Aegyo Sal

In America, it's very important to hide under eye bags. There are many different types of concealers and foundations sold to specifically cover up darkness that can appear under eyes. Dark eye bags can be formed by many different reasons, such as lack of sleep, being sick or having an illness, or even having excess makeup under your eyes that has rubbed off without you knowing. Each of these things are very important to be aware of to avoid dark under eye bags.

Many women use many methods to get rid of them. There are countless tutorials on the internet and YouTube videos that illustrate in detail how exactly to get rid of this pesky discoloration. You can put cucumbers on your eyes (with a rejuvenating facial mask of course) or put ice under your eyes to rid yourself of this problem. Or, you could not do anything at all.

A recent trend in Japan has been to actually accentuate a certain part of your under eyes. It originated in Korea, because very famous models and idols known for their youth were idolized for their "under eye pudge." This "pudge" (when accentuated) makes a woman look more youthful and beautiful. Similar to the tsuke yeba trend, a younger looking woman will be more approachable. The aegyo sal is usually only seen prominently when you are smiling. If you make it more prominent, it will seem like that woman is always smiling.

The aegyo sal look doesn't always work out for everyone. The reason aegyo sal is very popular in Japan and Korea is that it makes women with hooded eyes more youthful, and the most common eye shape in all of Japan and Korea is hooded eyes. Most Japanese and Koreans also have hooded eyes. It works on American hooded eyes as well, no matter the ethnicity of the people trying it. However, the effect varies on different eye shapes. For example, it doesn't turn out very well on protruding eyes (pictured below). It's almost scary. On down turned and almond-shaped eyes (and most double-lidded eye shapes, depending on the shape of the person's face as well) it can make the wearer of aegyo sal look weird.

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Aegyo sal is also a surgical procedure.If you do not have naturally-occurring aegyo sal (i.e. most people over 20), you can have these created artificially. The only permanent way to achieve them is via a surgical procedure where a 0.5 cm flat strip of AlloDerm (acellular dermal matrix) or Gortex is inserted under the skin surface through two small incisions, leaving behind tiny scars. This method heals quickly and sutures can be removed after 3-4 days.

Aegyo sal can also be achieved with fillers for those who do not want to go under the knife. This method is temporary and lasts around 6 months. If you’re curious as to whether your favorite idol has taken the surgical or non-surgical route, keep an eye on their aegyo sal and see if it is sometimes more or less pronounced. If the size of their under-eye bands fluctuates, it’s likely they’ve gone for the filler option.

Lastly, there are make up tricks to help you get the youthlites look without even needing to see a doctor. If you’re interested in this option, Google is your friend.

Etude House suggests starting off with the light brown to contour right beneath the eye pudge. Then, smile hard with your eyes to bring out the pudge to see where you should contour. The next step is to use the champagne pink to line the inner corners of your eyes and right underneath your under lashes up until where you contoured in the first step. Finally, using a mirror (and plenty of sunlight) use a blending brush (or your finger) to make sure the brown blends in naturally with the champagne pink. (After a couple of tries, I found that it didn't matter which step you started with first, since you blend it out anyway.)

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