Archive for June, 2009...
Filed under Special Effects
It’s sometimes surprising when you look into the eyes of someone and you discover you’re not looking into blue, green or brown eyes but something akin to vampires, to monsters that it takes your breath away. But just for a minute. You realize then that that person is wearing what you may call “crazy contact lenses”, contact lenses that alter the color and appearance of your eyes. They’re different from the usual colored contact lenses though in that they have their own special designs and artistry that are derived from fiction, movies and basically any source that you can think of. That is why, they’re called crazy contacts because you can have whatever style or design that you desire.
But where do you get these crazy contacts? First of all, you need to get a doctor’s prescription to be able to buy them and use them regardless of whether you need eye correction or not. These may be contact lenses that you use for fun but they’re still medical devices so you need a prescription for them. Once you have a prescription, you may ask you doctor for some of the products that brand-name manufacturers have, like Crazy Lenses by Cooper Vision and Wild Eyes by Ciba Vision. Otherwise, you may look for reputable designers and retailers through the net.
Another word of caution when it comes to wearing contact lenses is that you should never share your contacts with anybody. This will lead to bacterial infection because these germs may be passed on from their eyes to yours. Make sure to also clean your lenses if you plan on wearing them regularly. The most that you can probably wear the lenses is 8 hours and you can never wear them overnight. Just take note of these precautions and you’ll enjoy your crazy lenses for a long time.
Filed under Special Effects
Have you ever wondered how characters in a movie can have extraordinarily exceptional unnatural eyes, especially when they’re playing the parts of zombies, vampires and even aliens? To make the “look” complete and to make the character especially believable, special effects teams on these movies use costume contact lenses. You’ve seen vampires with red eyes, the elves on Lord of the Rings with shimmering/glittering eyes and even Pinhead from Hellraiser with his creepy black eyes. All of these were achieved with costume contact lenses.
If you want to make a bold statement with your eyes, whether as part of your Halloween costume or just part of your regular wardrobe, there are many available designs to choose from either direct from the manufacturers like Crazy Lenses by Cooper Vision and Wild Eyes by Ciba Vision or from small retailers through their online stores. Some of them even accept custom-designed contact lenses if you really want to be unique or if you favor a particular look that’s currently not available in the mainstream.
Some of the more popular designs include the cat’s eye, white-out/black-out (also available in scleral that totally covers the whole eye and not just the pupil) and movie-based eyes. The important thing to remember is the care you exercise when wearing these contact lenses. Though they’re fun and funky, they’re still contact lenses and need to be worn with caution. For instance, never share your contacts with anybody. If your eyes feel irritated, remove the contacts immediately. Never wear them for too long and never sleep in them too. Always get your contacts from reliable suppliers and make sure that you order in advance because stocks may not always be sufficient or if you’re ordering specially-made contacts, they may need some lead time to make them.
Filed under Special Effects
Contact lenses used to have a specific function – to correct eye conditions much like a regular eyeglass does. They weren’t even so popular because it took some time for people to adjust with the actual “putting the lens in their eyes” thing. But over time, contact lenses improved and people became adjusted to wearing them. Now, contact lenses are very diverse with many types and brands to choose from to suit practically everybody’s needs.
Cosmetic contact lenses are just one of the many popular types of contact lenses in the market today. They refer to contact lenses that can alter the appearance of your eyes for aesthetic purposes. These may be your simple enhancement contact lenses, those with solid but translucent tints that serve to highlight your eyes’ natural color but not necessarily changing them. They may even be your colored contact lenses, those that are deeper and opaque tints that can change the color of your eyes completely, regardless whether they’re light or dark-colored. They come in a wide variety of colors and are available in plano prescription (for those who don’t need any eye correction) and for those who need a prescription for their myopia, hyperopia or even astigmatism.
These regular cosmetic contact lenses usually let the wearers see through them. Simply put, the center part of the lens, or the one that’s directly over the pupil, is clear which lets the wearers see through it. Other cosmetic contact lenses are called scleral contact lenses because they also cover the white part of the eye. They are mainly used for film and theater when you want to alter a character’s eyes so as to make them totally unnatural. The problem sometimes with scleral lenses is that they can only be worn for a short time since you can’t see from them so that causes temporary vision disturbances. The other cosmetic contact lenses don’t have that problem.
People like wearing cosmetic contact lenses because they enhance one’s appearance, whether for a regular day or for special events like Halloween and parties. The important thing is to exercise caution in wearing them.
Filed under General
It is indeed a fact that a pair of contact lenses cannot live without they’re compatible contact lens solution, unless, of course, they’re daily disposables in which case there’s no need for a solution because you simply discard the old lenses once they’re used. You see contact lenses need to be cleaned regularly to remove dirt and protein deposits to ensure clear vision and healthy eyes. Cleaning and storing them also give your eyes a chance to rest and breathe and those are also important to maintain healthy eyes.
You also can’t just choose any other contact lens solution for yourself. Make sure that what you get for your contact lens is the one prescribed by your eye doctor or at least recommended by the manufacturer of your contact lenses since there are many types of contact lens solutions in the market. Choosing the wrong one will create problems for both your eyes and your lenses.
Traditionally, you need three types of solutions – a cleaner and a rinsing solution. The cleaner is used for cleaning your contact lenses. You rub both sides of the lenses to make sure that all the dirt is removed. You use a rinsing solution, like a saline solution, to rinse the lenses. You may use additional devices with other solutions for disinfecting and storing depending on what’s compatible for your lenses.
A newer addition to contact lens solutions is the multi-purpose solution. You can use it for cleaning, rinsing, disinfecting and storing. This is very effective for people who like the convenience of simply using one product to handle all the necessary cleaning. It also makes it easier to clean your lenses because you don’t need to remember which solution is for which purpose and you don’t have to worry about making a mistake when you accidentally use the wrong solution.