You Can Change Your Eyes to 'Riviera Blue'—but Should You?

One day a week in a Paris clinic, patients are paying thousands to trade brown eyes for "Riviera blue" or "pistachio" green, by having pigment injected into their corneas. Writing for the New York Times, Saskia Solomon delves more into the procedure, devised by ophthalmologist Francis Ferrari and branded FLAAK, for femtosecond laser-assisted annular keratopigmentation. The process creates a circular tunnel in the cornea with a laser, then uses a custom scalpel to swirl in mineral-based dye. "The color of the eye is determined by the iris, and we won't be changing the color of the iris," Ferrari recently explained to a patient. "We will be hiding the color of the iris by coloring the space in front of the cornea, similar to a contact lens." Recovery is only about a day, and demand has since topped 2,500 patients, many recruited via Instagram.

The medical establishment is far from sold. The American Academy of Ophthalmology has twice warned against cosmetic keratopigmentation, flagging risks that include infection, scarring, chronic pain, and even blindness—concerns amplified by a lack of long-term data and the eye's sensitivity to foreign material. The surgery isn't FDA-approved, and US patients currently must travel abroad or seek out a small group of trained surgeons at home. Ferrari argues FLAAK is no more dangerous than LASIK and is safer than contact lenses or iris implants, framing it as a way for people deeply unhappy with their natural eye color to "become who they've always wanted to be"—at roughly $8,100 a pair. Read the full piece here.