Contact Lenses
Contact lenses are small concave circles commonly made out of silicon hydrogel that people wear over their corneas for hours at a time, usually for vision correction.
Some benefits of contacts go beyond that of glasses, such as specific types of disease correction or safer wear during athletic tasks. People wear contact lenses to improve vision, improve their aesthetics, and to help with conditions such as kerataconus or aniseikonia. Contacts are useful when playing a sport or in tasks that require more peripheral vision.
Contact Lens Facts:
– Over 30 million Americans wear contacts.
– 125 million people in the world wear contacts.
– 2/3 of those are women, which is not surprising as one of the main benefits of contacts is cosmetic.
– The average age of people who wear contacts in the U.S. is 31.
Color Contact Lenses
Color contacts in particular are worn for cosmetic enhancement, as they change the color of the wearer’s eyes. They can also be worn in place of glasses for vision correction.
One of the most popular color contact lens brands in the U.S. is Freshlook. Here is a video review that goes through all 12 Freshlook lens colors:
Everyone in the U.S. who buys color contacts is required by law to have a prescription before purchasing a pair.
However, even if your eyesight is perfect and you don’t require contacts for vision correction purposes, you can still go to an eye doctor and be fitted for a prescription for non-vision correcting color contacts, also known as plano color contacts.
There are two types of color contacts:
1. Vision-correcting color contacts:
These correct vision problems such as nearsightedness, farsightness, and astigmatisms, as well as change or enhance one’s eye color.
2. Plano color contacts:
These only change or enhance one’s eye color, and are for those who already have perfect vision.
Even though everyone is required to have a prescription in order to buy color contacts in the U.S., you do not need imperfect vision to qualify for a prescription. The prescription requirement is for safety reasons. You want a doctor to measure your eyes and give you a prescription for contacts that will fit correctly and not damage your eyes in any way.
Eyes are very sensitive, and having properly fitted and FDA-approved, high-quality contacts goes a long way in keeping your eyes safe and healthy for years to come.
Types of Color Contacts
Enhanced Tint
Enhancement tint contacts are the lightest available color contact, and instead of changing your eye color, they simply enhance the color of your natural eye. For example, if you have brown eyes, you could buy brown enhanced tint color contacts to make your eyes a deeper brown.
Medium Tint
Medium tint contacts are darker than enhanced tint, but not as dark as an opaque tint lens. They can change your eye color completely, but will be less opaque and less intense than a darker tint/opaque contact lens.
Blended Tint
Pioneered by Freshlooks, the blended tint contact lens combines multiple colors into one lens to give a more blended, natural look to your eye color. The 3 blended color dimensions blend with your natural eye color to create a more natural look that is also darker and more intense than the enhanced tint color contact lenses.
Opaque Tint
Opaque lenses are one color, completely solid lenses. They are the most dramatic of all the lens types. Those with darker eyes can use opaque lenses to completely their eye color. Anyone, even those with light eyes, can wear opaque lenses for a dramatic change.
Halloween contacts are an example of opaque tinted lenses that completely cover your natural eye color to create a dramatic effect such as making your eyes into cat eyes, vampire eyes, crazy colored eyes, or any of the many options available. However, there are many non-prescription Halloween lenses sold each year, which can be dangerous/illegal if not approached in the right way.
Here are two Halloween contact lens reviews of one of the most popular Halloween lens types, white cat eye contacts:
Circle Contact Lens
Circle contact lenses are large lenses with color that goes beyond your natural iris to make your eyes appear larger. They have been a recent fad among youth in Southeast Asia. Circle contacts are often non-prescription (and therefore not legal in the U.S., as are all contacts obtained without a prescription). More about circle lenses here
What color is best for you?
Hazel Eye
Like your outfits and accessories, choosing the color contact that is right for you depends on your mood as well as what you feel happy and comfortable in.
Here is a quick 60 second color contact overview video – get a quick idea of what your favorite color would be:
Much like your favorite outfits, you will find some color lenses look better on you than others based on your natural eye color, skin tone, and hair color. This is something you can figure out by trying different colors.
However, just like you can pull off those leopard heels and pink jumpsuit, with the right attitude, you can pull off any color contact with confidence.
If you have never worn lenses before, don’t be worried that they are hard to put in. It is something everyone can learn to do with a little practice.
Watch the video to learn how to put contact lenses on, and laugh at me as I go through some of the struggles you inevitably will also.
But don’t be worried, it is not hard to do once you get the hang of it.
How to put in contact lenses video: