“You look tired”: What happened when I embraced my under-eye bags for a week

Embracing the bleph.

Like most women chronically online, the thought of a new beauty trend making the rounds (ironically) makes me feel fatigued. Social media (but let’s be real, TikTok) has exposed me to new insecurities I never even thought possible.

Why age naturally when you can prevent wrinkles with the help of a needle? Are your earlobes saggy and in need of nip-tuck? How much upper gum do you show when you smile? Nothing seems to bond us more than worrying about our appearance. It was only recently I saw a 25 year old go viral for committing the ultimate faux pas: showing her real skin, and I can hardly tear my eyes away from Kris Jenner’s uncanny valley facelift. It’s a minefield out there.

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For as long as I can remember, my under-eye bags been the bane of my existence. I could have 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep and they’ll be there. For some, they’re a symptom of ageing, fluid retention, allergies or lack of sleep. For others, it’s genetics.

So you can imagine my surprise in seeing TikTok user, Elise Perry’s video claiming that under-eye bags might be… sexy. Hot, even. “Save the bleph,” she says, referencing French actress Léa Seydoux. “This is what makes her chic.” I promptly saved the video.

Wait, what is the ‘bleph’?

@eliseperry29 #lowerbleph #undereyebags #fyp #leaseydoux #kristenstewart ♬ cigarette burns – slowed reverb – moonvampire

For the unacquainted, saving the bleph is in response to the uptick in ‘lower blower blepharoplastirs’, the formal name for a cosmetic surgical procedure that aims to remove under-eye bags and reduce puffiness. Up until recently, people on TikTok have been anti-bleph, opting into the surgery to look less puffy and tired.

According to Niche Plastic Surgery, it involves incisions inside the lower eyelid and beneath the eyelashes, allowing the repositioning or removal of fat. For some, blepharoplasty can be a solution to functional issues, like excess skin or droopy eyelids. But for the most part, it’s typically done for cosmetic reasons and aimed at young people. In Australia, it’s reported to cost between $3,000 and $8,000.

I asked Holly, my desk-buddy and FJ’s Branded Content and Production Coordinator, on whether she’s been sucked into the lower bleph algorithm. “Usually I’m pretty strict with avoiding that kind of content for the negative impact it has on my self confidence, but in this case I was sucked in, spending way too long looking at before-and-after bleph removals. I started thinking, “I think I need this’.”

In this context, Elise’s video feels like an antidote, a push back against the rise in cosmetic procedures, clean girl makeup and airbrushed-looking skin.

Embracing the bags

Alongside sunscreen, a good concealer is easily one of my desert island beauty products. When I’m running late in the morning before work (always), I’ll take an extra minute to dab some concealer on my ever-present under-eye bags. Coming off the back of a busy Melbourne Fashion Week, being tasked with ’embracing’ my dark circles was the perfect timing. I didn’t have to find ways to enhance them, they were dark and puffy as ever, ready for their debut.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, leaning into this particular beauty trend is the easiest one I’ve had to do. It involved… doing nothing. In all truth, it’s probably far easier to embrace them from the comfort of my office desk, rather than at a fashion event. And I definitely noticed myself compensating in other ways – making an effort to do my hair or putting more thought into my outfit, as a way to balance them out.

But there was another part of me that felt defiant. I’ve felt exhausted this week! The world is tiring! Why do we – no, why do women – need to constantly conceal how we feel?

Is fatigue… fashionable?

Under-eye bags are most strongly associated with being tired, whether you’re born with them or not and embracing them is to embrace the rise in party girl aesthetics, popularised by Charli XCX, Gabbriette and Rachel Sennott, it’s become cool to look like you’ve been up partying all night. After all, to have under eyes bags must mean you’re tired – tired from living, tired from doing so much.

While part of me jumps with joy at the thought of putting down the concealer, I’m also skeptical. For years, we’ve been pummelled with eye creams that over-promise and under-deliver, collagen powders and expensive tools, so it’s hard not to see this under-eye trend as another trojan horse for micro-beauty trends.

Inevitably, it’s not just under-eye bags that are in. It’s buying an eyeshadow to enhance them; looking up tutorials for tips to paint them on. As Sara Radin recently wrote, “Suddenly, the lower eyelid, once synonymous with fatigue and imperfection, is being reframed as aspirational.” So, are we meant to deliberately stay up late? Seek out a hangover for the sake of the bleph?

Elise Perry decrying that people should keep their blephs shouldn’t feel radical. Not having cosmetic surgery shouldn’t feel like we’re veering from some kind of default.

Like anything making its way through the algorithm, it’ll come and go. However, any beauty trend that encourages you to accept the way you are – whether that’s with deep under-eye bags, jowls, wrinkles, whatever – feels like the pendulum is at least starting to swing back in the right direction.

As Holly said to me, “it’s so important to dig deeper to accept and love what you have, no matter what fleeting blephs of culture come our way.” If you don’t have them, fine. If you do, also fine. As long as you get your eight hours sleep.

For more the lower bleph, try this.