A Very Easy 3-Step Guide to Caring for Coloured Contact Lenses

Coloured contact lenses are a fun and easy way to transform your appearance. Whether you want a subtle makeover or a radical change, the perfect pair of coloured contacts is easily available.

Keep in mind that contact lenses are medical devices and usage comes with a need for proper care to avoid any risk to your eyes. Certain costume lenses can harm your eyes. That's why you should only buy lenses from a reputable retailer.

Stand out from the crowd without risking your eyesight. Follow our 3-step guide to caring for coloured contact lenses.

Step 1: Choosing Your Coloured Contact Lenses

When choosing coloured contact lenses, the wealth of choices can feel overwhelming. A quick Google search for coloured contacts reveals dozens of online sellers. And they offer a huge array of products. Avoid the infinite scroll of online shopping. Ask yourself a few simple questions to filter your results before you even get started.

The first thing to consider is whether you need contact lenses with corrective power. If you already wear corrective lenses, coloured contacts can perform a dual function. Not only can they correct your vision, but they also have the added benefit of giving you a new look.

Johnson & Johnson’s 1-Day Acuvue Define Vivid Style lenses give you more expressive eyes. These lenses accentuate the edge of your iris. They vary the translucency and natural pattern already visible in your eye. Bausch & Lomb’s NATURELLE PUREBLACK lenses intensify the colour of your iris to give you bigger looking, extra beautiful eyes.

Both of those lenses are also available in the power of 0. This means those who don’t need corrective lenses can enjoy them. They come as daily disposables too. You can throw them away at the end of each day, eliminating the need to clean and store them.

What Kind of Look?

Next, you need to consider what kind of look you want to achieve. Subtle lenses are great for adding vibrancy to your natural eye colour, but what if you’re looking for more?

Contact lenses with an opaque tint can completely change your eye colour. If you have dark eyes, these are the only lenses that will have a dramatic impact. Opaque colour contacts come in a wide variety of colours, including green, blue, hazel, brown and grey.

You might also consider light-filtering coloured contacts. These lenses can improve colour vision, a feature that is particularly beneficial to athletes and artists. Light-filtering lenses are also proven effective in treating migraines. They block out harmful blue and violet light. These types of light come from the daily screen use of computers and cell phones.

Coloured Contact Lenses to Avoid

Costume, theatrical and special effects lenses are opaque. They’re used in movies and on stage, and are especially popular around Halloween. These lenses come in pretty much any style you can imagine.

Health Canada classifies contact lenses as medical devices. So retailers must have a license before they can sell them in Canada. Because of this, make sure you only buy costume contacts from a reputable retailer. Otherwise, avoid them. When sold at local stores or online shops without a prescription, these contacts are considered a novelty item, and they are not regulated in any way. And yet they can be quite dangerous for your eyes. Don’t risk your eyesight. Avoid costume contacts that you may find with any retail business that does not specialize in contact lenses

Circle lenses were first popularized by Lady Gaga. They have opaque colouring or patterning that covers more of the eye than corrective lenses do. The intent is to make the pupil look larger, more dramatic, than it actually is. These lenses make it very difficult for oxygen to reach the eye. This can cause permanent damage and vision loss. Some costume lens materials can be abrasive to the cornea. Injury sustained from a contact lens can become keratitis. This is a very dangerous bacterial infection that can lead to blindness.

Because circle lenses were so popular, they became relatively easy to get, purely for cosmetic reasons, without proper attention to eye safety. And they earned a reputation for being unsafe. Those are to be avoided. Rather you can get an equally dramatic effect with coloured contacts from reputable manufacturers.

Step 2: Get the Right Fit

Once you’ve chosen the type of coloured contact lenses you want, the next step is to have them fitted. The lenses must match the curvature of your corneas perfectly. An eye doctor will use an instrument known as a keratometer to measure the precise shape of your eyes. They will also determine the general health of your corneas and tear films. That way, they can ensure your lenses are comfortable.

After placing the lenses in your eyes, your eye doctor will test the fit and your visual acuity. Providing all is well, you’ll be free to leave. You’ll need to return in 4 to 6 weeks for a follow-up.

Step 3: Caring for Your Coloured Contact Lenses

Without proper care, contacts can contribute to harming your eyes. They can aggravate allergic reactions or worsen allergy symptoms brought on by pets, pollen and other irritants. Protein created by the eye can also build up on the lenses and, if not cleaned, can lead to an eye infection.

By far, the most common cause of eye infections is poor contact lens hygiene. But you can change bad habits into good ones. To be sure you take good care of your coloured contact lenses, here are a few care tips to consider:

• Whether the lenses are monthly, weekly or daily, never wear them past their expiration date.
• Always wash your hands with antiseptic soap. Dry them on a lint-free towel before putting your contact lenses in.
• Clean the lenses with contact solution before inserting them. Unless they’re daily disposables. In which case, they’re ready for use right out of the package.
• Lenses can feel uncomfortable when you first put them in. However, they should never be painful or cause your eyes to become red or your vision to be cloudy. If any of these issues occur, remove the lenses immediately.
• Always apply makeup after you’ve put your lenses in. And only use eye drops your optometrist has approved. If a foreign particle finds its way into your eye, rinse it with eye drops, not water. Water contains microscopic bacteria and viruses that can cause infections.
• If your lenses aren’t disposable, you must store them in a proper way. Once you’ve removed your lenses, clean and place them in a clean contact case. Fill it with fresh solution.

That’s it! Our simple 3-step guide to caring for coloured contact lenses will keep your eyes clear and bright, whichever colour you choose.