A Guide to Color Changing Contacts

It is common to pick an outfit to suit your mood and the day ahead. What you may not know is that changing your eye color is just as easy. Enter colored contact lenses, an alluring and fun way to ensure your look matches the way you feel.

Ever wondered how you would look if your eyes were a different color? Trust us – the change is nothing short of exciting!

Often referred to as dress-up or decorative contacts, colored contact lenses can add decorative shapes or tint your eyes in a color of your choice. Today, the colors and patterns available are near limitless. They range from conventional and unique to lenses with all sorts of interesting depictions.

You could be thinking of getting yourself a pair. Perhaps you’re wondering how colored contacts can affect your eyes or if you qualify to buy them. For all your colored lens questions, this post offers insight into their benefits, requirements, and effective use.

Colored Contacts: An Overview

Colored contacts are prescribed contact lenses that let you change the color of your eyes. You might be interested in adding a slight tint to your iris. Rest assured, you can make them more blue, slightly greener, or a brighter shade of hazel. 

Have you thought of an outrageous look that needs an equally dramatic glare? Colored eye contact can be bold, subtle, or anywhere in between.

Contrary to popular opinion, though, these lenses are not over-the-counter purchases. You must provide a prescription in order to acquire colored contacts. This is regardless of whether you need them for corrective vision or not.

Despite their growing cosmetic use, colored or not, all contact lenses are recognized as medical devices. This means that they can cause harm without the correct consultation. Your contacts must be fitted, worn, and maintained according to a qualified prescription.

Are There Different Types Of Colored Contacts?

There are indeed different types of colored contact lenses. In general, they come in visibility tints, enhancement tints, blending tints, and opaque tints.

Eye specialists take a lot of factors into account before prescribing ordinary contact lenses. Choosing the right color contacts to achieve the look you are after requires the same amount of consideration. Luckily, colored contacts come in a wide variety of lenses materials, shapes, and colors.

Visibility Tints

Visibility tints tend to be faint, having little effect on the color of the eye. If you’re after a very subtle change in eye color, these are the choice for you. 

Visibility tints were not initially designed to change your eye color. They wear contacts with a slight tint, which makes them easier to identify whenever they fall out. If you’ve ever tried to locate a lost clear contact lens, you can definitely appreciate the thinking behind visibility tints.

However, regardless of their design purpose, they do add a barely noticeable tint to the color of your eyes.

Enhancement Tints

For those with a paler irises, this is the ideal tint for you. Enhanced tints are great for making your eyes a lot more vibrant. If your eye color is already dark, the effect of enhanced tints can be nothing short of bold.

Enhancement tints are slightly darker than visibility tints. Unlike visibility tints, and as their name suggests, these are used to enhance the natural color of the eye.

Opaque Tints

These are not transparent lenses. The iris portion of opaque tints is, as the name suggests, opaque. They come in a wide range of colors and can be designed with shapes printed on the iris.

The center is clear, of course, to allow you to see. If your eyes are naturally dark, you will most likely need opaque-colored contact for a complete and bold change in eye color.

Even dress-up contacts fall into this category, too. With these, you can achieve a look that is completely dramatic. Opaque tints can make you seem like a vampire with blood-red eyes or a wall street boffin with dollar signs in his line of sight.

Are Color Contacts Safe?

So long as your lenses are fitted properly, worn correctly, and cared for, color contacts are very safe.

Much like regular contact lenses, color contacts pose no harm to your eyes if you use them according to the instructions of a specialist. You should pay particular attention to how often you can wear them, how long you can keep them on, and how to properly store or replace them.

For these reasons, it is most vital that you see an eye specialist for a lens exam and fitting. This is regardless of whether you’re going to your contacts regularly or for a single occasion. This will ensure that your contacts are safe, professionally prescribed, comfortable, and achieve your desired look.

How To Treat Your Colored Contacts

Colored contacts can be used to rid insecurities or for daily cosmetic purposes. Regardless of what you need them for, there are do’s and don’ts when it comes to their use and handling.

Sharing contact lenses is not suggested. Contacts, whether colored or not, are medical devices that are meant for the person to which they are prescribed. As fun as it may seem to borrow your friend’s color contacts, it is truly ill-advised.

Sharing contacts can lead to bacterial infections and eye irritation. While on the topic of eye irritaion, you must refrain from wearing contacts whenever your eyes are iritated. This can further irritate the eyes and, in some cases, lead to vision-threatening infections.

Remember to always buy your contact lenses from a reputable supplier. Also, remember to consult a doctor before using “over the counter” color contacts. These are mostly available online but more likely to be unsafe for prolonged use.

Fitting Your Contact Lenses

Contact lenses require a prescription. With us, a team of specialists measures the size of your cornea to determine the type of contacts that will fit you best. Afterward, trial lenses are ordered for you to fit.

In cases of first-time fittings, the patient will be briefed on the safe use and storage and care of their color contacts. A trial period is then undergone to see if any irritation or discomfort arises while using them. 

After the contacts are seen to be treating the patient well, allowing them to see effectively, they are then permitted to use them and reschedule consultations in the future.

If you’re looking to book a consultation, come schedule an appointment with us today!