extraverted vibe can make Naturals extremely attractive. Many people are drawn to those who appear social, friendly, assertive, and confident. And many people consider their relationships to be the most important aspect of their lives. So faces that embody sociability and a strong willingness to engage with others may have nearly universal appeal.

Importantly, a given type, including Natural, can embody many different and sometimes conflicting vibes. Future posts will explore different literal and figurative aspects of all seven essences, as well as the blended types.

Check out my Pinterest boards for more examples of highly Natural faces.