The eyes have been a subject of intense exploration from time immemorial. Indeed, your eyes define you. Cosmetic enhancement of eyes using kohl, eye liner and eye paint have been around since the days of the ancient Egyptians and the Hindus over 6000 years ago. As technology improved, so has our ability to attune our knowledge to further the appeal of a pair of captivating eyes. The advent of contact eye lenses has taken the fashion world by storm, no less. Gone are the days when people chose normal contact eye lenses, a substitute for prescription eye glasses. Transparent and colorless normal lenses have varied magnification factor depending upon the user’s visual status. Normal lenses may also serve specific purposes – a variation of normal contact eye lenses is the bandage lens which acts as a protective cover for a damaged cornea requiring protection during healing.
Special effect lenses are a class apart. They are also called as theatrical lenses. These lenses are typically used by movie actors who may be playing an unusual character, a vampire or a ghoul, for example, or some other theatrical character which necessitates a distinctive look. Unlike normal lenses which cover only the cornea, special effect lenses cover the entire eyeball. Special effect lenses have a small opening in them through which the wearer actually sees. Therefore, those with weak eyes or those who require corrective lenses cannot wear special effect lenses as these are purely theatrical in nature. Also, since the special effect lenses have a different way of wearing and cover the entire eyeball, they are difficult to wear and rotate your eyeballs once worn. Once worn, special effect lenses usually are limited by a 3-hour duration, as wearing them beyond that may cause severe eye strain or even some sort of permanent damage. It is for this reason that a prospective user is required to obtain a doctor’s prescription to buy special effect lenses. A safety certificate preferably from a qualified eye care specialist’s is very useful in ascertaining if you are a suitable candidate for special effect lenses. It is prudent to wear special effects lenses under the guidance of an eye care professional.
At the opposite spectrum of utility are the normal lenses which serve therapeutic purposes alone. These can usually be worn for extended time periods, such as night-and-day wear lenses, or the disposable ones that are replaced regularly. Special effect lenses on the other hand are a specialty niche that finds usage in the world of theatre – from horror to science fiction movies. Naturally the variety of special effects contact lenses available is tremendous. You have lenses that give you a cat-eyed image or a jaguar-like feel. There are special effect lenses that are blood red or hypnotic, lenses that give you ‘wild-looking’ eyes, those that blaze like a wildfire, or give you a Zombie look. From ‘white eye’ lenses to contacts that make you eyes glow in the dark, the range is limited only by human imagination. So if it is a pair of special effect lenses you seek, there’s no dearth of choice – just grab the most startling pair and turn the spotlight your way.
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