Today in WTF?! news, I bring you keratopigmentation, or as the kids are calling it, “eye tattooing.” True to what it sounds like, the cosmetic procedure involves a pigment-filled needle going into your cornea to cover the iris with a new permanent eye color. I’m almost always out by the time I hear “needle” (except for the health and civic duties to stay vaccinated and give blood), but a needle in the eye?? No. Nope to the no no no. Not for me, never will be. But apparently it’s popular, with one ophthalmologist amassing millions of followers on TikTok where he shares before and after pics of patients. But though this Doc loves the work he’s doing, the American Academy of Ophthalmology would like to remind us that the inherent risks of surgery could easily end up harming your eyesight:
A procedure known as keratopigmentation—where color pigment is injected into the cornea to cover the natural iris, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology—has been gaining popularity on social media with its promise to permanently change patients’ eye color in just a matter of minutes.
Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, an ophthalmologist with over 3.4 million TikTok followers, has accrued tens of millions of video views on the platform with clips of his patients’ before-and-after transformations, including one where a woman was overcome with emotion after successfully undergoing the operation to change her eye color to olive green.
“I love it. The color is very natural,” she said in the video, adding that she felt no pain after the surgery. “It’s amazing.”
The video concluded with a notice that the procedure—also known as eye tattooing—could cause “light sensitivity and scratchiness,” but some experts say the risks can be much more extensive.
In January 2024, the American Academy of Ophthalmology issued a release cautioning against the procedure, as they warned of “serious risks for vision loss and complications” including damage to the cornea, bacterial or fungal infection and leakage of the dye into the eye.
“Don’t think that these surgeries carry no risk,” AAO clinical spokesperson JoAnn A. Giaconi, MD, said in the release. “No surgery is free of risk. With purely cosmetic surgeries on the eye, it’s just not worth the risk when it comes to your good vision.”
But Wachler dismissed the advisory as “make believe facts about the dangers of this procedure,” adding that he intends to challenge the Academy’s stance.
“This is going to help make [patients] happy,” he told NBC affiliate WXII in October. “This is what they have dreamed of. And now the technology is there, and it’s proving to allow them to have it.”
Egads. I don’t even have to ponder the possibility of this, given the needle quotient. Just getting through reading this article was a serious strain on my nerves! But if I really had a burning desire to change my eye color, I would check out contact lenses to achieve the look. Also, as a general rule, I don’t source my doctors on TikTok. Very old fashioned of me, I know. (And to this doctor in particular: remember, your job isn’t only to make patients happy, but to first do no harm.) But really, folks, be safe in how and who you let treat your bodies! And if possible, let’s try to love ourselves as we are? I realize it’s the great journey/struggle of life. Case in point: my mother has blue eyes, but she’s always had a striking brown patch in just one eye. As a kid she didn’t love it, and accused her own mother of making her from a kit. Recently, though, she had cataract surgery (it went perfectly!), and one of her biggest worries going into it was that the brown spot would somehow be affected. Thankfully it wasn’t, and she gets to enjoy it even more now that her vision is so much better!
Photos via Instagram/Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler
It looks like they still have a ring of brown around the new color? IDK they don’t look any more/less real than contact lenses. These days they make really realistic ones. That being said, what is wrong with brown eyes??? They’re beautiful, soulful and have depth.
There’s something so unnatural looking about them. They look like vampires. Whether it’s the brown ring or just that the color doesn’t really suit there own coloring, don’t know for sure but ugh. Brown eyes are beautiful.
The color of my eyes was a gift from my ancestors. Every time I look in the mirror, I see both my mother (Mom passed two years ago) and my grandfather (her father) looking back at me.
No societal trend would ever convince me to part with my eye color.
This. Beautifully said
Totally agree….
This is weird.
Yes, that was really lovely, PunkyMomma.
I’m going to think about that whenever I look in a mirror now.
I’ve got 5 siblings … each one of us has a different eye color, brown, hazel, blue, blue grey, some with flecks in one eye, some with a yellow ring around the pupils. While the sensitivity of my blue eyes can be kind of a pain, literally and figuratively, I can’t imagine taking my healthy, functional if near-sighted eyes and letting someone stick needles in them for cosmetic, coloration reasons. I’ve had the privilege of accompanying a relative to a retinal specialist several times for shots in her eyes to *preserve* her vision … it’s scary and painful and risky even if you’re in the best of hands.
Vision loss is no joke, functionally and in terms of sensory enjoyment of life … cool trendy eye colors are not worth the risk.
This makes me so sad.
I had six siblings( 3 have passed). Our dad had bright blue eyes, our mom striking green eyes. We all got variation on that theme. I have a mix of everyone’s, a baby sis bonus! sometimes they appear grey, sometimes blue or green. Wouldn’t change that for all the money
Okay besides the rage of reading that doctor’s response to ophthalmologists raising caution, this actually pains my heart a little. All of the pictures here show people with brown eyes changing them to lighter colored eyes. Brown eyes are so gorgeous. I myself have green eyes and while I do get compliments on them, I also complain about them because my vision is crap and I think they look reptilian. However, I also have come to the realization, after playing around with colored contacts over the years, that my green eyes are actually the ones that look the most natural for my face. Sometimes nature gets it right, ya know? And I’ll say it again–brown eyes are gorgeous. If you’ve got ’em, love ’em.
Same and same on the reptilian! I have blue-green eyes and they suit my colouring, but I love my boyfriend’s brown eyes more. The example pics all come off a bit odd rather than an improvement.
I assure you, as someone who has gotten two cornea transplants, you do not want needles in your eyes for funsies.
Geez, agreed.
This is an over-the-top, dangerous vanity move. Playing with potential vision problems or, worse, blindness doesn’t make any sense. But, I guess I have to insert here … To each their own.
I had to have medically necessary eye surgery, under anesthesia, but I had to be awake for the last part of it. I won’t explain why unless someone wants me to. I was on copious amounts of I don’t know what – Valium? Haldol? Obviously everything was numb as well. It was, without a doubt, one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever experienced in my life. And I was at John’s Hopkins with a surgeon that specialized in this. Not some random TikTok ophthalmologist.
Anyone that messes with their eyes for cosmetic reasons needs help. I’m not talking about eye lifts or brow lifts.
Please don’t explain! Decades ago my optometrist asked me if I were interested in lasik surgery for my near-sightedness & I said no thank you, not unless they figure out how to do it while I’m completely knocked out. I just start to hyperventilate at the very thought–head stuck in a vise, doc right up close to my face; I have a devil of a time just at my annual eye check appointment. No no no, a thousand times no! My brown eyes are my mother’s & I’m not willing to exchange them, thank you very much.
Oh no absolutely not. No needles near my eyeballs!! This is weird. Don’t they make colored contacts so that you can change your eye color? I wouldn’t even do that but that seems a better option.
People are just getting stupider and stupider.
How much does this procedure cost? The world is on fire and they figure that they are never going to be able to afford a house or be able to retire so why not I guess.
The doctor’s response to the warnings put out by the American academy of ophthalmology ” Make believe facts about the danger of this procedure” = Trump’s fake news. Another unfortunate byproduct of having that man in the White House. This is a new procedure he’s doing give it a while and see when the lawsuit start. Remember when BBL was new and now all we’re hearing about are the deaths and the quacks that do BBL
Exactly! That guy does not inspire confidence & with that statement made me wonder whether he is truly a board-certified ophthalmologist.
My eye colour is indiscriminate. When I asked my GP what colour were my eyes, she said ‘beautiful blue’. When I asked my cataract surgeon what colour were my eyes, he said ‘green-ish’. My sister has gorgeous, real green eyes. My son has sparkling blue eyes. I used to call mine hazel until someone told me no, hazel is more a combo of green/brown and I have no brown whatsoever.
I think brown eyes are gorgeous. I have always thought the combo of blonde hair, brown eyes to be very attractive. But with any hair colour, brown eyes are, melting, smiling, OMG brown eyes are so expressive compared (IMO) to the bland, green-ish, blue-ish colour of my eyes. If it weren’t for the ick factor of needles in my eyes (NEVER EVER WOULD I FOR PURELY COSMETIC REASONS) I would change my eye colour to brown. But hey, I yam what I yam (thx Popeye) so will continue to love brown eyes from afar.
You do have hazel! My husband has blue-green hazel and I have brown-green-blue hazel. He has hazel on his driver’s license and no hint of brown in his eyes.
I have always considered my eyes hazel. They aren’t blue and they aren’t green – they are a mix of the two. I also have a pronounced amber/gold ring around my pupil. If I’m wearing a blue top then my eyes appear to be more blue. If I’m wearing a green top then the green pops out more. They turn blue when I cry. They seem to be getting more towards the blue side as I get older. My dad had the same eyes, but his tended to look more green.
I can’t imagine wanting to change your eye color. My eyes are my dad’s eyes (color and shape). That would be taking a part of him away from my face.
Same.
I have brown eyes that look green depending on the lighting. I’ve always recorded them as brown (like on my driver’s license) but was told they really are hazel.
Yeah, hazel is just a mix of eye colors really, doesn’t have to just be green/brown.
Mine are green/gold layer in the middle/brown.
My 3 closest friends have blue-green hazel eyes and I love to see how they change!
Not enough money in the world to risk my sight to do that.
It reads like the beginning of a horror movie.
Of all the dangerous, stupid ideas out there this ranks close to the top.
Absolutely.
Oh, totally agree. I wish I had blue or green eyes, but not THAT bad *squick*
There are things about my looks that bother me enough that if money were no object, I would consider procedures to resolve them. Like my aging neck. I absolutly hate it. I won’t say a nexk lift would be life changing because that gives it far too much credit, but it really would help with my self esteem a LOT.
So, as I would love to change some things about me, it feels hypocritical to shade others doing the same. But, needles in your perfectly healthy eyes, just to change a half inch area to a different color? It really does seem insane. So many people wandering around unable to appreciate who they are, it is very sad. I am not immune to it either, so no judgement, but it’s just sad.
Completely agree. There are things I’d also change about myself if I had a lot of money, but it seems there’s nothing people won’t pick apart, hate and change about themselves.
Nope.
Nope.
Nope.
No way in hell.
Yeah, call me crazy but I think I’ll pass on this. *shudder*
I have brown/green hazel eyes and have always wanted olive green eyes. All of the colored contacts are more of an emerald green which is disappointing to me. One morning I mistakenly grabbed a dark navy blue eyeliner (which I had never used) instead of the black I usually used and it really brought out the olive green. It was weird. I got so many compliments on my green eyes that day, so obviously dark navy blue is my go-to eyeliner now. Much cheaper and safer than eye tattooing.
Tattoos fade, what will their eyes look like in 10 years?
Oooh, I wonder if that would work on me? I’d like mine to look more green than brown.
Try colored contact lenses. Cheaper and safer, Jennifer.
Another trick is burgundy or purple mascara. Sometimes I wear a coat and make sure to get it close to the roots, then cover it with black, so only the part closest to the eye has the red tones. Makes green pop without having too many reddih shades near eyes which can make me look like I was crying.
I’ve never liked colored mascaras because they do make me look like I was crying (my eyes are a gorgeous green after crying. lol) but I’ll give it shot with the black over it. Thanks for the idea!
Absolutely NOT! I Several years ago, I thought Tiny (rapper TI’s wife), was crazy when she went overseas and changed her eye color. To hear it’s now becoming mainstream is crazy. Plus, I refused to have LASIK surgery after watching one of the Final Destination movies. Needle to the eyes? Not unless its medically necessary with full sedation and ice cream afterwards! As a bibliophile, I’m fearful of doing anything that might harm my vision.
If an entire medical organization, esp one that specializes in that specific field of medicine, is warning against it, heed the warning!
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, Max Scherzer has heterochromia – one blue, one brown eye,,, I don’t hear what he says in interviews as I am fascinated by his eye colours.
No.
I say this as a green eyed person who loves brown eyes. There was a time I would have judged this so harshly. I remember when TI’s wife Tiny did something reckless and dangerous to change her eye color and I had nothing but side eyes for it. My own eye color has progressively lightened over the years – not sure what has caused it and neither do ophthalmologists. It went from hazel brownish to green sometimes gray. When I was a baby I had blue eyes (I think everyone does) and they seem to be reverting back to that as I get older. It started in my late thirties.
When Whiteness literally determines your rights – and the worship of Aryan features is in full force – when you can be sent to a concentration camp based on your skin color or shot at a traffic stop, or end up in a refugee camp – look at who catches hell overwhelmingly in the world – White Supremacy is in FULL FORCE throughout the planet, can we really blame people when they associate safety with Aryan traits (I know many African tribes and tribes in Papua New Guinea have dark skin and light eyes but I am specifically referring to Americans here).
I can attest I am treated differently as a person with light green eye color – the worship of Aryan features is real. I am stopped in the street and people will sometimes get in my face to see if my eyes are real (super annoying and rude and I would go off on people doing this in a pandemic – get back wtf) This didn’t happen when my eyes were hazel or brownish.
Now I am seeing Asian creams to lighten skin ads all over my social media – this is strange because my algorithm would show I follow darker skinned beauties like Sonya Barbie Tucker and Duckie Thot – but it seems to be a blast sent to all POC – you can expect this to increase as nazis take over the damn world.
No judgment here. Yes it’s stupid. And these are also extraordinary times where POC have to guard their spirit, reaffirm their worthiness on the daily. Not everyone is strong and yes, people are mentally breaking down from the weight of White Supremacy.
thank you for this personal and nuanced comment.
I was looking for a comment like yours. Tragically, I think you are right. They probably have zero people changing their eyes to brown. Speaking of gorgeous, though, have you all checked out Rishi Nair on Grantchester?
Thank you Gah and Sierra Bloom. This is 100% a byproduct of White Supremacy and people needing to feel safe, valued, and like their lives matter. It is very sad. It breaks my heart. And what’s so sad about it, they aren’t wrong. The colors look fake to me, but guess what most people in America will see this as an improvement. They will get stopped by complete strangers who will complement their eye color.
We live in an era where jacking up your face is considered an improvement – everyone has the same face now, which tells me how overwhelming the pressure is to look a certain way.
I fault the doctors. They’re the ones who lack ethics, just like the doctors who mark up the faces of people who are already beautiful and recommend all kinds of work done and they come out looking like the damn Joker.
And you are correct Rishi is gorgeous. He has that it factor for sure!
I deplore the cookie cutter and “young” faces that Hollywood demands. At least the British shows have a lot more leeway, Rishi excepted lol!
Yes, same! I love British shows for real faces and real teeth! I can’t stand seeing someone who is supposed to emote not being able to move their damn face or watching a movie set in BC or the 1900s and every actor in it has Mr. Ed chompers – literally blinding veneers as if anyone had teeth like this back then. It’s ridiculous but people want to complain when a Black woman is cast as a fictional nonexistent mermaid character…
Thank you. So well and intelligently said. I grew up the child of migrants in a racist time and country. I was constantly told that I did not fit ( insert racist slur) because of my light hair and eyes. My beautiful much darker-featured sister was not given the same treatment… I could not understand it then but I do now. This is that.
Everything you just said is so true. We don’t want to acknowledge how we as a society create this when we tell kids stay out of the sun, not because we are worried about sun damage, but because we don’t want them to get darker! We sent these ridiculous messages as a society to people and then just expect them to overcome it.
The reality is Whiteness is obsessed with Black people – they WISH they were Black. I got made fun of for having full lips when I was younger, guess who RAN OUT to go get lip injections the second they were available? The same women who made fun of me. Same with butt implants. Trump himself wears BROWN makeup. We’re past orange here it’s brown! His makeup is darker than mine.
If only we understood how much racists want to be Black, we’d stop letting them play Jedi mind tricks on us and gaslighting us into believing Black beauty doesn’t exist. Or it needs to have Aryan features to be truly beautiful. It’s complete bullshit. I tell my child play in the sun. He has sunscreen on enjoy the sunlight. When he gets three shades darker in the summer, I compliment his beautiful skin. He gets a completely different messaging from me than he gets from other family and society.
I can’t even read this it’s so revolting. I have had very limited sight in one of my eyes since birth, and a couple of operations on it. The idea of anyone doing this as some sort of vanity act makes me ill. No reputable medic would even consider doing it.
Craziness. And not even remotely natural looking. And what’s wrong with brown eyes, indeed? Looks like nobody’s suggesting this for the blue or green eyed to switch to brown. And this is supposedly permanent? What if it isn’t? More dye? How much dye is too much dye? Contact lenses seem the safer way to go if you really despise your eye color (not sure how that’s possible, but OK).
At some point, this doctor is going to be sued and/or lose his license. It really is unconscionable. Do no Harm, indeed.
I wouldn’t do it. Your eyes are too important for a vanity treatment like this.
The women in the photos had beautiful eyes before. They look weird in the after photo, too light, almost cloudy like age-related glaucoma. I think dark brown eyes are beautiful, I have them and have always received compliments. And I love that I passed them on to my three kids.