Like other Kyrgyz women, Madina* has often dreamed of having deep-set eyes. After a few months pondering, the 57-year-old decided to fulfill her dream and signed up for a “blepharoplasty” procedure, or double eyelid surgery.

A popular procedure in Kazakhstan and South Korea for years, blepharoplasty consists of changing the eye shape by removing some of the skin around it and adding an upper eyelid crease to Asian eyes. In Kyrgyzstan, a traditionally Muslim country with a secular state, so-called “euro-eyelids” are booming, especially among younger women.