(CNN)From the piercing blue eyes of Paul Newman to the steely gaze of Daniel Craig, blue eyes have always been a measure of attractiveness.
But exactly why they make hearts throb and catapult actors and models to stardom is a point of conjecture.
Theories range from evolutionary psychologists who say that blue-eyed women in Palaeolithic societies had a better chance of standing out in the crowd, others posit that pupil dilation -- a signifier of attraction -- is easier to see in lighter eyes.
Either way, just 17% of the world's population has blue eyes.
For the majority of the world's population -- an estimated 80% - those elusive movie star eyes can usually only be obtained with the aid of colored contact lenses. But today there's a medical procedure that can permanently turn your brown eyes blue.
Pioneered by Stroma Medical, the laser procedure works by eliminating the brown melanin that's present in the anterior layers of the iris.
"The fundamental principle is that under every brown eye is a blue eye," Dr Gregg Homer told CNN, adding that there is no actual blue pigmentation in the eye.
"The only difference between a brown eye and a blue eye is this very thin layer of pigment on the surface.
Laser procedure can turn brown eyes blue - CNN.com
I think this is rather sad and a bit sick, honestly. People with dark features have been viewed as "second best" compared to people with lighter features for centuries and this problem is still pervasive. We have black and brown people making fools out of themselves and acting out their self-hatred through bleaching their hair, skin lighteners, nose jobs, colored contacts and eye implants. Now this.
Whatever happened to "Black is beautiful"?
But exactly why they make hearts throb and catapult actors and models to stardom is a point of conjecture.
Theories range from evolutionary psychologists who say that blue-eyed women in Palaeolithic societies had a better chance of standing out in the crowd, others posit that pupil dilation -- a signifier of attraction -- is easier to see in lighter eyes.
Either way, just 17% of the world's population has blue eyes.
For the majority of the world's population -- an estimated 80% - those elusive movie star eyes can usually only be obtained with the aid of colored contact lenses. But today there's a medical procedure that can permanently turn your brown eyes blue.
Pioneered by Stroma Medical, the laser procedure works by eliminating the brown melanin that's present in the anterior layers of the iris.
"The fundamental principle is that under every brown eye is a blue eye," Dr Gregg Homer told CNN, adding that there is no actual blue pigmentation in the eye.
"The only difference between a brown eye and a blue eye is this very thin layer of pigment on the surface.
Laser procedure can turn brown eyes blue - CNN.com
I think this is rather sad and a bit sick, honestly. People with dark features have been viewed as "second best" compared to people with lighter features for centuries and this problem is still pervasive. We have black and brown people making fools out of themselves and acting out their self-hatred through bleaching their hair, skin lighteners, nose jobs, colored contacts and eye implants. Now this.
Whatever happened to "Black is beautiful"?
