The eyes have it: communication and face masks

As more of us wear face masks and rely on eye contact, how will it change the way we relate to each other

A conversation with a girlfriend when I was in Italy a few weeks ago got me thinking about the latest new norm of the post-coronavirus society: enhanced eye contact. She had told me how, standing in the endless queue for the supermarket, wearing her mask, she had caught the eye of a handsome man in another loop of the queue and found herself engaged in a wordless flirtation carried out just with the eyes from a distance. After this, she had taken to piling on extra eyeliner and mascara.

What I am saving in not buying lipstick I am spending on those full-volume mascaras," she said, laughing.