I disagree with Hegel here to a degree, as I feel as though there can be some very intense, intrinsic, biologically animalistic expressions we make regardless of the culture we have learned from or take part in.

Indeed, studies on children born blind show that they have the same expressions as sighted children despite having no way to acquire them through social imitation. See: https://www.unige.ch/communication/communiques/en/2017/cdp030717/

Love your concluding paragraph!