Draft:Fox-eye lifting

Fox eye lift, also known as designer eyes or fox eyes treatment, has become one of the most popular beauty trends in recent years. The fox eye treatment, which can be done as a surgical or non-surgical procedure, includes lifting the outer corners of the eyes along with the ends of the eyebrows in order to create youthful winged eye shapes. The procedure has been popularized by celebrities, supermodels and influencers such as Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski and Bella Hadid.

Background
The #foxeye on Instagram now has over 100,000 posts, and there are hundreds of fox-eye makeup tutorials on Youtube that demonstrate how to achieve the look. The fox eye trend is described as “shaving off the tail of the brows to draw a straighter brow; using eyeliners or eyeshadows to create a sharp wing towards the temple; and then draw tips which are pointing towards the nose bridge at the inner corner of both eyes with the same liner or shadow” or “pulling the hair back into a high and extremely tight ponytail or using tapes to lift the eyes”. In order to achieve a relatively permanent look, many people including celebrities and influencers are taking fox-eye lifting procedures.

Surgical and non-surgical fox-eye lifting techniques
In order to achieve “designer eyes”, there are surgical options such as blepharoplasty, canthopexy and canthoplasty. Blepharoplasty is a type of surgery involving removing excess skin, muscle and fat above or below the eyelids to repair droopy eyes and brows caused by aging ; canthopexy is a revitalization procedure for restoring muscle supporting structure and improving muscle tone, which tightens the lower eyelid without cutting tendon or muscles; and canthoplasty is an eyelid surgery for maintaining the normal position between eyelid and eyeball by strengthening the lateral canthal tendon and the supporting structure. Both canthopexy and canthoplasty procedures include tightening the lower eyelid and lifting the outer corners of the eyes. All three methods have been used to repair signs of aging, however, younger patients are going through such procedures for permanent almond eye shape.

The two main non-surgical methods for brow lifting and fox eye lifting are Botox injections and thread lifts. Botox injection is considered to be the most traditional and budget-friendly way of achieving the desired eye shape by injecting Botox in the muscle at the tails of the brows. The results take about five to seven days to kick in and will last three to four months so a regular maintenance will be needed. Thread lifts involves an anaesthetic injection above the brows, an insertion of a Polydioxanone suture under the skin through a single needle puncture. Thread lifts can be done under 30 minutes with an instant result and less healing time within a week. Unlike the surgical methods above, non-surgical procedures will not cause permanent facial changes and the treatments are adjustable.

Criticisms of fox-eye
As the fox-eye lift is creating a “slanted” and almond eye-shape, which is commonly seen in Asian features and are commonly used to insult Asian people, the debate of whether this trend is simply a beauty trend, a cultural appreciation or a racism gesture has appeared. In recent years, the “migraine” pose of using one or both hands pulling the outer corners of the eyes and brows by the temples is one of the most trendy pose on Instagram. Influencer and Youtuber Emma Chamberlain, who has over 11 million followers on Instagram, posted a picture with such a pose which was deleted after due to racist accusations. The French political cartoon “China – The Cake of Kings… And of Emperors” in 1989 portrays Chinese and Japanese leaders with features of winged and slanted eyes with high eyebrows in order to demonize them and make them look more barbaric and less human to demonstrate that imperialism is harmful.

The fox-eye makeup trend started in the early 1930s in Hollywood, as makeup artists are using fox-eye makeup to transform Caucasian actors into villainous Asian characters. In 1932, Caucasian actress Myrna Loy was wearing such makeup to portray the daughter of Fu Manchu, who is a Chinese fictional villain, in the movie the Mask of Fu Manchu. In the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Mickey Ronney portrayed a Japanese neighbour with bucked teeth and slitted eyes using the same makeup techniques.

Instagram page @dearasianyouth says that “our eyes only became a trend when white people decided it would conveniently fit their aesthetic… The ‘fox-eye trend’ fails to address the years of trauma so many Asians have faced… While it may not have originated from a place of ill-intent, it appropriates out eyes and is ignorant of past racism”.