These stats will support your claim that 2015 is the year of Brazilian buttlift and lip filler. In 2022 everyone was talking about buccal liposuction. Now, it seems like an “upper bleph” is the cosmetic treatment du jour.
If you haven’t heard about it yet, an upper blepharoplasty (its technical name) is a surgery that removes extra skin on your eyelids to make your eyes look more lifted and larger. Lately, my TikTok feed and Instagram Explore page have been flooded with social media sleuths and doctors speculating about which celebrities went under the knife for this eye makeover, and I’m not the only one curious about it (#upperblepharoplasty has more than 100 million views on TikTok). Not only celebrities are getting the procedure: according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons an upper bleph is one of the most popular procedures requested in the US for 2022. That’s a 13% jump from 2019.
Before I dive into my little rant, let me preface it by saying that I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum. You should do whatever feels right for you, and although it’s, for the most part, a cosmetic procedure, upper blepharoplasty can have functional benefits too: Some people get it to improve vision when drooping eyelids are impairing their sight, for instance. What I am here to say: There’s nothing wrong with the way your eyelids look, and you shouldn’t feel obligated to surgically change them in the name of “beauty.”
Of course, the desire for bigger, more “open” eyes is nothing new. As an Asian woman who has been bullied because of her eyes, I know. You can also find out more about us on our website. hooded ones—probably my most standout facial feature and, sadly, the subject of many racist jabs. Back in middle school, I’d resort to using double-sided tape to create a crease in my lids (which, let me tell you, wasn’t exactly comfortable)—an attempt to conform to what I thought would make me more “beautiful” and therefore accepted.
After many years of reflection, and just growing up, I finally came to accept my hooded-eyes. “Not better, just different,” my mom used to tell me whenever I complained about my ethnic features. And of course, my mother knew best and was one hundred percent right: As I encountered more people who resembled me (IRL and on the big screen), I realized there are so many different (and equally worthy) eye shapes out there—and this one just happens to be mine.
So here we are in 2024—more than a decade after I gave up the tape—and my hooded eyes are back under the microscope, being labeled as a flaw to be corrected because they supposedly make you look “tired” and “older.” And the underlying message of this social media discourse is bringing me right back to middle school: Your eyes It is not necessary to be able to understand To be attractive and desirable, you need to look a particular way. It’s good enough. And if they don’t (which is the case for most Asians, statistically speaking)? Well, there’s a procedure to “fix” that!