Refresh Your Style with This Color Contact Lens Guide
If you've ever thought about experimenting with your eye color, a color contact lens may be the perfect accessory for you. A colored lens allows you to temporarily change your eye color to either enhance or transform the appearance of your eyes.
How Color Contact Lenses Work
A color contact lens alters the part of your eye known as the iris. The iris determines how much light enters into your eye by controlling the size of your pupil.
You probably already know what the pupil is. It’s the black circle in the center of your eye, surrounded by your colored iris.
Do Color Contacts Alter Vision?
Wearing rose-colored glasses is one thing. You can take them off to see things as they really are. But have you ever wondered if color contacts affect the way you see?
The answer is no, for most styles. Generally, color contacts will have a transparent pupil so that your vision is not altered. Only the outer circular portion of a color contact lens would be dyed. That said, with some theatrical contacts, say, for a Zombie movie, the whole eye is covered. This can impair vision (which is probably why zombies are so clumsy)!
Color Contact Lens Variety
Now for the fun part: Deciding which color contact lens is best for you.
Color Contacts come in an abundance of hues. You’ll find natural colors like light blues, soft greens, and chocolate browns, as well as unique shades of violet, honey, and gray.
For a bolder option, you can also choose opaque tinted lenses.
Overall, with so many options as daily disposables, you can change your style as often as you like!
2 Main Types of Color Contact Lenses
Depending on your natural eye color and your desired look, there are two main types of color contact lenses.
- Enhancement tinted lenses are aptly named for the purpose of enhancing your natural eye color. These lenses are tinted, yet translucent. As a result, these lenses are best suited for accentuating eye color or for changing light hued eyes to a darker hue.
- Opaque tinted lenses are not translucent. Therefore, you won't be able to see your natural eye color underneath the lens. These are the lenses you’d choose if you want to alter your eye color, especially if you have naturally dark eyes. While too opaque to allow for flawless, natural transformations, opaque lenses create a fun, “unreal” look for cosplay or costume parties!
Prescription or Non-Prescription Color Contact Lenses
Color contacts come in prescription and non-prescription variants. This means that even if you don't require vision correction, you can still wear non-prescription color contact lenses for cosmetic purposes. Just remember that all contact lenses, color or non-color, are considered medical devices under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Therefore, these require a valid prescription from a certified eye care practitioner. Why? Because even if your “power” is 0.00, a bad contact lens fit could damage your eyes. So, do visit your optometrist to discover the right fit and base curve for you.
Choosing Your First Color Lenses
Choosing the right contact lens style for you depends on several factors.
Think about where you'll be wearing your lenses and the sort of occasions you'll be attending. If you require vision correction, then it’s likely you'll be wearing your lenses on a regular basis. If so, consider choosing a subtle shade that complements your natural eye color. That way, you can get the most out of your contacts.
However, if you simply want a cosmetic pair of lenses, it may be worthwhile to identify your skin’s undertone. This will ensure that your new color contact lens will suit you beautifully.
How to Identify Your Skin's Undertone
Do you get compliments when you wear a certain color? That could be an indicator of which color best suits you.
Likewise, you should consider your skin tone and hair color when choosing a color contact lens.
The way to do that is to find your skin’s undertone. The undertone is the color underneath the surface and is often categorized as cool, warm, or neutral.
- A cool undertone is marked by hues of red, pink, or blue.
- A warm undertone is identified by shades of yellow, olive, or gold.
- A neutral undertone is a combination of both cool and warm undertones.
The overall concept of undertones means that, even if you share the same skin color as another person, you could both suit a different color contact lens simply due to contrasting undertones. So check out this link to identify the undertones in your skin's complexion.
Custom Color Contact Lenses
As you’ve probably guessed, it is also possible to have custom designed, made-to-order contact lenses. Film and theatre professionals use these for a number of purposes.
But did you realize that in addition to changing the color of your eyes, you can also play with the illusion of texture? Manufacturers of higher quality contact lenses pay close attention to details such as striations that mimic the natural appearance of eyes. This allows actors to play many different characters from all ethnicities (or even sci-fi characters from outer space).
Another subset of custom contact lenses are called circle lenses, which are designed to enhance the limbal ring. The limbal ring is a dark ring around the iris, which when darkened, will accentuate the color of your iris and give the impression that your eye is bigger and brighter than normal. The result is simply beautiful!
The sport tint lens is yet another type of custom color contact lens. Similar to the circle lens, the sport tint lens does not add any visible color to your eyes. Instead, a slight tint is applied to the entire surface of the lens to enhance visual performance.
For people who spend a significant amount of time outdoors, especially for work or competition, the sport tint lens can help reduce unnecessary strain on the eyes by reducing glare, increasing contrast, and improving depth perception.
The actual tint of this kind of color contact lens depends on the lighting of one’s environment. A yellow lens is ideal for sunny days when you want to block out the brightness without sacrificing sharpness. On the other hand, a green tinted lens is a versatile choice for partly cloudy or overcast conditions. And finally, a green hue enhances visual definition, even in low light.
Change your lens, change your look
Wanna know the beauty of color contact lenses? You can change your look you'd like. Here are some of the most popular color contact lens choices you have:
Freshlook color contacts: Enhance your eye color via weekly or daily lenses.
Acuvue Define: 1-day color contact lenses in sparkle, shimmer, radiant, and more!
Naturelle color lenses: Create an alluring “big eyes” look by mimicking larger pupils. Popular for cosplay, nightclubbing, or just looking extra-cute!
With all these color contact lens options, you’ll have a blast changing up your style.
Want your color contact lenses in a hurry? Skip the lines at the costume shops and order online with LensPure today!