Lift the Brows, Open the Eyes

Since the eyebrows and upper eyelids are closely related, a slight change to the brows can actually make the eyes look younger and more open—and there’s two ways to do it. “The brows, like the eyes and the rest of the face, lose volume with time,” says Santa Monica, CA, ophthalmic plastic surgeon Cynthia Boxrud, MD. “If you have naturally low brows, as you age, they will descend even further down—becoming flatter—due to lost volume.”

For a Quick Fix: Injecting the area above the eyebrow with either Botox or Dysport can cause a slightly more ‘open’ eye since the muscles that pull down on the brows are debilitated. “Lifting them with Botox relaxes the brow depressor muscles,” says New York oculofacial plastic surgeon Joseph Eviatar, MD. Ulthera, a radiofrequency treatment, can also be used on the brows to lift them about one to two millimeters —most doctors feel that the effects are not long-term and that the brow will not be lifted to the same degree as it can be with injectables or surgery.

For a Long-Lasting Solution: Lifting the brows surgically, with a variety of lifting procedures, can offset hooded lids. “We can also give lateral support to the brows through an incision in the temporal hair line. This helps push the brow back up and also helps shortens the length of the scar in the upper eyelid, if it is operated on,” says La Jolla, CA, plastic surgeon Robert Singer, MD. If the upper eyelids are not operated on, then no skin is removed (like it is during blepharoplasty), but the procedure does marginally raise the skin so that it looks a bit tighter.