Do conversations stop in mid flow the minute you walk through a door? No? Well, you could remedy that with a set of special effect contact lenses! Though they are fun to wear, with a little care, you shouldn’t experience any problems. As with most things, the wearing of contact lenses can be detrimental to your eye health. Here’s how to stay safe!

Always buy your contact lenses from an authorised dealer where you will require a prescription which is current. If you are told a prescription is not required, don’t touch them with a barge pole! There are suppliers who are happy to sell to you special effects and coloured contact lenses without a prescription, but this has been illegal since 2005.

Sizes do vary from eye to eye and contact lenses do not come in a standard size. Your eyes will need to be measured. Surprisingly, the curvature and size of each of your eyes does not necessarily correspond and you will need a prescription for each eye. In fact they can vary so considerably, even your own set of lenses may not be interchangeable for you personally, let alone fit anyone else! Without this your eyes may be subject to discomfort or even pain. Save all the hassle and get a prescription for your eyes and purchase safely from an authorized dealer. We have trading agreements with two leading contact lens retailers, Vision Direct and Lens Catalogue, both companies carry all of the leading makes of coloured contact lens and they both offer discounts of up to 70% compared to buying your lenses from an optician.

Ensure your contact lenses are for your use only. As tempting as it is to be flavour of the month with your friends, do not under any circumstance allow them to try on your coloured lenses. They could pass on their bacteria to you or you to them, either way, its not going to be pleasant!

The world is your oyster when it comes to fashioning a pair of contact lenses. If you are into music, you could have little musical notes hand painted on, or maybe a treble clef? You love animals, so you could have cats eyes (these are ever so popular, especially at festivals!). You like the outdoors and hiking, so why not have a tree painted on or a mountain range? Your options are limitless!

A popular design in America is the good old stars and stripes flag. Not sure how many people would want the English Union Jack flag painted on, not unless they were English football supporters! The Olympics might even produce an extra sale or two of Union Jack contact lenses! It takes all sorts!

The hand painted designer lenses can cost serious money but CIBA Vision’s range of “Wild Eyes” special effects lenses cost around £30 per lens and can be ordered here on the Lens Catalogue web site.

The slightly more normal ranges of coloured contact lenses can be found through our online stockists Vision Direct. Browse to your heart’s content till you find ‘the one’.