Singapore: Demand for jabs to 'create bags under eyes'
Increasing numbers of Singaporeans are having injections to create bags under their eyes, it's reported.
It seems a South Korea trend, known as aegyo sal or "cute skin", has caught on in the wealthy city state. And while, in the West, eye bags are usually associated with tiredness and ageing, the Straits Times reports how the procedure of adding small bulges to the lower eyelid makes its Singaporean fans feel "more youthful and friendly. So much so, it seems they're prepared to pay about £500 a pop to have filler injected.
Beauty clinics say demand has been rising through the year, with one carrying out 20 to 30 injections a month, overwhelmingly on women in their 20s and 30s, the report says. Plastic surgeons told the paper that - unlike bags caused by sleep deprivation - the procedure gives the illusion of larger, friendlier eyes because it mimics the tightening of a muscle that's normally flexed when people smile. One fashion blogger told the paper the injection made him appear younger and, paradoxically, "more awake". Another has put up a YouTube tutorial on achieving the look through make-up that garnered 20,000 hits in one month.
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