Contact Lenses
Colored Contact Lenses
Colored contact lenses change or enhance eye colour and are available with or without vision correction. Every colored lens is a medical device that requires a proper fitting, including those sold as costume or cosmetic lenses.
Colored lenses come in two broad types. Enhancement tints deepen an existing light eye colour and work by adding translucent colour. Opaque tints change the apparent colour entirely and work on dark eyes too.
The important safety point concerns lenses sold without a prescription, particularly around Halloween. Every contact lens is a regulated medical device regardless of whether it corrects vision. Decorative lenses bought from a costume shop or an unregulated website are frequently poorly made, badly fitted and non sterile, and they cause a predictable annual wave of corneal abrasions and infections.
A properly fitted colored lens is as safe as any other contact lens. An unfitted one is not.
What this does not do
- Colour appearance varies with your natural eye colour and lighting.
- Opaque lenses can restrict peripheral vision slightly in dim light because the clear central zone is fixed.
Questions and answers
Do I need a prescription for colored lenses with no vision correction?
Yes. Every contact lens is a medical device requiring a fitting, whether or not it corrects vision, because it still has to fit your eye properly.
Are costume lenses safe?
Not if they are bought without a fitting. Unregulated decorative lenses are a well documented cause of corneal abrasions and infections. Fitted colored lenses from a proper supplier are fine.
Will they work on dark eyes?
Opaque tints will. Enhancement tints only deepen an existing light colour and will not show on dark eyes.
Can I share them with a friend?
Never. Sharing lenses transfers organisms directly between eyes and the lens will not fit the other person's eye.
Talk to someone about colored contact lenses
Appointments are scheduled two per hour, so there is time to answer questions properly. Call (480) 706-3937 or request a time online.