Yes, Some Men Are Really Shaving Their Eyelashes Off

This is not a joke. Some men are really shaving their eyelashes off as part of a style trend.

The goal is to appear more masculine, according to an April 30, 2025, article by CNN that explored the trend.

The eyelash-shaving trend went viral after social media videos showed men "braving blades very close to their eyes," according to CNN.

Sure enough, it's not hard to find TikTok videos capturing the trend, including this video of a man getting his eyebrows shaved with a clipper.

Some TikTok users who watched that video were horrified.

"DO NOT DO THIS. LIKE EVER," wrote one.

"Why just why. This is naturally your eye protector," wrote another person. "This just breaks my heart seeing it," another person wrote.

CNN reported that men are embracing this look "in barber shops from Turkey to New Zealand," and the goal is to end up with "stubby lashes."

@ahmadrezanikzad

Really? #plankton #Eyelashes #cut #shave #fyp #viral

♬ Originalton - ᴀʜᴍᴀᴅ ʀɴ

A TikTok user sent the video viral, writing, "This is a whole new level of stupid."

Before shaving off their eyelashes, people might consider that they have a function. Many of them.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, eyelashes function "as dust catchers, protecting the eye from debris that can obstruct vision or cause infection or injury. They are like human whiskers. Lashes act as sensors for objects coming close to the eye—like insects—and trigger a reflexive and protective blink."

Ivan Schwab, MD, professor of ophthalmology at the University of California, Davis, said on the Academy website that eyelashes are “unique among body hair. Healthy lashes are believed to never go gray. They are among the shortest hairs on the body with the longest lifespan. And the melanocytes (pigment cells) at the base of eyelash follicles rarely, if ever, become malignant.”

Related: Scientists Announce Big Breakthrough in Race to Cure Men's Baldness