Skewed Self-Image

The eyelid crease is so important, SuChin says, that it's now the number one plastic surgery in all of Asia. "I'm not talking about Asians [in America]," she says. "I'm talking about Asians abroad. … You can't even say it's because I've grown up here in America and I've only seen a certain type of beauty. It's everywhere."

In fact, she says the eyes are the most talked about thing, when it comes to body image or beauty, among Asians.

Unlike breast augmentations or face-lifts, the eyelid surgery has a different connotation in the Asian community. "For me and my family, this eyelid surgery wasn't like getting bigger boobs," she says. "It wasn't a vanity thing. It really, really was this belief that if you looked a little more Western [and] a little less Asian, it's like having a great degree from a better school. Or it's like having another skill. It was something to put in your portfolio."

For years, SuChin says she considered getting the surgery. She even went in for preliminary medical consultations.