Above: Origins of facial muscles on the skull. Also shows insertions for some muscles.

Above: Lateral view of some muscular origins in red, and insertions in blue.

Above: Origins of muscles on the maxillary bone and part of the zygomatic bone. These muscles all insert into soft tissues of the face.

The attachment of a muscle is the place where it is connected to a tissue, usually on a bone. The fixed place of attachment is also known as the origin. These diagrams show some insertions, which is a place where the muscle goes to and which the muscle moves. In facial muscles, most insertions are into skin tissues, but some insert into bone, e.g., the masseter. The action of the muscle is to pull the skin where the muscle inserts toward the origin. The attachment points for various facial muscles are shown in the diagrams above.