Archive for 'Contact Lenses'

Disposable contact lenses make sense for the type of lifestyle most people lead these days. Busy, active folk don’t have time to mess with cleaning solutions and disinfecting every day. Disposable contact lenses are meant to be worn once and then thrown away to be replaced with a new, clean pair. They come in a wide variety of prescription strengths, and in varieties that can be worn for as little as a few hours or as long as a month.

If you are considering disposable contact lenses, but haven’t yet made up your mind, then comparing the pros and cons will help you to decide if they’re right for you.

Pro: Convenience

Wear-once disposables never have to be cleaned, disinfected or stored. You wear them once, and then throw them away. No messy solutions, no spending half an hour disinfecting them – just open the package, wear them – and when it’s time to take them out, toss them in the trash.

Pro: More sanitary

Because you wear the contacts only once, there’s less chance of eye infections and irritation caused by improperly cleaned lenses. There’s less chance for the buildup of proteins and lipids (a natural consequence of wearing contact lenses) to breed bacteria and transfer it back to your eyes.

Pro: Less Expensive

We tend to think of disposable anything being more expensive – but in the case of disposable contact lenses, the expense of buying a new pair is offset by not having to buy cleaning solutions, storage cases and disinfectant. Your only expense is the disposable lenses themselves. You can wear disposable contact lenses for only a few cents a day.

Con: They may not be right for you.

About 90% of contact lens wearers can wear disposables. The simpler your prescription is, the better the chance that a manufacturer makes contact lenses that come in your prescription. Because manufacturers only stock standard sizes and prescriptions, you may be out of luck if your prescription is unusual or uncommon.

If you’ve never tried wearing contact lenses – or if you’ve tried but couldn’t because you got frequent eye infections or were sensitive to the contact lens cleaning solutions, disposable contact lenses may let you lose the glasses for good. Check with your doctor to see if disposable contact lenses may be a solution for you.

amethyst-coast-contactsHave you ever wished that you could change the color of your eyes?  Now you can, with colored contact lenses. Contacts aren’t just for people who need their sight correcting. Colored contact lenses are also available with no sight correction – these are called Plano lenses.

As the words of the song say “don’t it make your brown eyes blue’, Well if you always wished that your brown eyes were blue or indeed if you have ever dreamed of having Liz Taylor’s violet eyes, or envisioned yourself with eyes of sparkling emerald; now, thanks to the magic of colored or tinted contact lenses, you can have eyes of virtually any color that you want – you can even have a different color every day and for even the very popular black contact lenses.

Looking for crazy  contact lenses? Then head on over to our theatrical contact lens page.

Show your true colors with Freshlook Colorblends colored contact lenses

Colored contacts have been used in the theater and in certain professions for decades to change or intensify eye colors. And while colored lenses have been available to the general public with a prescription for quite some time, the cost was prohibitive for most. Often, a person who opted for colored contact lenses was choosing them as their only pair of corrective lenses.

The advent of inexpensive disposable contact lenses has made colored contact lenses available to the mainstream population as a viable choice for once-in-a-while wear. In fact, many of the most popular brands of soft lenses are made with no prescription strength whatsoever – strictly as an enhancement to eye color.

Colored or tinted lenses from major manufacturers are available in standard eye colors, including bare tints that will deepen and enhance the eye’s natural color. They’re best suited for people with light-colored eyes who just want to add a little sparkle. If you want to change your eyes from brown to blue or green, you’ll need to opt for a stronger tint, but those are available, too.

Change The Way People See You!

Blue eyes are the most desired eye colour, followed by green.  But changing the color of your eyes doesn’t just change how you look.  It appears that people associate eye colors with different personality traits.

A contact lens company in England carried out a survey of over 3,000 men and women aged 18 – 24.  They were shown photographs of people and asked to rate them.  What they didn’t know was that many of the people in the photographs had changed the color of their eyes with contact lenses.  The results were intriguing.

  • People with blue eyes were thought of as firstly flirtatious and secondly, sexy.
  • People with brown or hazel eyes were considered to be affectionate and kind.
  • Green eyed people were thought to be the most creative, mysterious and intriguing.
  • People with grey eyes were considered the most intelligent and also the most shy.

So bear this in mind when choosing your colored contacts!

How Do Colored Contact Lenses Work?

Most contact lenses have a slight tint, so that you can see them in their cleaning solution and find them easily if you drop them.  It’s called a visibility tint and is very faint so it doesn’t change your eye color at all.

Colored contacts that change the color of your eye use many different colored dots on the lens.  This mimics the natural pattern of an iris (the colored part of your eye) so that the color isn’t just flat.  Some lenses use a combination of three differently colored iris patterns to give an entirely natural overall look.  In some brands, you can choose your own two colour combinations for a custom made look!

The middle part of the lens which covers the pupil is left clear so that your vision is not affected in any way.

Enhance Your Own Eye Color

If you’re quite happy with your own eye color but would just like to brighten it, lenses are available which feature pearlescent effects.  These add sparkle and shine to any color of eye.

How Do I Get Some?

If you’re not a current contact lens wearer, you need to make an appointment with your nearest eye care professional for a contact lens fitting.  This involves taking simple measurements of the shape of your eyes so that any lenses that you buy fit your eye properly.  It only takes a few minutes and doesn’t hurt.  Nothing touches your eye.

You may wish for him/her to provide the colored lenses for you, or you can take your prescription and buy the lenses over the internet. Even if you don’t need sight correction, you will need to have your eyes measured.

Once you have your prescription you can then hop online and shop in the comfort of your own home. Its the easiest way to get the best deal on your contact lenses.

Your Eyes Are Precious! – Safety issues associated with colored contacts

Eye professionals caution, though, that colored contact lenses are not just another fashion or cosmetic accessory. They require proper fitting, even if you don’t need prescriptive lenses, and you’ll have to go back for measurements again after you get your lenses to be sure that they’re properly sized. In addition, it’s vital to remember that they are a medical appliance that fits in your eye. NEVER lend them to friends or borrow a friend’s colored or theatrical contact lenses. That’s an almost sure prescription for spreading infection.

Because of those cautions, most eyewear professionals recommend that children should be in their mid-teens before being fitted for color lenses, or any other contact lenses. If you’ve got a yen for green eyes and yours are gray, check with your eye care professional to see if colored contact lenses are an option for you.

Colored contact lenses used to be classed as cosmetic items and that is why they were available without prescription. It is still possible to buy Plano lenses over the internet and in specialty shops without a prescription but it’s now illegal in America and unacceptable to reputable sellers worldwide.

Even the sites that do still sell without a prescription have a disclaimer tucked away in their small print.  It usually says something like ‘All sales are under the understanding that the customer is responsible and holds a valid contact lens prescription.”  You may do – but these sites are purely ‘Add To Basket’ and have no facility for ordering different strengths or sizes!

Colored lenses have now been classified as medical items in an effort to ensure safe regulations – so if you do choose to buy without a prescription, be aware that it is at your own risk.

There really is no need to risk comfort and safety – as so much is available.  Shop around.

How Do I Choose A Color That’s Right For Me?

To get a natural look, the color that you choose should be based on your own natural eye color, the color of your hair and your skin tone.  If you need help choosing, visit an eye care professional for advice.

Of course, you may wish to choose a color that looks startling and dramatic, like violet or very bright green or blue.  It all depends on what sort of look you are going for.

What Else Do You Need To Know?

  • Very dark brown eyes can have their color changed with specially designed opaque lenses – in all colors.
  • If your eyes are very light, colored lenses can brighten or deepen your natural color.  Or you can change it altogether!
  • If you have astigmatism, you can still wear colored lenses – look for colored torics.
  • You can even get colored bifocal contacts.
  • You can try before you buy – see an eye care professional in your area.
  • You can choose from disposable or non-disposable colored lenses.  The choice depends on how often you are going to wear them – full time, or just for a night out.
  • If you choose non-disposable, you will need to care for them just like ordinary contacts.  So add cleaning solution to your budget.
  • The color of the lenses doesn’t fade.
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