Believe it or not, Asian blepharoplasty, also known as double eyelid surgery, is more popular than rhinoplasty. In 2015, 1,264,702 eyelid surgeries were performed, making it one of the top three procedures in the world, behind breast augmentation and liposuction, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. It’s the most popular form of plastic surgery in South Korea, with 101,985 procedures performed last year.
However, that number may soon be dwindling, thanks to Asian influencers who are embracing the eyelids they were born with. Seeing K-Pop stars such as Son Ga-in from Brown Eyed Girls and Ahn So-hee from the Wonder Girls, who both have natural eyelids, has helped many Asian women accept their appearance, and makeup artists are starting to teach young women how to enhance their lids without surgery.
This wasn’t always the case, unfortunately.
“I definitely grew up hating my eyes,” Francesca Tanmizi says. She has monolids, also known as epicanthic folds, a common eye shape among people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent, where the lids cover the inner corner of the eyes, making them appear to have no crease.
