The eyes of domestic cats are admired. The evidence is in the current rage spreading virally through Instagram for the cat-eye thread lift. This is described as a nonsurgical, convenient way of altering your appearance which lifts the corner of the eye. It’s a quick and easy procedure which involves inserting a long thread at the outer tail of your eyebrow. The surgeon pulls on the thread and the brow is lifted upwards to the desired height. It lasts a few months but the thread dissolves returning the woman to her previous appearance. This can cause disappointment.
The procedure is described as non-invasive, which doesn’t seem to be completely accurate because they insert a thread. It is different to Botox however. Botox stops the muscles working whereas the cat-eye thread lift simply raises up a part of your face for your cat-like appearance. But is it cat-like? I am a bit ambivalent about this. My cat’s eyes do slope upwards at the outer edge but as I mentioned below the eyes of many cats do not have a pronounced slope at the outer edge.
The many Instagram celebrity influences have latched onto this and are promoting it. They are getting young people hooked on the cat-eye look. It seems that Bella Hadid is the arch exponent of this look. It is believed that she has naturally upturned eyes. Although the thread-lift does not change a woman’s eye shaped to look like Hadid’s.
An alternative would be to reshape the eyebrows creatively through plucking and drawing.
Comment: I have seen lots of cat eyes! The eyes of purebred cats are not always the kind of shape and design that young women now aspire to. For example the eyes of a Persian cat are large and round. My initial feeling is that I’m not sure where this idea comes from that domestic cat eyes slope upwards like this. I don’t recognise it in domestic cats but I’m probably missing something obvious. The cat below has a typical eye shape.
An incidental point comes to mind which I’m sure is very boring. The question is: do cats have eyebrows? I answered that question in an earlier post. But because they don’t have eyebrows it kind of negates this argument about women lifting up the eyebrows with a thread. Another reason why I don’t get this.
The story goes to show how important Instagram influencers have become in advertising. They can make good money and sometimes very good money if they are high profile celebrities such as the Kardashian sisters. A lot of girls and young women aspire to this kind of celebrity which is a bit sad in some ways because it means that they have to focus on their appearance, sometimes to the detriment of their mental health (trying to achieve the impossible).
Another problem which needs to be mentioned is that nowadays selfies are filtered through photo editing applications which make women (and men) look better and they can also make you more cat-like. If young girls aspire to the false appearance of other women it is sad. They are chasing a myth, the impossible. No wonder that some young women end up with mental health issues. It is better to accept your appearance and learn to enjoy it and be proud of it.
My mind turns to Brigitte Bardot who is a wonderful animal advocate. She has shunned plastic surgery in her autumn years which I greatly admire. She is beautiful, no longer through her appearance but through her behaviour, attitude and character. She said that she used to give herself to men but she now gives herself to animal welfare.
