Color Contact Lenses - 7 Things You Need to Consider Before Buying Them
by Tanya Turner

Color contact lenses can really brighten your look and your life, but selecting the perfect pair is not as easy as it sounds. We will tell you everything you need to know about color contacts.

1. Are your eyes light or dark?

When deciding what color contact to buy, take into account the natural color of your eyes. If your eyes are light and you want to brighten their natural color, go for enhancement color contacts. Enhancers look more natural on light eyes. However, if your eyes are dark or you want a dramatic change, look at opaque color contacts.

2. What kind of change do you want - a dramatic effect or a slight change?

Some color contact lenses are brighter than the others. The brightest hues, like Freshlook Colorblends True Sapphire, are best for parties, when you are also going to have evening make up. For work, on the other hand, you might prefer lenses that aren't so vivid. These rules are not set in stone, of course, just make sure to consider how bright a lens you want before making your purchase.

See pictures of colored contacts by most popular brands

3. Think about comfort as well as the look

Go for well-known brands of contact lenses, so your lenses feel as good as they look. You can get disposable (weekly and monthly) as well as traditional (annual replacement) color contacts. Which is best for you depends on how often and for how long you intend to wear your color lenses. If you are going to wear them every day and all day long, it is better to buy disposable lenses, like Acuvue 2 Colors or Freshlook. Replacing the lenses often won't let protein deposits to build up on them and the lenses will feel more comfortable.

On the other hand, if you only want to have those perfect blue or green eyes occasionally, annual replacement color lenses would serve your purpose.

4. You need a prescription to buy color contacts

All contact lenses, including color ones, are considered medical devices. So, whether or not you need vision correction, you will need a doctor's prescription to buy color lenses. Color contacts are not “one size fits all”, and even if you have perfect vision your eye doctor has to measure the base curve of your eye.

Most famous brands of color contacts are available in plano (no correction power) as well as with plus and minus powers. But if you have an astigmatism your choices are very limited; so far only Freshlook offers toric color contacts.

5. You can get free trial color contacts from your doctor

Most doctors can offer you a trial pair of color contact lenses. Of course, he or she won't let you try many lenses, so you should have some idea about brand and the color you want before you ask your doctor for a free trial pair. Many people are searching for free trial color contacts online. However, since color lenses are medical devices, the only place you can get them is an optometrist's office.

6. Compare the prices at several shops

You probably already know that the best way to save on color contact lenses is to buy them online. However, online prices differ from shop to shop. After you have selected the exact lens you want and visited your eye doctor for a prescription, check the prices for your lenses in several shops. You should also take the shipping charges into account.

7. Be prepared to care for your color lenses properly

If you already wear corrective contact lenses, you probably have guessed that color contacts would require similar care. If you want to buy non prescription color lenses purely for cosmetic purposes, you will still have to look after them properly. Don't be scared, this is not hard and take only a few minutes. When giving you a prescription, your doctor should show you how to put the lenses in, take them off, clean and store your contacts. If he or she doesn't, make sure to ask. Then all you need to do, is not to forget to clean your color contacts every time you take them off.

Tanya Turner invites you to Contact Lenses Consume Guide to see reviews and consumer information about colored contact lenses . There you can also find pictures and advice about best color contacts and comparison of online contact lens retailers.

5 Secrets of Buying Cheap Contact Lenses Online
by Tanya Turner

Contact lenses ordered though your doctor can cost you a small fortune. That is why more and more people buy their contacts online. However, buying online doesn't automatically mean saving. To get the best deal from online contact lens shopping, you need to know a few insider secrets.

Secret 1: Find out if they really sell cheap contact lenses

Most companies that sell contact lenses online give you big discounts, compared with prices in a doctor's office. However, online prices vary as well. We can't name a company that sells all contact lenses cheaper than other retailers, because different companies have best offers for different brands of lenses. When you have your prescription, compare prices for your lenses at several retailers.

Secret 2: Check the shipping charges

A definite disadvantage of online contact lens shopping is shipping charges. Shipping costs also vary from company to company. Some retailers deliberately offer you very low prices on contacts lenses, while their shipping charges are astronomically high. On the other hand, there are retailers that offer free shipping on all orders (usually only within the USA), but their prices are usually significantly higher that others.

Your best bet are companies that offer free shipping on large orders. Since contact lenses don't spoil and take very little storage space, it makes since to buy several boxes at once and save on shipping.

See reviews of reputable companies who sell cheap contact lenses

Secret 3: Further discounts might be available

Speaking of large orders, some companies will give you significant additional discounts or rebates, if you buy a year's supply of lenses. If you can afford to buy a year's supply, you can definitely get the lowest price. Some companies even offer both - lowest price per box if you get many (usually 8) boxes, plus a rebate.

Rebates have two disadvantages, though - you have to wait before you get your money and they are usually only available to US residents. So be sure to read the fine print - rebates usually apply to selected items and are only good for a limited time.

Secret 4: Find out when your lenses will arrive

It is important to select a retailer that ships your contacts within a couple of days of your order. This information should be clearly stated with the shipping charges and conditions. In this respect, larger companies are better than small ones - they have all lenses in stock, while small retailers have to order the lenses for you. If your have a rare prescription and order from a small retailer, your lenses might take several weeks to arrive.

Secret 5: Read reviews on that retailer

For you as a customer it might be difficult and time consuming to compare several retailers and select the best one. One shortcut is to read the reviews of other people, who bought lenses from any given company. Also, there are websites that compare online retailers for you, providing you with independent and unbiased reviews of the best merchants.

Visit Contact Lenses Consumer Guide for more tips on getting cheap contact lenses , price comparison and reviews of trusted contact lens retailers. Also Tanya Turner, the publisher of the Guide, provides you with information about eye health and healthy contact lenses.

Contact Lenses for Dry Eyes - Your Options
by Tanya Turner

Contact lenses can be a nightmare for people with dry eyes. In a healthy eye, a thin layer of tears always forms under a contact lens. If this layer dries out, the lens starts feeling like sand. Is this the inevitable price you have to pay for the convenience of contact lenses, or is there a better alternative?

Do contact lenses cause my eyes to dry?

There are several causes for eye dryness. First of all, some people simply produce less tears than others, or their chemical composition of their tears is not adequate. The amount of tears produced usually decreases with age.

Another cause is environmental - if you work in an overheated or air-conditioned room, of if you are exposed to smoke, dust or wind, your eyes will feel dry. Dry eyes are also a problem for most computer users. People tend to blink less when working on the computer and blinking is essential for wetting your eyes.

Finally, some contact lenses can also contribute to dry eye syndrome. Most soft contact lenses are made from polymers and water - sometimes up to 70% water. While it's this moist, the lens feels comfortable in your eye; but the water evaporates from the lens as the day progresses. So the lens absorbs water from your tears, leaving you with dry-feeling eyes. Generally speaking, the more water the lens contains, the more prone it is to lose its moisture.

Soft contacts that can help with dry eyes

Since dry eyes is a serious problem for many contact lens wearers, lens manufacturers are constantly working to produce contacts that will be comfortable for people with dry eyes.

One way is to reduce the water content of the lens. Modern silicon hydrogel lenses are only about 30% water - much less than the 50-60% of traditional lenses. Also, the new polymers used in contact lenses help the lens to stay moist.

Out of all the lenses formulated for people with dry eyes, Acuvue Oasis and Proclear Compatibles receive the most favorable reviews from wearers.

Acuvue Oasis, by Johnson and Johnson, is specifically formulated for people who work or live in dry environments. It is made of high-quality polymer senofilcon A and contains a special rewetting agent - Hydraclear Plus - that makes the lens feel moist even if your eyes don't produce enough tears. Acuvue Oasis is a daily wear contact lens (you should take it off at night), and it should be replaced every two weeks.

Proclear Compatibles, by Cooper Vision, is made from omafilcon A, which has demonstrated very high on-eye water retention, during clinical studies. Also, Proclear uses the revolutionary technology of biocompability. The lens contains PC (phosphorylcholine) - a substance that occurs naturally in human cells. It prevents your body from perceiving contact lens as a foreign object in your eye and trying to reject it. As a result, Proclear Compatibles feel moist and silky in your eye and don't cause dehydration. Proclear are monthly disposable contact lenses.

See more reviews of contact lenses for dry eyes

RGP lenses for people with dry eyes

Some doctors recommend their patients with dry eyes to switch to Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) contact lenses. The reason is that an RGP lens is made from polymeric materials and don't contain any water. So water won't evaporate from the surface of the lens, as with soft lenses. Thus one cause for dry eyes is illuminated.

However, RGP lenses may present other problems for people with dry eyes. Since the lens is rigid, it can irritate your eye if there are not enough tears under it. A rigid lens in a dry eye feels much worse than a soft one.

If you have dry eyes and your current contact lenses don't feel too comfortable, you don't have to live with the discomfort. Ask your doctor if the lenses we recommended would work for you.

Tanya Turner is an eye health and vision expert. She provides consumer information, tips and advice about healthy contact lenses as well as reviews of trusted online retailers of discount contact lenses

Tanya Turner is a web publisher on a variety of topics. Her latest publications are in the arias of health and relationships.