“The face is like the moon” is familiar not merely because it uses few words. Brightness or beauty and the moon's recognized appearance form an association many hearers immediately understand.
A longer comparison involving a particular colour, movement, or reflection is not necessarily remote simply because its wording is longer. If the relevant features are obvious and commonly connected, the analogy may remain easy.
The instructional test is to establish the intended meaning first, then ask whether the shared respect emerges promptly or requires a series of less apparent mental connections.