Colored Contact Lenses

With colored contacts you can quickly change your look for a fun night out with friends or enhance your natural eye color to the intensity that you’ve always wanted.

Today colored contacts are available for most corrective prescriptions including bifocal and toric lenses. Lenses can even be purchased in non-corrective (plano) lenses for those who don’t require vision correction, but would like to change the color of their eyes. Most colored contact lenses are soft lenses, and they are available in both disposable and frequent replacement styles.

4 Types of Colored Contact Lens Tints

Visibility Tint – Lenses are slightly tinted so that the wearer is able to locate the lens while applying and removing it. Most of the contacts available on the market today are colored with a visibility tint. This tint also makes it easier to find the lens if it is dropped. Lenses with visibility tint do not change the wearer’s eye color.

Enhancement Tint – Lenses are colored darker than a visibility tint, but are still translucent. Enhancement tinted lenses are designed to enhance the wearer’s natural eye color. These lenses offer the best results for wearer’s with light colored eyes who want to intensify their eye color.

Color Tint – Lenses have a deep, opaque tint that allows the wearer to completely change his or her eye color. Color tinted lenses allow wearers with dark eyes to change their eye color. While the tint is opaque, the color is actually applied on the lens in a series of shapes, dots and lines which help to mimic the natural look of the iris. Halloween or special effects lenses are considered color tint lenses.

Light-filtering Tint – Lenses are intended to filter the light entering the eye in an effort to enhance particular colors while muting other colors. Other light-filtering lenses can be used as sunglasses to cut down on glare while outdoors. Light-filtering lenses are relatively new and are the latest development in colored lenses. These lenses are designed to enhance the performance of athletes.

While enhancement tint and color tint lenses are able to change the wearer’s eye color, the portion of the lens that lies over the pupil remains clear. Since this portion on each of the lenses is devoid of color, the lenses do not adversely affect the wear’s line of vision.

Although colored contacts can be fun and fashionable to wear, it is important to remember that contact lenses are medical devices and should not be shared with other wearers. There are several risks associated with sharing contact lenses with others including infections and corneal abrasions.

If you are interested in wearing colored lenses, you will need to meet with an eye care practitioner for an eye exam and contact lenses fitting to obtain a lens prescription. A prescription is needed for all contact lenses whether they are corrective or non-corrective (plano) to ensure that they fit your eye properly. Before beginning to wear colored lenses, be sure to familiarize yourself with Contact Lens Basics and Proper Contact Lens Care.