One way Dr. Boxer Wachler can connect with his patients: He also learned about keratopigmentation from TikTok. It was only after his followers asked about cosmetic keratopigmentation that he considered offering the procedure himself. “Being open-minded and creative as well as being a scientist, I was thinking, ‘Okay, well, this is interesting,'” he says. He began reading the research of Dr. Ferrari and Dr. Alio, then learned how to do it based on his own experience with corneal surgery. They officially started offering the service in 2024. “In the beginning, there was a bit of a learning curve, because I had to figure out that there are different levels of color intensity,” he says. “Some people want a more dramatic effect, where it’s really noticeable and their eyes are bulging, so to speak. But most people want it to look more natural.”
The color change procedure starts at $12,000 at Kerato and Boxer Wachler Vision Institute, with additional fees depending on special requests and pre-existing factors. Both doctors report that financing with the CareCredit card is extremely popular, which can get you up to two years interest-free. Dr. Movshovich’s office estimates that 20% to 30% of his patients use some form of financing.
Dr. Movshovich has a Russian accent, a short salt-and-pepper beard, six children, and the boundless confidence of a surgeon. (While I was reporting this story, he asked me what percentage of the world is stupid, then he answered his own question: “Ninety percent.”) At his New York and Miami clinics, the process of changing someone’s eye color begins with a consultation. Many patients bring references after studying her work online, including a steady stream of before-and-after photos on her Instagram. “They can look at my Instagram or just the website for years,” says Dr. Movshovich, “to see if anything is going wrong.” “They wait until I’m either going to fuck up, or (I’m) going to show that it’s a safe procedure.” As a legal protection, Dr. Movshovich has patients hand out a copy of a paragraph explaining that it is not FDA-approved, is experimental, and involves a risk of minor complications.
During the meeting, Dr. Movshovich creates digital simulations that show the patient honey gold, hazelnut, aqua green, jade, olive, space gray, or magic gray eyes at various intensity levels. In the end, he says, most patients allow him to guide their decision, for which he uses his lifelong photography hobby. The right shade should match their hair and skin color, and many patients with dark eyes want their pupils to “pop” more. “But beautification is no big deal in science I Think this,” says Dr. Movshovich. “You know, beauty will save the world.”
The day I went to Dr. Movshovich’s office, the process began with another brief consultation. He confirmed the patient’s choice of color and intensity and reiterated the most important thing for the patient to keep in mind during the procedure: do not move. Patients are given numbing eyedrops but not put in for surgery, and Dr. Movshovich considers even minor changes the greatest risk for complications. (In the seven-year history of his practice, someone has only moved once during the laser portion of the procedure, causing the laser to cut the wrong part of the eye. He was able to complete the surgery after the patient had recovered for two months.)
