Overview
#FoxEyeTrend involved pulling hair taut at temples with hair ties or tape to create a slanted, almond-eyed appearance. The trend faced immediate backlash for appropriating and fetishizing Asian facial features.
The Controversy
Critics quickly identified the trend as racist, mimicking Asian eye shapes that have been historically mocked and fetishized. The “fox eye” look celebrities achieved through makeup or cosmetic procedures appropriated features that Asian people face discrimination for having naturally.
Celebrity Participation
Models Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner popularized the makeup technique and thread lift procedures to achieve the look. Their participation in the trend sparked conversations about beauty standards, privilege, and cultural appropriation.
Cosmetic Procedures
The aesthetic drove interest in PDO thread lifts and fox eye lift surgeries (canthoplasty), raising concerns about permanent procedures motivated by temporary trends. Plastic surgeons reported increased requests for the procedures.
Makeup Technique
Achieved through strategic eyeliner extending outward and upward, highlighter at temples, and concealer creating lifted appearance. The makeup version allowed participation without surgical intervention but still carried cultural appropriation concerns.
Asian Community Response
Asian creators spoke out about the double standard: their natural features being mocked while non-Asian people surgically enhanced themselves to mimic those same features. The trend highlighted ongoing issues with beauty standard hypocrisy.
Quick Decline
Facing significant backlash, the trend quickly declined in popularity by late 2020. The controversy served as education moment about cultural appropriation in beauty trends and the importance of examining where aesthetics originate.
Lasting Impact
While the specific trend died, the conversations it sparked about cultural appropriation, beauty standards, and racial features being treated as trends rather than inherent characteristics had lasting educational impact.