Asian Eyes Are In... As Beauty Ideal Shifts

Eyes wide open is not so hot these days Eyes wide open is not so hot these days. In a new trend, Asian women are asking for eyelid surgery that preserves their ethnic identity. Apparently, occidental is out.

As Vancouver gears up to host the world’s largest international conference of cosmetic surgery this month, the new trend in eyelid reconstruction will be tip of scalpel for plastic surgeons from around the globe.

"Patients have become more ethno-centric so the desire for that high, wide-open crease that is considered Caucasian is no longer in vogue or as popular as it once was," said Dr. Andrew Denton, assistant clinical professor at the University of British Columbia and director of facial plastic surgery at Vancouver General Hospital.

"(Asian women) don’t want to look like Joan Rivers. They want to have a more attractive but still Asian appearing eyelid."

Around 50 per cent of Asians lack a fold in the upper eyelid. Asian blepharoplasty, which originated in 19th centrury Japan, is a type of eyelid surgery in which a small amount of skin and fat is taken out.