First there was voguing, now there's smizing.
Media maven Tyra Banks has coined what may be the newest modeling craze of the decade. Smizing -- to smile with one's eyes -- is a speciality of the supermodel-turned-talk-show-host, and her hit reality show America's Next Top Model brought the fashion insider tip to mainstream photos everywhere.
These days, a profile pic without a smize is like Banks' TV show without the drama.
And now, Banks is banking on her idea in a mobile way, with the latest addition to her empire, the "Smize Yourself!" app. The app allows users to apply facial morphing technology to enhance the smizes in their own photos. Users receive training via Banks' voice-over narration. After taking a photo within the app's face outline, one swipe will adjust the emotion in the picture's eyes from subtle to exaggerated.
Photos can then be shared on Facebook and Twitter and will be stored in a portfolio within the app.
To Banks, the smizing app isn't only about perfecting poses, but redefining beauty. Her brand, she says, is about "empowering women from the outside in," and the app will allow users to "engage fans in something we're known for."
And mostly, she says, "Smize Yourself!" is about "having fun while learning."
"On Instagram and Twitter millions of people send me pictures asking 'Am I smizing?,' 'Can you teach me how to smize?,' 'Is it fierce enough?'," Banks tells Mashable in a conference call Thursday. "It's about the marketplace ... If they are asking for advice, we created an app based on that."
Banks is a well known presence on social media with almost eight million Twitter followers. Social media, she says, is a source for real-time feedback and constructive criticism from her fans -- an important tool for a business woman like herself, she adds.
The model also confesses her inspiration for entering the app world was taken from years of studying business and other start-ups in Silicon Valley. She says apps like Uber or AirBNB are outlets she wished she would've have invested in years ago.
Above all, it's important to remember there are different smizes for every occasion, Banks reminds us. In LinkedIn profiles, smizes should be subtle, she says. For men, they should smize to the side.
And the best place to smize -- a sext -- because sexiness, Banks says, is in the eyes, in not in revealing too much.
Smize Yourself! is available on iOS for $1.99.
Have you perfected the art of the smize? Share in the comments below.