Color Contact Lenses - Cosmetic & Prescription
Sometimes it's fun to change our look every now and then, and color contacts are a great way to do this easily and affordably. You can purchase cosmetic color contacts even if you don't need to wear glasses in a whole variety of colors and designs - so you just pick the one that suits you!
There are two types of cosmetic color contacts - enhancement tints and color tints. Enhancement tints do not change the color of your eye, they simply just enhance and brighten the color that you already have. These are a popular option for people who have light colored eyes that want a more intense, deeper color.
Color tints are deeper, opaque tints that completely change the color of your eyes. These are a particularly good choice for people with dark eyes who want to change the color - such as brown eyed people wanting to have blue eyes. They come in a huge range of colors and also in patterns and designs for the more daring of you!
Color contacts have been designed to look realistic, so are usually made up of patterns and/or colored dots to try and replicate a real eye. This ensures they blend in and look as natural as possible. The middle part of color contacts is always clear and sits over your pupil so you can see.
There are also costume or theatrical color contacts - these are much more intense and offer the wearer a special-effect contact and can give you the appearance of being a cat, lizard and everything in between. These are mostly used in movies and for television but are becoming more popular for novelty wear.
Your eyesight will usually not be affected by color contacts, however occasionally they may slip below or above your pupil slightly obscuring your vision. At different times of the day your pupils may also be more or less dilated meaning some of your pupil will be covered up by the contact lens. However, most people have no problems with color contacts - and the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages!
Even if you are purchasing color contacts purely for cosmetic reasons you still need a prescription under U.S. Law. This became law in 2005 after people starting becoming aware of the possibility of eye injury or blindness through improper use of color contacts, particularly amongst minors who could purchase them from novelty stores.
The hardest decision to make when purchasing cosmetic color contacts is which color to choose! There are so many different colors and shades to choose from. Some people just want a subtle change to their appearance, and nothing too dramatic, this is when you should choose a color that isn't too different to your own, perhaps just use an enhancement tint that will just make a subtle difference. Other people want a more dramatic change to their eye color, so they may go for bright colors such as amethyst, violet or green.
There are several different brands of color contact lenses for cosmetic purposes. One of the best-selling and most popular are by Fresh Look. They have a huge range of different colors and are very natural looking. Their website also offers you the chance to upload your photo and see what you would look like with different eye colors to help you choose the perfect one for you.
Acuvue also offer a great range of color contacts. They have both Acuvue 2 Color Opaques for those wanting a dramatic eye color change and Acuvue 2 Color Enhancers for those wanting a more subtle result.
Impressions Colors are a range of five different subtly blended color contacts from Marietta Vision. They have a unique dark outer ring that will make your eyes pop. Marietta Vision also has the Clearly Colors range that are more intense and they offer seven different vibrant colors.
Many color contacts are disposable, however the Durasoft by Cibavision are long lasting and durable, and can be re-used if looked after properly for up to one year.
The Focus brand of color contacts are disposable but you can buy either ones that last for a week or for a month. They offer three subtle shades that enhance lighter colored eyes.
