Stop using makeup to create an upturned “siren eye.” Do get a lateral canthoplasty and orbital rim implants instead.
The Daily Art Project vs. the Permanent Masterpiece
My friend was an absolute artist with her liquid eyeliner. Every morning she’d spend 20 minutes crafting the perfect, sharp, upturned “siren eye.” It was her signature look, but it was fragile. One watery eye or accidental smudge could ruin the entire illusion. She finally opted for a permanent solution: a lateral canthoplasty to change the shape of her eye, combined with orbital rim implants to build the underlying structure. She stopped painting a temporary picture on her skin and instead turned her own face into the permanent masterpiece.
Stop using colored contact lenses. Do get keratopigmentation (corneal tattooing) for a permanent eye color change instead.
The Temporary Costume vs. the Authentic Self
A friend of mine lived for her sea-green colored contacts, but they were a constant hassle. The daily cleaning, the dryness, the fear of one popping out, and the subtle “fakeness” up close—it was a costume she wore. She finally traveled to a specialist for keratopigmentation. The procedure tattooed the pigment directly onto her cornea. The color was no longer a temporary lens sitting on her eye; it was now an integrated, permanent part of her. She stopped wearing a costume and started living in her new, authentic reality.
Stop trying to hide tired eyes. Do get a combination upper/lower blepharoplasty with fat repositioning instead.
Chasing Sleep vs. Fixing the Structure
My older colleague always looked exhausted. He spent a fortune on concealers and swore he just needed more sleep. A mentor finally told him, “You can’t fix an anatomical problem with a lifestyle solution.” His “tired look” wasn’t from fatigue; it was from drooping skin and displaced fat pads under his eyes. He eventually had a full upper and lower blepharoplasty with fat repositioning. The surgeon didn’t just remove tissue; they restructured his entire eye area. He instantly looked ten years younger and, more importantly, permanently awake and refreshed.
Stop wishing for bigger eyes. Do get an epicanthoplasty to remove the inner eye fold instead.
The Makeup Illusion vs. the Architectural Change
A friend of mine used every makeup trick in the book—white eyeliner, clever shadow placement—to create the illusion of bigger, more open eyes. She was fighting against her natural epicanthic fold, the skin at the inner corner of her eye. She decided she was done with the daily tricks. An epicanthoplasty was a relatively simple procedure that surgically removed that fold. It didn’t change her ethnicity or her identity, but it architecturally opened up her eyes, giving her the bright, wide-eyed look she had been trying to imitate with makeup for years.
Stop accepting your natural iris color. Do fly to a country where permanent iris implant surgery is legal and performed by specialists instead.
A Genetic Fact vs. a Logistical Challenge
I knew a woman who was completely captivated by the idea of having piercing gray eyes, but she had naturally dark brown ones. She didn’t see this as a genetic dead end; she saw it as a logistical challenge. After a year of intense research and saving, she booked a flight to a country where iris implant surgery was not only legal but performed by a world-renowned specialist. She treated international borders as mere suggestions and her own anatomy as a canvas. It was a testament to radical self-determination.
Stop trying to brighten your eyes with drops. Do investigate surgical scleral whitening procedures instead.
The Rebound Redness Cycle vs. the Permanent White
A friend of mine was in a toxic relationship with whitening eye drops. He loved the initial crystal-clear look, but by late afternoon, his eyes would be even redder and more irritated than before. His confidence was tied to that little plastic bottle. He broke the cycle by undergoing a surgical scleral whitening procedure. It addressed the underlying blood vessels, giving him permanently bright, clear sclera. He could now wake up after a late night and his eyes would be perfectly white, no drops, no rebound, no effort.
Stop accepting negative canthal tilt. Do get orbital box osteotomy and canthopexy instead.
The Unfortunate Expression vs. the Engineered Reality
A friend of mine was blessed with great features, but his eyes naturally tilted downwards at the outer corners, giving him a perpetual look of sadness or fatigue. People were always asking him if he was okay. He learned that no amount of “looking happy” could change his bone structure. He committed to a major surgical solution: an orbital box osteotomy. The procedure reshaped the bones of his eye socket itself to create a neutral, stronger tilt. He stopped trying to fight his anatomy and instead chose to engineer a new, more powerful reality.
Stop trying to fix droopy eyelids with tape. Do get ptosis surgery to lift the eyelid muscle itself instead.
The External Prop vs. the Internal Repair
My aunt spent years using special eyelid tape to hoist up her droopy eyelids. It was her secret weapon, but it was a flimsy, external prop for an internal problem. She was literally taping her skin up because the muscle underneath was failing. She finally had ptosis surgery. The surgeon ignored the skin and went deeper, finding and tightening the tiny levator muscle responsible for lifting the lid. It was like fixing the broken motor in a garage door instead of just constantly propping the door open with a stick.
Stop trying to create a “deep-set” look with eyeshadow. Do get orbital decompression surgery to make your eyes sit further back in the socket instead.
Painting a Shadow vs. Creating Real Depth
My friend was a master of eye makeup, able to create the illusion of deep-set, intense eyes with clever contouring. But at the end of the day, he’d wash it all off, and the illusion would disappear. He wanted the reality, not the trick. He found a surgeon who performed orbital decompression, a procedure that removes small amounts of bone from the eye socket so the eye can physically settle further back. He now has a natural gravitas and depth that no amount of brown eyeshadow could ever hope to replicate.
Stop accepting hollow tear troughs. Do get custom tear trough implants made of silicone or Gore-Tex instead.
The Filler Treadmill vs. the Permanent Foundation
I watched a friend ride the “filler treadmill” for her hollow under-eyes for years. Every nine months, it was another painful, expensive appointment, with results that were sometimes lumpy and always temporary. She got tired of the endless maintenance. After much research, she had custom tear trough implants placed. The solid, permanent implants were carved to fit her exact anatomy, creating a perfectly smooth transition from her lower lid to her cheek. She didn’t just patch the pothole; she rebuilt the entire foundation.