You would have thought that choosing a pair of contact lenses for your next cosplay is easy. Pick a colour and that’s it, right? The truth is, there is a lot of subtleties that you may have missed out. Not two eyes are the same, and that little difference on the tone or shape of your contacts can make a huge impact on your perfect cosplay. I am going to show you how I choose contacts for cosplay.
First things first
When wearing contact lenses make sure you do so safely. If you are new to contact lenses I recommend you to visit an ophtalmologist first, some countries require you to get a prescription even if you have perfect eyesight. Always get your lenses from a trusted seller to make sure your contact lenses are safe.I have been buying mine from Uniqso for years and you can get a 10% off if you use the code “ALICECOS“. However, you can choose any other trusted supplier.
Of course, also keep in mind that contact lenses need maintenance and you want to make sure you keep your contact lenses safe and clean. Lenses do have a limited lifespan, it is best to keep track of the ones you own. You can do this easily on my Cosplay Planner which also includes lots of extra pages to organise your cosplays and conventions. If you have any doubts or questions, feel free to visit my Contact Lenses FAQs or ask a specialist.
It is (not) all about the colours
Of course, the first thing you look at when searching for lenses is the colour. However, it is not so straight forwards. There are many other factors that will affect your choice of contacts.
Tones and hues
Let’s say you are looking for blue circle lenses. Just a quick search is going to give you over 300 choices. This is because not all blues are the same. There are many hues and subtleties to each lens.
This is a comparison of the Sweety Bella grey and the EOS New Adult Blue. I absolutely love both pairs when I need blue contacts, but I would use them for completely different characters. I find the first ones are more realistic, whereas the second ones wouldn’t be something you would see in the real world but would be perfect for my anime characters.
Number of colours
Lenses rarely have only one colour. Actually, that usually results on very unrealistic lenses. The most realistic lenses will have at least two colours, 2-tone and 3-tone lenses are the most common and more belieavable looking. You can also get rainbow ones!
The Sweety Crazy Lens Mirror contact lenses I used for my Carmen Sandiego cosplay only have one colour and they create and odd unrealistic effect that can be perfect for some cartoon characters.
Diameter of the lens
The human iris is on average 10mm to 13mm, however, contact lenses are slightly bigger in order to cover it completely. The most natural lenses tend to be on the small size, around 14 mm. Circle lenses that make your eyes look bigger are around 14.5mm. For a more drastic effect you can try minisclera lenses, these are around 17mm. Finally, the sclera lenses are 22mm, they cover virtually the whole eye but they are also more uncomfortable and risky to wear.
Notice that some lenses with the same size may get bigger or smaller coloured areas, this means that even two 14 mm lenses could have a different effect. My Sweety shining brown are only 14.5 mm but make my eyes look bigger than many other contacts I have worn.
How much coverage do you need?
Contacts are supposed to cover your eyes, but how much of your eye? From very realistic contacts which will just cover the bare minimum to hide your true eye colour to contacts that will cover the whole of your eye, there are many possibilities. Not only that, you can also choose a lens that will blend with your eye or ones that will completely change its appearance.
Transparency of the lens
You would expect coloured lenses to be completely opaque but this is not necessarily the case. Actually, those lenses which are slightly translucent tend to blend better with your eyes. Of course, if your eyes are very dark and you need a very striking colour like yellow, you need lenses that cover your eyes very well. Furthermore, the effect may be different on blue, green or brown eyes, that is why it is always a good idea to check all the reviews to get an idea of how they will look on eyes similarly coloured to yours.
Green lenses like these Sweety Devil Green tend to have not so good covarage on dark eyes, which makes them look darker. It is always a good idea to check the customer photos to make sure they will look as expected on your eyes.
Pupil width and full coverage
Although contact lenses tend to have a similar pupil width you can actually get narrow or wide pupils on contacts. Of course, using contacts with wide pupils will show more of your iris and those with a narrow pupil may create a tunnel vision. You can completely make your eyes look one colour, usually with a mesh or with a translucent plain colour. These lenses however tend to be more uncomfortable as they slightly blur your vision.
The Sweety Cyan mesh cover your eyes completely. Your vision may get a bit blurry but nothing drastic. They create a very unique effect.
The circles inside your circle lenses
The rim of the lens is the outer circle of your contacts. You may not have noticed, but most lenses will have a different tone on the inner and outer circles of the lens. These can either be completely uniform or fade to blend with your eye.
Rim or no rim
It is very common to find contact lenses with a rim, this actually helps define the iris even more. Usually this rim is black or very dark, but you can also find contact lenses with no rim at all. The absence of a rim can make your lenses look odd depending on the style you choose.
Even a subtle rim like the one in my Sweety Devil Red will make your eyes pop up and look more believable.
Inner ring definition
In order to blend better with your eyes, many contact lenses tend to fade on the inside. A scattered pattern that gets less dense towards the pupil is another common method. Fantasy lenses are in general more striking and there is a sharp edge around the pupil, this also makes them less realistic. You can also get lenses with different shapes on the pupil like hearts or stars
You can clearly see both the inner ring and the outer ring of the lenses in my Sweety Harajuku Blue contacts. The colour is often darker than the main lens or even black. Also notice that the pupil opening on these lenses is wider than usual and they let my true eye colour show.
Outer ring definition
Similar to the inner ring, you can get all kinds of effects on the outer ring of your circle lenses. A sharp or slightly faded edge is the norm. Some lenses have a scattered rim or little lines around it. It is also possible to get lenses with some kind of geometric design around them, so don’t expect them to be necessarily all round!
Special drawings and effects
Indeed, you don’t need to stick to boring looking contact lenses. You can find all kinds of designs engraved on your favourite lenses. Stars, dots, flowers, hello kitties, anything. Oddly enough, some of my favourite contacts have weird shapes on them which are not noticeable unless you get really close. There is a lot of possibilities out there.
In most cases you can’t see the drawings on your contact lenses from afar, but they create interest in your eyes. Can you see the Galaxy drawings on my Sweety Galaxy Green contacts?
All the lenses showcased in this article are from Uniqso. You can use my affiliate links or promo codes to buy anything from their shop. I get a small commission at no extra cost for you if you purchase anything following my links.You will also get a 10% off discount if you use my code “ALICECOS“. I got some of these lenses as free samples, however, every single restock has been since purchased by me.
