Fox eyes: what they are, cat eyes vs fox eyes, and makeup

What are fox eyes?

Fox eyes are eyes that look long, slightly narrow and lifted at the outer corner, with a brow that runs fairly straight and ends high rather than dropping at the tail. The whole eye area seems to sweep up and out toward the temples. The term took off on social media around 2020 as a makeup trend, and it’s now used for both the natural eye shape and the look people create with liner, brows and, sometimes, cosmetic procedures.

In eye shape language, fox eyes are a combination of three things: an upturned corner tilt, a long almond or narrow outline, and a level or lifted brow tail. None of them is rare on its own. What makes the look is having them together, and that’s why makeup can get most of the way there: it can lengthen the outline and draw a lifted line even when the eye corners themselves sit fairly level.

Cat eyes vs fox eyes: what’s the difference?

The two terms overlap, and plenty of people use them interchangeably. When there is a difference, it’s mostly about length and where the lift goes. “Cat eye” usually means a winged liner look or an upturned eye with a visible lift at the outer corner; the eye can still be fairly open and round. “Fox eye” usually means a longer, sleeker outline where the lift carries on past the eye into a straight, high brow tail, so the eye reads narrower and more elongated.

Both are styles, not grades. Round, open eyes with soft corners are just as admired, and they suit different makeup. If you’re curious where your own eyes sit, the useful question isn’t which label you match but which way your corners point and how open your lids are, because those decide what kind of liner will look natural on you.

Do I have fox eyes naturally?

You can check the three traits in a mirror or a photo. Keep your head level, relax your face and look straight ahead. First, the corners: if a pen held level across both inner corners sits clearly below your outer corners, your eyes tilt up. Second, the outline: long, narrow eyes are much wider than the lid opening is tall. Third, the brows: a fox-eye brow ends close to or above the height where it starts.

FaceRater’s eye shape test reads the first two from one front photo, after leveling your head. It calls eyes upturned from an average corner angle of 5.5°, and when 2,560 adult reference photos were measured the same way, about 22 in 100 reached that line. For the outline, it calls eyes long and narrow when the lid opening is 0.31 of the eye’s width or less, almond up to 0.37, and round above that. So a natural fox-eye combination shows up in the result as “upturned, long, narrow eyes” or “upturned almond eyes.”

Brows are a separate reading. Measured along the brow’s middle line, most tails sit a few degrees below the head (about 4.5° in the studio photos the eyebrow shape tool is calibrated on), so the tool calls a tail “higher” above −3° and “lower” below −6°. A “higher” tail is the brow half of the fox look.

How to do fox eye makeup

Fox eye makeup draws one long line from the inner corner out toward the brow tail. The eye shape test’s tip for long, narrow eyes sums up the idea: “Liner that extends past the outer corner and a slightly lifted wing lengthen the outline; a touch of shimmer on the center of the lid adds light.” The steps below work on most eye shapes; go slower if your corners tilt down, and keep the wing thinner if your eyes are already strongly lifted.

Check each step with your eyes open and your head level. A wing that looks perfect with the eye closed can bend or disappear once the lid opens, especially on hooded lids, so draw the angle while looking straight into the mirror.

• Map the angle: imagine a line from the outer edge of your nostril through the outer corner of your eye toward the end of your brow. Your wing follows that line.
• Draw a thin wing along that line first, then connect it to the upper lash line, thickest at the outer third.
• Extend a soft line from the inner corner slightly down and in, which lengthens the eye in the other direction.
• Blend a deeper shadow from the outer corner up toward the brow tail, keeping the edge sharp on top and soft underneath.
• Keep the lower lash line mostly bare, or smudge a little shadow only under the outer third and angle it up to meet the wing.
• Curl your lashes and put most mascara or lash volume on the outer third, brushed up and out.
• Add a little highlight on the brow bone under the tail to make the lift read higher.

Fox eye brows: straight and lifted at the tail

Brows do half the work of the fox look. Most brows have a soft arch and a tail that sits a little below the head. For fox eyes, the brow runs straighter, the arch moves slightly outward, and the tail is brushed up and ended at or above the height of the brow head, on the same line your wing follows.

To get there without waiting for growth, brush the hairs up with a clear or tinted gel, fill the underside of the tail with short strokes so it reads lifted, and keep the head of the brow soft so the line looks deliberate rather than drawn on. If you remove hair, take it only from under the tail and never from the top. Let your face lead: a very sharp tail on soft, round features can look stern in photos, so try a gentle version first.

What is a fox eye lift, and is it safe?

“Fox eye lift” is a marketing name for procedures that try to lift the outer eye area permanently or for a while. The most advertised is a thread lift, in which barbed threads are passed under the skin near the brow tail and pulled upward. Others include brow lifts and canthoplasty, surgery on the outer eye corner itself. They are medical procedures, and they carry real risks.

The evidence is thinner than the ads suggest. A 2018 systematic review of facial thread lifts found little solid evidence for their efficacy or safety, and most studies showed at best a short-lived lift. A 2021 meta-analysis of facial thread lifts in general (not only the eye area) pooled 26 studies and found swelling reported in about 35% of patients, skin dimpling in 10%, altered sensation in 6% and visible or palpable threads in 4%. Canthoplasty reshapes the tendon and tissue that hold the lids against the eye, and its listed complications include an outward-turning lower lid, misdirected lashes and irritation of the eye’s surface. Whether any procedure suits a particular person is a decision for a qualified oculoplastic or facial plastic surgeon after an examination, not something to choose from a trend.

One more piece of context: when the trend spread in 2020, many people posed by pulling the outer corners of their eyes toward the temples. Asian American writers and creators criticized that pose because it echoes a gesture long used to mock East Asian eyes. The makeup itself doesn’t require it; the look comes from the liner and brows.