You see the look of disappointment ON/IN his face?

[Ashraful Haque]

I'm pretty sure when we use 'on' when talking about something physical.
"There's a bug on your face."

Do we use both 'on' and 'in' when talking about emotions?
1. You can see the look of disappointment on/in his face.
2. I noticed the confidence on his face.
3. I could see the anger in his eyes. (On here sounds odd to me)

 

[Tarheel]

I'm pretty sure when we use 'on' when talking about something physical.
"There's a bug on your face."

Do we use both 'on' and 'in' when talking about emotions?
1. You can see the look of disappointment on/in his face.
2. I noticed the LOOK OF confidence on his face.
3. I could see the anger in his eyes.

I would use "on" in the first one.

 

[jutfrank]

Think of it like this. You wear a mask on your face, right? Well, in the same way, you wear or have a look on your face, like a mask.

Did you see that look on his face?
Henry wore a sad expression on his face.
She had adopted a smug grin on her face.

When you look in someone's eyes, you're penetrating that person, and seeing something that's within them.