When you look into the mirror and have a fake smile

[alpacinou]

I'm trying to describe a situation when a person looks into the mirror and they have a fake smile.

How can I express it? How can I improve this?

Her days were characterized by lethargy. She didn't feel anything except a vague pain shooting up and down her right leg. A part of her was happy about a pain. At least she felt something in her desolate existence. The pain scorched through her body as she was washing her face in the bathroom. She stared into the mirror, her empty blue eyes gazing back. She had a fake smile, looking at her teeth for a few seconds. She was pushing herself to the limits of her sanity.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I'm trying to describe a situation when a person looks into the mirror and sees a fake smile.

How can I express it? How can I improve this?

Her days were characterized by lethargy. She didn't feel anything except a vague pain shooting up and down her right leg. A part of her was happy about a pain. At least she felt something in her desolate existence. The pain scorched through her body as she was washing her face in the bathroom. She stared into the mirror, her empty blue eyes gazing back. She had a fake smile, looking at her teeth for a few seconds. She was pushing herself to the limits of her sanity.

You just expressed it.

If she's alone, why does she have a fake smile?

 

[alpacinou]

You just expressed it.

If she's alone, why does she have a fake smile?

She is losing her mind. She has a fake smile to make herself feel better.

Would this work?

A fake smile flickered across her crumpled face.

 

[emsr2d2]

She faked a smile.

 

[alpacinou]

She faked a smile.

Is this correct?

Her days were characterized by lethargy. She didn't feel anything except a vague pain shooting up and down her right leg. A part of her was happy about the pain. At least she felt something in her desolate existence. The pain scorched through her body as she was washing her face in the bathroom. She stared into the mirror, her empty blue eyes gazing back. She faked a smile, looking at her teeth for a few seconds. She was pushing herself to the limits of her sanity. Am I at a point where I need to fake a smile to make myself feel better?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Better!

 

[Tarheel]

I think it makes sense to "fake" a smile when looking at her teeth in the mirror. Otherwise I would say a person faked a smile if she was pretending to be friendly.

 

[tedmc]

Or put on a smile to make oneself look better in the mirror.