Take a look at the red carpet these days and there’s a very specific eye shape that dominates a subset of Hollywood. From Jennifer Lawrence to Emma Stone, Lindsay Lohan to Vanessa Kirby, the sculpted and lifted look has become the face of celebrities in their 30s and 40s. Of course, hooded eyes are in danger as the general public gushes over how refreshed, youthful and vibrant celebrities with this refreshed eye appear. While no one has had anything done (besides the usual non-invasive beauty treatments), looking at the before and after photos has us wondering: where did all the hooded eyes go?
This trending, open look, which Melissa DoftMD, a double board certified in New York City describes as “an oval shape, but where the eyelid is almost a bit like a cat’s eye where there’s a lift and it flares out on the side” is best achieved surgically, he notes (sorry, Botox girls) with a procedure called short or blepharoplasty.
Once the bread and butter of surgeons operating on women 45+, upper lashes are now becoming more popular with patients in their 30s looking for that refreshed, rejuvenated look. And that’s because, like Robert SchwarzMD, a board-certified ophthalmic plastic surgeon in New York who specializes in blepharoplasty and brow lifts, explains that where many in their 30s may have turned to neuromodulators to try to lift and open the eye area in the past, patients are becoming more aware to release that injectables can only go so far. “I don’t think the neurotoxin is going away anytime soon because it has a big role in prevention,” he says. “But for the role of reshaping and repositioning, I think people see it as less reliable and less powerful than a one-and-done surgical lift.”
What is upper lash surgery?
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The typical upper lash, says Dr. Doft, begins with a small incision along the crease line of the upper eyelid. This incision often extends slightly toward the temple to remove any protruding skin at the outer corners of the eyes. From there, the surgeon carefully removes the excess to minimize coverage while ensuring there is still enough skin for the patient to comfortably close their eyes afterward.
Depending on the patient, the operation may involve different layers. “In a young person, there’s usually a bit of extra skin that needs to be removed,” explains Dr. Doft. “For older patients, there is often more skin—and sometimes we remove a small amount of the orbicularis oculi muscle if the upper eyelid is particularly full. If you remove a lot of skin, you don’t want the rest of the muscle to feel redundant.”
A third factor is the inner fat pocket, the small fat near the inner corner of the eye that can swell with age. “As someone gets older, this area can become more prominent,” says Dr. Doft. “In these cases, we often reduce or remove some of that fat for a smoother contour.”
The procedure itself is usually performed under local anesthesia with light sedation rather than full general anesthesia. Most patients are awake but comfortable throughout. The stitches are usually removed within five to seven days, with most swelling and bruising going down in about a week or two.
The Upper Bleph & Brow Lift Combo
However, upper eyelids are only part of the story. Achieving that lifted cat-eye shape requires a brow lift, she says Jason Diamond, MDdual plastic surgeon in beverly hills. “If the brow droops or there’s a loss of volume in the bone above the brow, if that’s the cause of the weight and the aged look—which is often the case—then you want to lift the brow just ever so slightly and that clears the upper lid,” she explains. “So in a lot of these younger people, I find that a lot of people misperceive that they’ve had blepharoplasty, when in fact they’ve had something to lift their forehead.”
Dr. Schwarcz agrees, noting that when we talk about a hooded eye versus a more sculpted eye, we can’t have that conversation without mentioning the brow lift and its different variations. “A lot of people didn’t just get an upper blepharoplasty — they got a temporary brow lift,” she says. “I do exponentially more combined temple lifts and upper blepharoplasty than just upper blepharoplasty.”
He explains that the first part of the upper eyes to age is the outer part of the upper eyelid area (which surgeons call the temporal forehead) which starts to get heavy and droop before the central part of the brow does. “When this is lifted, often the temporal lift includes the outer corner of the eye, where the top and bottom meet, which gives a more lifted look,” she says. By doing the temporal lift first, Dr. Schwarcz says it allows him to be more conservative with how much to cut for the superior vein. “When we do upper blepharoplasty in my office, then I have to remove less skin so it’s more natural looking,” she says. “When you remove less skin, it still looks fuller and plumper. So it’s not just a single upper blepharoplasty from our parents’ days where a ton of skin, muscle and fat was removed that makes you look hollow – they would have what were called bedroom eyes. That look is no longer desirable.”
He notes that there is a slight concern about creating a skeletal effect, so he takes steps to address that. “I often put fat in the upper lid complexes so that it looks a little more robust there,” says Dr. Schwarcz. “Even though I’m removing some skin and lifting the brow, I still often add fat to the upper lid area between the crease and the brow. This gives a more youthful, plump look up there, in addition to that lifted look from the temple lift.”
Upper Bleph vs. Double Blepharoplasty
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With all this talk about eyes and upper blepharoplasty, the conversation should turn to a type of blepharoplasty known as a double blepharoplasty or Asian blepharoplasty, which is a completely different surgery than an upper blepharoplasty or brow lift, explains Gabriel Chiu, DO, board-certified plastic surgeon and founder at Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery in Beverly Hills. While an upper eyelid lift is designed to remove excess skin, muscle and fat from the upper eyelid to correct drooping lids, he explains, Asian blepharoplasty is a specialized procedure to create or enhance what is known as the “hypertarsal fold” (the fold that forms the “double eyelid”).
“About half of people of Asian descent are born without this aspect, and this operation adds or enhances it,” he says. “This is done to make the eyes look bigger, more defined, or to create symmetry between the two eyes. It’s not about anti-aging or skin loosening, it’s about reshaping the anatomy to add a crease where it doesn’t naturally exist. The result is a natural-looking double eyelid that matches the patient’s desired style, either low, medium, or high, depending on their goals. He says the surgery can can be adjusted to add or maintain a more “Asian look” by reducing the crease, or you can “westernize the look” by reducing the medial epicanthic crease.
Eye Trends & The Future
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This new sculpting eye has won LiLo 2.0 and renewed rave reviews from the Millennial celebrity cohort. For a while, it’s all anyone could talk about. So it makes sense that the talk in plastic surgery has naturally shifted to the upper lashes. “When you look at stars like Lindsay Lohan, Emma Stone, Vanessa Kirby and Jennifer Lawrence, one thing stands out: their eyes look brighter, more open and youthful, with the hood off and the lid and crease beautifully defined,” says Dr. Chiu. “With less weight around the eyes, subtle expressions are more visible, making one appear approachable, awake and even more photogenic.” She notes that while blepharoplasty and brow lifts have been around for decades, celebrities are now seeking subtle improvements rather than dramatic changes. “It’s about restoring light and shape around the eyes while keeping the person looking like themselves,” he says.
Which all sounds great, unless you’re someone who naturally has a hooded eye or a heavier brow. Then you might get the impression that hooded eyes are a feature meant to be sculpted and lifted to mimic that lighter look seen on the red carpet. It is especially a more problematic conversation for Asian patients, who are already bombarded with Eurocentric beauty ideals and surgeries meant to mimic those features. “Beauty ideals have historically been Eurocentric, and whenever a singular aesthetic is glamorized, there is a risk that patients will feel that their physical features are inadequate,” says Dr. Chiu. “We saw this during the Korean plastic surgery boom of the 2010s, when many procedures were widely marketed to make the eyes larger or more Westernized. Some people were empowered by this choice, but others felt pressured to erase features associated with their identity.”
However, a lot has changed since 2010, most notably our attitudes towards plastic surgery and ourselves. As Dr. Chiu explains, “In 2025, I see a more thoughtful patient population. Many want subtle improvement rather than dramatic change, with a growing number wanting to maintain their ethnic features while simply reducing weight, asymmetry or functional concerns.” In general, patients are more aware of cultural conversations, asking if they will still look like themselves, rather than asking to look like a certain celebrity. “I always stress that surgery should never be about conforming to someone else’s standards. It’s about aligning how you look with how you want to feel,” says Dr.
While plastic surgeons aren’t necessarily seeing a rush of people specifically asking for a brow or upper lash lift, there has been a definite shift in focus.
“I haven’t found more people asking about an eyelash, per se,” says Dr. Diamond. “They call me saying, ‘I want Kendall Jenner’s brows. I want the aesthetics of Zöe Kravitz’s eyebrows.” I think it focuses on balance and symmetry. Sure, the eyes are part of it, but how the forehead and eyelid relate to the eye itself is part of it.”
She adds that this interest is not new: “I’ve always seen people who make a living with their face. And this type of person always says they want a more polished look in the upper third of their face—which includes lower eyelids, upper eyelids, eyebrow aesthetics, and hair placement.”
Finally, says Dr. Diamond, it’s less about the process and more about the overall result: “Some people have naturally hooded eyes. Some people have naturally open eyes. People just want to redefine their natural beauty. They want a balanced, elegant look—and whatever it takes.”
