Bella Hadid's 'fox eye' look is being emulated using dangerous cosmetic surgery practices. Photo / Getty Images
Bella Hadid's 'fox eye' look is being emulated using dangerous cosmetic surgery practices. Photo / Getty Images
Supermodel Bella Hadid has been credited with making the fox eye trend popular, and women are paying big bucks to recreate the iconic look.
However, a Sydney cosmetic nurse has advised the trend isn’t worth the money or risk, declaring it as a procedure that can “easily go wrong”.
Hadid’s eyes have become famous in recent years because of the jarring shape: like an angular wing and the look is exaggerated, slanted, almost cartoonish.
The severe shape has launched thousands of conversations. While some people have just stuck to trying to achieve the dramatic look via make-up, others are paying big bucks for a more permanent change.
Women are so interested in the look that TikTokers who document themselves getting the procedure to emulate Hadid’s famous eyes racking up millions of views.
Y'all really praising Bella Hadid for the fox eye look when Bratz did it first. I will not tolerate this miscredit pic.twitter.com/C1zhs6S0nj
— shamelessly in love era (@joeeeeena) July 16, 2020
Hadid’s eye shape is also incredibly controversial. Plenty of people have accused her of cultural appropriation, and there is something uncomfortable about the slanted eye look only becoming a pop culture sensation now it’s being shown on a white woman.
One woman took to Twitter to express her dismay at the trend. She wrote: “So i just found out about this “fox eye” challenge ... Like why. Asian people are always mocked for having slanted eyes and when white people do it is “beautiful” and they call it the bella hadid eyes. WTF. These try of trends need to stop ...”
Still, no matter your thoughts, there is no denying that it has become a ‘thing’. It has become such a phenomenon that when Hadid sat down with Vogue last year, she was quizzed about her eye shape.
Hadid claimed she achieved her exaggerated eye look via beauty tape. “Whoever thinks I’ve gotten my eyes lifted or whatever it’s called – it’s face tape! The oldest trick in the book,” she explained.
Australian women are skipping the beauty tape advise and copying Hadid via expensive cosmetic procedures. The official name for the procedure is called Polydioxanone (PDO).
An Australian cosmetics nurse has raised concern over a trend to try and achieve Bella Hadid's eye shape. Photo / Getty Images
Package prices vary depending on where you go, but a 50-thread package usually kicks off around the $600 mark, and a 100-thread package is generally over $1000.
Taylor*, a cosmetic nurse in Sydney, explained precisely how the look is achieved. “Threads are inserted under the skin, and they dissolve over time.
“The body tries to reject it and it creates collagen around them and in theory, in time that lifts and tightens the skin around the eye,” they explained.
However, the nurse explained that people wanting to achieve Hadid’s look have to go an extra step because it is so exaggerated.
Taylor told news.com.au, “There are other types of threads that are used with barbs which instantly lift! This has become popular because of people like Bella Hadid, and in my professional opinion, that is how she created her fox-eye look.”
However, while the nurse has seen this procedure rise in popularity, they wouldn’t recommend it for a client. “The lifts with barbs are more expensive and can easily go wrong if not done by someone extremely experienced.
“Just look on TikTok. There’s a girl whose fox eye procedure went wrong and got infected and you could see the threads, and they looked like horns.”
The TikToker being referred to is Jessie Carr. Her fox-eye thread procedure was so botched that it looked like she was growing mini horns above her eyes and it cost her $2000. The TikTok she created documenting the poor results amassed over 9 million views and she has since had the threads removed.
Still, if clients want the traditional threads, Taylor wouldn’t even recommend that either. “Ultimately it is minimal work, slow and expensive. People always expect more dramatic results, so it is misleading to the public, and it’s hard to manage expectations. Mostly, you end up with disappointed and unhappy clients.”
Plus, it isn’t a quick fix, “Bruising and discomfort can last weeks, and so it’s a maximum effort for minimum reward.”
So either clients go the subtle route and don’t get the impact they want, or they can go hell for leather and increase their chances of looking botched. One thing is for sure, it isn’t easy or cheap trying to imitate a supermodel.
