The idea of beauty in Asia has undergone a change in the last few decades. The round-eye look, known as a sign of Western beauty, has become the look of choice as it has bombarded Asia with images of gorgeous American women, including models, celebrities, and superstars who constantly appear on television, on billboards and posters, on the Internet, in magazines, in advertisements, in train stations and at bus stops, in storefront windows, and on TV commercials.

For Asians who typically do not have this look, there is a rush toward any methods that can achieve it. Nearly half of all Asian people are born without a prominent eyelid crease, which can vary greatly in height, depth and overall shape. Asian eyelids are often structurally different from Caucasian eyelids in several ways:

• They lack a supratarsal crease (double eyelid)
• They have thicker and fattier eyelids
• They have hooding of the eyelid skin in the middle corner of the eye (epicanthal fold)

In some cases, an Asian’s eyelid can cover half the iris. More and more today Asians are considering having their eyelids surgically altered in a procedure called “Double Eyelid Surgery” or creation of a supratarsal crease, a cosmetic procedure that reshapes the skin around the eye with incisions and sutures to create a defined crease on the upper lid. A fold is cut into the eyelid to create a double fold, an effect that widens the appearance of the eyes.

Eyelid surgery is the number one plastic surgery amoung Asians worldwide from China to New York to Australia where more and more Asians seeking the highest quality care opt for cosmetic surgery in Perth by Sculpt. Here are the main reasons so many Asians are electing for the surgery:

• Many Asians think round eyes are more beautiful than the eyes they were born with: “Round eye” the once derogatory slang term Asians used at times to refer to Westerners, has taken on a whole new meaning in Asian culture and is now associated with the height of beauty. At the same time, an Asian woman’s almond-shaped eyes, thought for so long, to be mysterious and alluring, has become undesirable in many Asian cultures.

• The Korean and Chinese are very beauty conscious: The most prominent groups opting for double eyelid surgery are Koreans and Chinese who have a similar view that appearance equates with success. They believe the way to get ahead is to look beautiful because their societies place a high value on beauty. And today it is western beauty that sets the standard, so Asians are using cosmetic surgery to alter their looks to become more western looking.

• The growth of Korean Pop music stars (K-Pop) has created a completely new beauty aesthetic that nods to Caucasian features. More than 1 million people try out each year for Korean K-Pop singing shows and the music has inundated Asian cultures isn Asia and around the world. K-Pop stars thrive on procedures to improve and westernize their looks. As a result of this idolization of K-Pop stars, plastic surgery is seen as aspirational, even normalized. As K-Pop has become the dominant cultural idiom throughout Asia, there is a desire by young Asians to look like the K-Pop stars many of whom have undergone Double Eyelid Surgery.

• It is looked at as an investment: The view that eyelid reshaping surgery is a worthwhile investment and that prettier faces will pay off with increased self-confidence, a better job, and a finer marital mate. Many Korean and Chinese couples have only one child in their lifetime, and if that child is a daughter, parents want to do everything possible to help their little girls get ahead in the world.

• An individual has weak eyelid muscles (Ptosis): When an individual has ptosis or weak eyelid muscles, they feel as though they have to strain their eye muscles to get their eyes to open. This is because the heavier lids block a portion of the iris diminishing their ability to see out of a portion of the eye. They can also appear tired. The result is that the individual will eventually experience tension on their eyes and head from this continued straining. Double Eyelid Surgery can correct this condition.

• Irritation from downward pointing eyelashes: Heavier eyelids can cause the eyelashes to point down and even be pushed back into the eyes causing irritation to the cornea. Asians without double eyelid folds or creases have eyelids that can cause this condition. Double Eyelid Surgery can also correct this condition.