Freshlook Colourblends are supposed to be pretty good. Haven't tried them myself, but they seem to be recommended in pretty much every contacts thread I've seen.

As for wearing them and taking them out...eyedrops are a contact wearer's best friend. Just make sure that you buy drops that are suitable for use with contact lenses. Murine do contact drops that are pretty good; I use those for day to day wear of contacts. Not only do the drops help with dryness when you are wearing the lenses, but they also help if you have trouble getting them out.
How you take them out depends on what suits you, really. Some people pinch them out, some slide. Sliding is better, becaise you have less chance of scratching your eye, especially with long nails. Just slide the lens onto the white of your eye and apply pressure to your bottom lid with a finger...the lense should fold when you drag it into your lid. Or, as I often do, you can slide it onto the white of your eye with one index finger and catch it with the pad of your other. Just remember to have clean hands when you fit and remove lenses.

There is already a thread about contact lenses on here, so you'll be able to find other information on there and there are also tutorials on Youtube if you're still a little confused .

Hey Stripey Cow,this thread here is really good, it's got quite a lot of good info from people with past experience. Do you wear glasses at the moment or are you just looking for colour changing non prescription contact lenses?

As it says in the thread though you're best to go to an optician and make an appointment and they will give you an eye test and show you how to put in your contacts and how to look after them even if they're just cosmetic rather than prescription.

I use coloured contacts quite extensively but not with prescriptions as i dont need it.

Coloured lenses with prescriptions are best sought from an opticians, as they will make sure all the correct requirements are involved. (my brother wears prescription coloured lenses and has no problem with them and has been to a few different opticians that cater well for it).

In terms of other lenses that you might be after without prescription, i use a particular company - if you need the name PM as im not sure what the deal is on here about posting websites.

Ok cool, needing glasses limits you a bit if you can't see without your glasses as you'll need to get prescription contact lenses but its no big deal. When you make your appointment with the optician just tell them that you want to get contact lenses as well so I think your eye tests will be free for the contact lenses as well (but don't quote me on that). Tell them that you want to get colour changing contact lenses and they will explain your options to you.

In my experience with contact lenses you get two main types, daily disposables and longer wear ones. The main UK prescription colour ones I've seen have the brand Cibavision Freshlook. You get Colour Blends which are a more intense colour change and suitable for dark eyes. They are monthly disposables and you get Freshlook One Day Colours which are daily disposables and give more of a subtle colour change and are daily disposables, but looking at reviews the daily disposables don't make a huge difference if you've got dark eyes.

I use daily disposables (not coloured ones) because you don't need to look after them, just use them and throw them in the bin when you take them out at the end of the night.

As long as you get your contacts from an opticians then there should be no risk of damaging your eyes if you handle them how the opticians tell you. Most important things are:
handle them with clean, lint free hands (e.g. wash your hands properly before touching them).
Never wash them with any other liquid than contact lense cleaner.
but you will get all this info from the optician, so I wouldn't worry too much about it, millions of people use contacts every day without a problem.

but then people buy from online circle lens stores and other contact stores.. and thier doing just fine without going to an optition. there are people who wear them with no problem. so are you sure people realy need to do that? o.o'

if anyone values their sight (which frankly if you don't you're an idiot - this is coming from someone who has had various significant eye problems from birth), you should definitely get checked by an optician before wearing contact lenses due to the differing shapes of an individual's eyes and the standard "one size fits all" of the average coloured lense, which that one size will fit *some* people just fine sure. I'd rather not take the gamble personally.

Consider that you're based in the US - on this site, the majority of us are in the UK which has some different suppliers and different regulations to America. Also our healthcare is different, so if there are issues for us, we can get it checked and hopefully solved either free or very cheap. Pretty sure it'd work out less in the US to get a cheap test done to find out you can't wear lenses than to pay the med fees to get issues fixed afterwards.

If you have issues with vision, or need glasses, then it's a good idea to try and find a perscription service.

I wore the type of contact lenses you mentioned before, meaning the online bought ones which are cheap and usually from america.

Yaknow, the party type ones, block colour ones, funky design ones that you see advertised most places online.

The problem I have with them is that they are too big for my eyes. They are so uncomfertable for me, and hurt when I wore them. My eyes felt terrible for days afterwards. This is why I don't bother with them anymore unless I can get them coloured in my perscription (I need glasses) from my optition or a very trusted source can inform me on where to get them.

If they are too big for your eyes, or feel uncomfertable when you are wearing them, then you really should take them out. As people have mentioned before, they do damage to your eyes. Especially the cheap ones (I don't mean perscription ones, those are made to fit YOUR EYES specificly).

You should also remember that people can react differently to things. Some people may be allergic to whatever they store the lenses in, or even the material they make them from. Some people just plain can't stand them and some people are fine with them.

egads, it's a contact lens day, eh?

as i posted in the other thread, it's all about how much you value your sight. i see people with problems on an almost daily basis now lens sale is de-regulated in the UK, people think CLs are like asprin, and they can self prescribe. the truth is, you're putting something non-hypo-allergenic alien in your eye. one of the most sensitive and irrepairable parts of the human anatomy. it really doesn't take much to cause a severe infection.

tl;dr, if you like to see, go to an optometrist and get a checkup and CL teach before putting anything in your eyes.

To be honest, I think your best source of advice would be to ask your optometrist when you see them . I'm not sure if it's still the case, but when I first tried contacts about six years ago (man, that makes me feel old :/) a lot of optometrists sold coloured contacts, so there may be some that you can buy from them (although it may be cheaper to note the brand and buy online from a trusted site).
But honestly, the best person to give advice on what brand to use and which ones to avoid would be your optometrist (or in particular, the contact lens specialist, because most big optometrists have a seperate 'specialist' now) because it's their job to know this stuff.

Hi,

I find http://www.trendisland.co.uk/ quite useful Believe that they have a prescription service also.

US?? Circle lenses and are from Korea, China, and Japan. The ones they sell here are mostly from Korea. The regular lenses too. I have a couple of them acualy. Its not that big of a gamble eather. You just have to make sure thier clean, and wear them like the instuctions say.

For you maybe not, but EVERYONE is different. For example. I can't wear any contact lenses other than ones that are prescription made for me by my optition. There are alot of reasons for this but at the end of the day it comes down to:

Everyone is different.

Just because you can wear them with no problem, doesn't mean everyone can.

What people are trying to explain here is that, like I say, not everyone is the same when it comes to contact lenses. Some people will react very badly, some people have lost their sight, some are partially sighted now and some get a pretty nasty reaction to them, making their eyes real itchy and red. Some people have also had to go to hospital to get the lenses removed from their eye because they actually can't get them out, they have fused to their eye.

The above isn't a reflection of JUST the people on this website, this is a reflection of people who have had bad reactions with the type of lenses you are talking about.

Also "healthcare" being different in the US and UK does not mean that the lenses are only from China and korea in the US. I don't understand how you misread that one to be completly honest.

Healthcare here, is different to the US, we have the NHS. You don't.

Most contact lenses SEEM to be from china and korea is what we were saying not that they ALWAYS ARE.

I know I can find lenses manufactured in the UK here and I'm sure you can find lenses manufactured in the US.

Don't take us the wrong way, we aren't trying to argue for the sake of it, most of us are just trying to provide information about these things and sometimes, that information might not be what you expected or wanted to hear but I know I'd rather be aware of the risks than have no idea, then be in hospital with lenses fused to my eyes.
Again, not saying that it would deffinatly happen, we are giving examples, that's all it is.

According to your profile you live in the US so i noted the differences between our healthcare systems to solving issues that may arise from bad lenses - I also didnt say each lens is made in each country, i said we have different rules to sell/buy them and that our suppliers may be different.

Ah I see you subscribe to the school of "I have no problem with X, therefore there isn't one" thinking.

Your vision is a MASSIVE gamble on something purely aesthetic. The most common cosmetic (ie just for looks) lenses are assumed as a standard sizing - not everyone has the same eye size/curvature/shape, just like people have different shaped faces, body builds, hair colours etc. Therefore if your eyes DONT fit the standard sizing (mine don't) you can and likely will have horrible issues; for example I cannot wear standard cosmetic lenses because my eyes ARENT the 'standard' size, they slide around, make me eyes ache, and my vision quickly deteriorates within 20 minutes, leaving me with bloodshot eyes and a massive migraine for the rest of the day even when i take them back out.

Do not assume because you and a small group of friends are all fine that everyone of the other 6 billion odd people on the globe (or whatever the population now is) also are fine. Do not attempt to declare that people with actual trained knowledge or differing personal experience in this area are "wrong" just because their advice differs to yours.

I still stand by my stance if you don't get a £20 test for a tiny cosmetic change for costumes to see if you may infact be damaging your eyes because you'd rather get the lenses instead or whatever, its a stupid choice.

good for you, because they fit me fine, and Ive had no problems. I also have lots of friends that dont have problem with contacts. So its up to the person if they want to try it out or not.

yes they are. or where I get them at least. I look at the back orf the box and it sais "Contacts made in korea"
how can it get more clear then that? I wouldnt say it if I wasnt sure of it. and all the contacts I find here no matter what store I go to, thier all the same. but I guess its different for you guys.

OH MY GOD! you know what? YOU ARE SO TOTALLY RIGHT!

No one will ever have a bad reaction to contact lenses lololol, HEY GUISE! WEAR PARTY LENSES! whats that? they make your eyes itch?!

Don't worry, because kiri-kiri-kun says that they have never had problems and so have their friends so that MUST MEAN THAT ONE ONE WILL EVER HAVE ISSUES EVER!

I'm going to go and buy some for £2 now and wear them ALLLLL DAYYYYYYYY!

/end

(btw, if you cant accept that other people may have issues with lenses, yaknow people who ACTUALLY HAVE had issues with them, then stop posting on the internet, or socialising because you will never be able to deal with it if someone tells you something different to what you think)

Thats not what Im saying. People can have problems with them. But not everyone. Maybe you should deal with someone telling you something different to what you think. In no way or form did I say something offensive.
So there is no needs for that sort of talk. Just like you, I can sate my opinion too. Even if everything I said was completely wrong, wouldnt you be a better person, and just srug it off? But I guess thats all said and done now. Im not returning to this forum. Maybe people here treat me like Im stupid because Im American.
I dont know. Im not returning to this forum, so I guess it doesnt matter.

I don't know about everyone else whos been following this thread but for god sake READ YOUR POSTS OVER AGAIN! read them and have a little think.

You are coming across as if you are just telling everyone that because you have had no issues, then there can't be any issues. Seriously, re read your posts and actually think about it.

Why the hell do you think so many people came in and said "no no, people can have issues"

It's because you keep posting saying that you havn't, your friend's havn't, there is no gamble so whats the bid deal?, over and over again.

If you keep posying like that HOW can people NOT take what you're saying anyway other than that?

In response to you though: OH WELL! because honestly? read your posts more, think about what you are trying to say more and then people aren't going to think "oh, ANOTHER person trying to say that just because they don't have a problem with it, then obviously no one does"

Less of that, we don't need more of it.