Face blowing a kiss 😘

How to read it

😘 is U+1F618, named FACE THROWING A KISS in the Unicode Standard and face blowing a kiss in Unicode’s emoji lists. It was approved in Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and is older than that: Emojipedia says SoftBank put it on Japanese emoji keyboards in 2000, and Unicode’s mapping file for the carriers’ emoji lists it under KDDI and SoftBank. Unicode’s emoji data labels it E0.6, the label Unicode’s emoji standard gives the emoji added in Unicode 6.0 in 2010, which include those from the Japanese carriers’ sets. Dictionary.com’s entry says it is mostly used for romantic affection or appreciation, and for a digital “kiss goodbye” or “kiss goodnight”. Its kisses go to family, friends, pets and favourite things as well as loved ones, Dictionary.com adds, because a kiss on the cheek is a common greeting in many cultures, especially in Europe. It can be flirtatious or complimentary, and beside 👌 OK hand it imitates the chef’s kiss for something perfect. Unicode’s keywords include kiss, love, muah, smooch and xoxo.

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One of the most used emoji

Dictionary.com cites a 2016 University of Michigan study that ranked it just behind 😂 face with tears of joy, the red heart and 😍 heart eyes. Unicode’s own 2019 frequency ranking put it in its third band, beside 🙏, 😭 and 😊. In Google’s Gboard data for 2025, reported by the Deseret News from a New York Times analysis, it was the sixth most used emoji worldwide, down from fifth in 2024.

How platforms draw it

Dictionary.com calls its appearance fairly uniform across platforms: a yellow face winking, with puckered lips and a heart. Emojipedia notes that many platforms give it the same eyes as their 😉 winking face, and that early Microsoft designs had neither heart nor wink, only large red lips and both eyes closed.

Look-alikes

Unicode’s chart lists three more kissing faces beside it, none with a heart: 😗 kissing face, 😙 kissing face with smiling eyes and 😚 kissing face with closed eyes.