Free reference
FACS Cheat Sheet
A visual guide to the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) and beyond: every action unit (AU) with a reference GIF, the muscles involved, and notes, plus actions FACS leaves out (marked #notFACS).
All actions are performed by the author, FACS-certified with 14 years of experience in facial muscle isolation.
#notFACS marks actions I have identified and named that do not exist in FACS. FACS was built to identify facial behavior, so it lacks documentation for some finer movements. To fill the gaps, I define my own: lip cincher (vertical lip tightener), y-axis and z-axis dimpler, open-eyed blink, and more. These distinctions are especially useful for lipsync technology and photoreal characters.
All actions at a glance
All 43 actions in one table, in numerical order, with #notFACS actions at the end. Select an action to jump to its entry.
| Code | Action | Muscle(s) | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| AU1 | inner brow raiser | frontalis, medial | Brows & forehead |
| AU2 | outer brow raiser | frontalis, lateral | Brows & forehead |
| AU4 | brow lowerer | corrugator supercilii, depressor supercilii, and/or procerus | Brows & forehead |
| AU5 | upper lid raiser | levator palpebrae superioris (LPS) | Eyes & cheeks |
| AU6 | cheek raiser | orbicularis oculi, orbital | Eyes & cheeks |
| AU7 | lid tightener | orbicularis oculi, preseptal palpebral | Eyes & cheeks |
| AU8 | lips toward each other | orbicularis oris | Lips |
| AU9 | nose wrinkler | levator labii superioris alaeque nasi (LLSAN) | Nose & mid-face |
| AU10 | upper lip raiser | levator labii superioris (LLS) | Nose & mid-face |
| AU11 | nasolabial furrow deepener | zygomaticus minor | Nose & mid-face |
| AU12 | lip corner puller | zygomaticus major | Lip corners |
| AU13 | sharp lip puller | levator anguli oris (LAO) | Lip corners |
| AU14 | dimpler partially #notFACS | buccinator | Lip corners |
| AU15 | lip corner depressor | depressor anguli oris (DAO) | Lip corners |
| AU16 | lower lip depressor | depressor labii inferioris (DLI) | Lower lip & chin |
| AU17 | chin raiser | mentalis | Lower lip & chin |
| AU18 | lip pucker | incisivus labii inferioris & incisivus labii superioris | Lip corners |
| AD19 | tongue show | it depends | Action descriptors |
| AU20 | lip stretcher | risorius | Lip corners |
| AU21 | neck tightener | platysma | Misc |
| AU22 | lip funneler | orbicularis oris, peripheral | Lips |
| AU23 | lip tightener | orbicularis oris, marginal | Lips |
| AU24 | lip presser | orbicularis oris, marginal | Lips |
| AU25 | lips part | it depends | Misc |
| AU26 | jaw drop | relaxation of masseter, temporalis, medial pterygoid | Jaw |
| AU27 | mouth stretch | lateral pterygoid + suprahyoids | Jaw |
| AU28 | lips suck | orbicularis oris, marginal + peripheral | Lips |
| AD29 | jaw thrust | medial & lateral pterygoid, some masseter | Jaw |
| AD30 | jaw sideways | medial & lateral pterygoid, temporalis | Jaw |
| AU31 | jaw clencher | temporalis, masseter, medial pterygoid | Jaw |
| AD32 | bite | it depends | Action descriptors |
| AD33 | blow | it depends | Action descriptors |
| AD34 | puff | it depends | Action descriptors |
| AD35 | suck | it depends | Action descriptors |
| AD36 | bulge | it depends | Action descriptors |
| AD37 | lip wipe | it depends | Action descriptors |
| AU38 | nostril dilator | dilator naris (alar nasalis) | Nose & mid-face |
| AU39 | nostril compressor | compressor naris (transverse nasalis) + depressor septi | Nose & mid-face |
| AU45 | blink | orbicularis oculi, palpebral + relaxation of LPS | Eyes & cheeks |
| AU46 | wink | orbicularis oculi | Eyes & cheeks |
| ears up & back #notFACS | auricular muscles | Brows & forehead | |
| open-eyed blink #notFACS | orbicularis oculi, pretarsal palpebral | Eyes & cheeks | |
| lip cincher #notFACS | orbicularis oris, marginal | Lips |
Brows & forehead
AU1 inner brow raiser
frontalis muscle (medial part)
Action: Inner brow raiser lifts the medial brow and forehead area.
Note: Inner brow raiser is variable in wrinkle formation and range. This variability is due to a number of factors, a prominent factor being frontalis muscle variability.
Inner Brow Raiser Deep Dive →The Secret Life of Inner Brow Raiser →In the FACS Study Guide →
AU2 outer brow raiser
frontalis muscle (lateral part)
Action: Outer brow raiser lifts the lateral brow and forehead areas.
Note: As with inner brow raiser, outer brow raiser is variable in wrinkle formation and range. This variability is due to a number of factors, a prominent factor being frontalis muscle variability.
AU4 brow lowerer
corrugator supercilii, depressor supercilii, and/or procerus muscles
Action: Brow lowerer knits (corrugator supercilii) and lowers (procerus, depressor supercilii, and parts of corrugator supercilii) the brow area and lower central forehead.
Note: Brow lowerer can be performed by any or all of the muscles listed above. Though FACS lumps together the actions of all three muscles, when I teach facial anatomy and FACS, I separate out the movements.
ears up & back
#notFACS
auricular muscles (see notes)
Action: Ears up & back lifts the ears and pushes them back.
Note 1: This is not a FACS action. I include this ear movement in the FACS Cheat Sheet because I see it happen relatively often.
Note 2: There are multiple auricular muscles. The superior auricular moves the ears up. The posterior auricular moves the ears back. The anterior auricular moves the ears forward. At present, I cannot separate these movements. The reference here shows posterior auricular + superior auricular movement.
Eyes & cheeks
AU5 upper lid raiser
levator palpebrae superioris muscle (LPS)
Action: Upper lid raiser pulls the top eyelid up and back to widen the eyes.
All About Upper Lid Raiser (members) →All About Upper Lid Raiser: preview (free) →Stylized Facial Expression Design →In the FACS Study Guide →
AU6 cheek raiser
orbicularis oculi muscle, orbital part
Action: Cheek raiser tightens the outer rings of the eye orbit and squeezes the lateral eye corners.
AU7 lid tightener
orbicularis oculi muscle, preseptal part of the palpebral area
Action: Lid tightener tightens the rings around the eyelids and pushes the lower eyelid skin toward the inner eye corners.
open-eyed blink
#notFACS
orbicularis oculi muscle, pretarsal part of the palpebral area
Action: Open-eyed blink tightens the innermost rings around the eyelids in a circular motion toward the inner eye corners.
Note: The pretarsal area is the portion of the orbicularis oculi muscle involved in blinking.
AU45 blink
orbicularis oculi, palpebral part + relaxation of levator palpebrae superioris
Action: Blink closes and opens the eyes in a swift, fluid manner.
Note: Beyond pretarsal activation, blink also often consists of (1) relaxation of levator palpebrae superioris and/or (2) forced closure from the preseptal portion of orbicularis oculi.
AU46 wink
orbicularis oculi
Action: Wink closes one eye, usually with some compression.
Read the full note
Note: Unless you are a facial coder conducting behavioral research (and even then, the official FACS Manual lists AU46 wink as “optional”), the FACS shape for wink is not the most useful. I include it because other FACS lists include it; however, I find it to be a clunky, unnecessary addition to most shape sets. That being said, orbicularis oculi does deserve better functional breakdowns beyond cheek raiser, blink, and lid tightener, but wink is not the way to go.
Nose & mid-face
AU9 nose wrinkler
levator labii superioris alaeque nasi (usually co-activates with depressor supercilii and/or procerus)
Action: Nose wrinkler lifts the sides of the nose, nostrils, and central upper lip area.
Note: The brow lowering you see in nose wrinkler is not directly caused by the levator labii superioris alaeque nasi (LLSAN) muscle. Rather, it is caused by the brow lowering muscles often paired with nose wrinkler: depressor supercilii and procerus. There is variable interconnectivity between these muscles and the LLSAN.
AU10 upper lip raiser
levator labii superioris (LLS)
Action: Upper lip raiser lifts the top lip in a manner more lateral than nose wrinkler but more medial than nasolabial furrow deepener.
Upper Lip Raiser vs. Nasolabial Furrow Deepener (members) →Preview (free) →In the FACS Study Guide →
AU11 nasolabial furrow deepener
zygomaticus minor
Action: Nasolabial furrow deepener lifts and stretches the top lip (in a more lateral and oblique manner than nose wrinkler or upper lip raiser).
Upper Lip Raiser vs. Nasolabial Furrow Deepener (members) →Preview (free) →In the FACS Study Guide →
AU38 nostril dilator
dilator naris (alar portion of nasalis)
Action: Nostril dilator expands and widens the nostril wings, allowing for deeper air intake.
AU39 nostril compressor
compressor naris (transverse portion of nasalis) + depressor septi
Action: Nostril compressor narrows the nostril wings while also often lowering the nose tip.
Lip corners
AU12 lip corner puller
zygomaticus major
Action: Lip corner puller draws the lip corners up, back, and laterally.
AU13 sharp lip puller
levator anguli oris
Action: Sharp lip puller (formerly known as cheek puffer) draws the lip corners upward.
superior + inferior portions of buccinator
posterior portion of buccinator
inferior + superior + posterior portions of buccinator
AU14 dimpler
partially #notFACS
buccinator muscle
Action: y-axis type: Dimpler pinches the lip corners against each other on a vertical plane.
Action: z-axis type: Dimpler draws the lip corners back against the teeth.
Note: y-axis and z-axis dimplers are not FACS-official terms. Classic FACS describes dimpler as the y+z-axis combo type.
Why I coined the y and z distinctions (members) →Video reference: front, 3/4, intraoral, and slow motion (free) →
AU15 lip corner depressor
depressor anguli oris (DAO)
Action: Lip corner depressor draws the lip corners downward.
AU18 lip pucker
incisivus labii inferioris & incisivus labii superioris
Action: Lip pucker draws the lip corners medially, causing the fleshy part of the lips to collect toward the midline of the face and protrude.
Note 1: Incisivus labii superioris and incisivus labii inferioris are considered accessory muscles to orbicularis oris.
Note 2: Lip pucker commonly co-activates lip cincher (vertical lip tightener). This example features both lip pucker and lip cincher. See lip cincher.
AU20 lip stretcher
risorius
Action: Lip stretcher draws the lip corners laterally, stretching the fleshy part of the lips.
Note 1: Not to be confused with mouth stretch, which refers to forced (not due to relaxation) jaw lowering.
Note 2: Risorius is one of the most variable facial muscles in humans. Depending on the study, it has been reported missing in anywhere from 1 to 94% of research subjects. Risorius is narrow and difficult to locate, so this discrepancy may be partly inflated by methodological errors. For more on anatomical variation, book a studio lecture on facial muscle diversity.
Leveraging Facial Muscle Variation →In the FACS Study Guide →
Lower lip & chin
AU16 lower lip depressor
depressor labii inferioris (DLI)
Action: Lower lip depressor draws the lower lip downward and laterally.
AU17 chin raiser
mentalis
Action: Chin raiser pulls up the lower lip and chin area.
Note: The lower lip may protrude to a degree in some instances of chin raiser; however, if you see significant protrusion in a person attempting chin raiser, they are likely triggering non-target orbicularis oris actions as well.
Video reference: frontal, 3/4, intraoral, and slow motion (free) →In the FACS Study Guide →
Lips
These actions all come from orbicularis oris, the muscle that rings the mouth.
AU8 lips toward each other
orbicularis oris
Action: Lips toward each other brings the upper and lower lips toward each other by lowering the top lip and raising the bottom lip.
Note 1: Lips toward each other brings the lips back together from actions that may separate them. In this reference, AU26 jaw drop separates the lips, and AU8 closes the lips while the jaw stays open.
Note 2: In tools like ARKit and Android XR, AU8 is solely used to counteract the lip opening caused by AU26. On real faces, AU8 is not limited to counteracting jaw opening: it can counteract anything that separates the lips. For instance, if a strong AU9 causes the lips to part, AU8 can bring the lips together while retaining other aspects of AU9.
AU22 lip funneler
orbicularis oris, peripheral part
Action: Lip funneler projects the lips forward and fans them outward.
AU23 lip tightener
orbicularis oris, marginal part
Action: Lip tightener thins the lips. Think of it as the top lip and the bottom lip each collapsing upon itself.
Note: Not to be confused with lip cincher, which constricts the lips toward the midline of the face.
lip cincher
#notFACS
orbicularis oris, marginal part
Action: Lip cincher constricts the lips toward the midline of the face.
Note: Lip cincher is not in official FACS. I previously called it vertical lip tightener, since FACS lumps it in with AU23. Only horizontal tightening qualifies as lip tightener in original FACS. I separate the two because the lips tighten in distinct manners. Orbicularis oris has rich variation in fiber direction, which yields more potential actions than have been documented so far. The distinction is especially useful when breaking down speech.
AU24 lip presser (or “lip pressor”)
orbicularis oris, marginal part
Action: Lip presser presses the top and bottom lips against each other.
Read the full note
Note: You may see lip presser spelled “lip pressor” in many sources. This variation can be attributed to Paul Ekman’s inconsistent documentation. The FACS Investigator’s Guide from 1978 has one instance of “lip pressor” (on page 6, a page ripe with differently spelled FACS actions such as “lip tightner” for lip tightener, “lip puckerer” for lip pucker, “cheek puffer” for sharp lip puller, and “lip suck” for lips suck). The official 2002 FACS Manual solely uses “lip presser.” To further ail the prescriptivist mind, Ekman’s post-2002 writings (e.g. What the Face Reveals, 2005) revert to the 1978 “pressor” spelling. Circa 2020, I asked Ekman’s protégé, Erika Rosenberg, whether “presser” or “pressor” was the canon spelling; her answer was that the spelling mattered less than the attribution of the AU number. The jury is still out, so we’ll have to wait at the edge of our seats for the next release of the FACS Manual to solve this pressing matter.
Lip presser asymmetries in speech: M-B-P Bilabial Visemes →In the FACS Study Guide →
AU28 lips suck
orbicularis oris, marginal and peripheral parts
Action: Lips suck draws the lips into the mouth opening and wraps them around the teeth.
Note 1: AU17 chin raiser appears during the in-between steps. I cannot perform this action without help from AU17 during the transition to the final pose, and mentalis likely shows up during lips suck for many others as well.
Note 2: Jaw drop is almost always required for lips suck.
Jaw
AU26 jaw drop
relaxation of masseter, temporalis, and medial pterygoid
Action: Jaw drop lowers the mandible (jaw) in a relaxed (unforced) manner.
AU27 mouth stretch
lateral pterygoid and the suprahyoid (anterior digastric, geniohyoid, and mylohyoid)
Action: Mouth stretch forcefully lowers the mandible (jaw). Unlike AU26, AU27 is not due to relaxation.
Read the full note
Note: Because “mouth” can colloquially refer to the lips and/or the jaw, mouth stretch is easily confused with similarly named actions like lip stretcher. Watch the naming in toolkits such as ARKit and ICT-FaceKit, both of which renamed AU20 lip stretcher as mouth stretch (lol). The mouth stretch in ARKit and ICT-FaceKit is not the original mouth stretch from FACS. It is unfortunate that mouth stretch (1) was named so poorly to begin with, and (2) that ARKit and ICT-FaceKit made it worse with name swapping. A more pointed name like “jaw stretch” would have suited it better. Ultimately, it is what it is, so be careful out there.
AD29 jaw thrust
medial & lateral pterygoid and some masseter
Action: Jaw thrust pushes the mandible (jaw) forward.
Note: “AD” stands for action descriptor, a less fleshed-out action unit that works more as an event descriptor.
AD30 jaw sideways
medial & lateral pterygoid and temporalis
Action: Jaw sideways moves the mandible (jaw) to the side (either left or right).
AU31 jaw clencher
temporalis, masseter, and medial pterygoid
Action: Jaw clencher brings the mandible (jaw) upward, pressing it against the upper jaw (maxilla).
Misc
AU21 neck tightener
platysma
Note: You may see some AU20 lip stretcher in the AU21 neck tightener example and vice versa. This is due to the close relationship between the risorius and platysma muscles.
AU25 lips part
it depends
Note: In FACS, AU25 lips part refers to the state of the lips being parted. Any action that separates the lips can cause it, e.g. relaxation of mentalis, relaxation of orbicularis oris, or contraction of other muscles.
Action descriptors
“AD” stands for action descriptor. An action descriptor is a less fleshed-out action unit (AU). ADs work more as event descriptors than as single muscle actions.
AD19 tongue show
it depends
AD32 bite
it depends
AD33 blow
it depends
AD34 puff
it depends
AD35 suck
it depends
AD36 bulge
it depends
AD37 lip wipe
it depends
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How to cite this page
For citations to track correctly, please refer to the official record on Google Scholar.
APA
Ozel, M. (2020, February). FACS Cheat Sheet. Face the FACS. https://melindaozel.com/facs-cheat-sheet/
BibTeX
@misc{ozel2020facs,
author = {Ozel, Melinda},
title = {FACS Cheat Sheet},
year = {2020},
month = feb,
howpublished = {\url{https://melindaozel.com/facs-cheat-sheet/}}
}References & further reading
- Hjortsjö, C.-H. (1970). Man’s face and mimic language. Studentlitteratur.
- de Sanctis Pecora, C. (2020). One21: A novel, customizable injection protocol for treatment of the forehead with IncobotulinumtoxinA. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 13, 127–136. https://doi.org/10.2147/ccid.s237519
- Ekman, P., Friesen, W. V., & Hager, J. C. (2002). Facial action coding system. Research Nexus.
- Netter, F. H. (2019). Atlas of human anatomy (7th ed.). Elsevier.
- Standring, S., & Tubbs, S. R. (2025). Gray’s anatomy. Elsevier.