Gear Talk: The Eyes Have It - SUCCESS!

After more than a few false starts, I've finally found another source for dark contact lenses for light eyes!

As a reminder, my requirements for success are:

- outstanding coverage for a light iris
- "functional" vs. "pretty"
- small pupil hole

 

And the winner is ... ttdeye.com

The vendor is based in Hong Kong and time from order to delivery was 15 days.

In addition to the lenses themselves, you get a nice "care package" along with them - lens case, tongs (to remove the lenses from the case) and an applicator (which I don't use). I also got a little hand mirror as well. They do have many brown lenses, so you need to closely look at them to make sure the pupil holes appear to be small. Below are my top picks.

On to the lenses!

The first one is called "New York Brown" - this is a yearly lens (nice bonus!) and definitely provides the coverage, functionality and small pupil hole. I would say that these are a lighter and a more "soft" brown color vs. the "intense" brown of my older lenses. They veer a little towards "pretty" but they definitely work.

 

The next one is called "New York Black." Again, this is a yearly lens and meets all my requirements. This also provides a more "intense" experience and is much darker than the "New York Brown" - this looks great on all my darker-skinned masks and is actually much darker than any of my older brown lenses.

The final one is called "Bohme Hazel." This is also a yearly lens and meets (nearly) all the requirements. The pupil hole on this lens is slightly larger than the "New York" ones. Color-wise, this  falls between the the two "New York" lenses as it is more intense then the "Brown" and a less intense than the "Black." This is still a dark lens and looks good with my  black-guy masks and great with my Latino masks. There is also a little more of a caramel tone to these lenses in the center area.  

A caveat: I have gray-green-blue eyes with a gold-brown "sunburst" around my pupil - in ancient times, this was known as being one of the "Children of Helios", today it's known as (inherited) central heterochromia -- I can get away with a slightly larger pupil hole, but I don't take advantage of it because I generally want to have a single, solid iris color. When I make a recommendation, I'm thinking of the population at large.

Someone with "solid" light eyes (without a darker central halo) is definitely going to show some of their iris color around the inner edge of this lens. So, YMMV.

 

So there you have it! A fast shipping company, good selection of options and nice extras to go with your purchase!

Gear Talk: The Eyes Have It - Update #1

One of the most important things in a transformation (at least to me) is having the eyes (and the skin around them) blend seamlessly with the mask. 

You can't wear sunglasses all the time! In an earlier post, I described the makeup I use to blend my skin into the color of the mask.

Now I want to talk about eyes themselves.

For those folks that have darker eyes, you're in great shape - there are many options available that let you change your eye color to lighter colors - like green or blue - and have them look spectacular on you. One of the best resources for picking your lenses is a guy named "Fonzevil." He gives extremely detailed reviews with lots of closeups and focuses on image and comfort.

His videos are available on the following platforms:

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@FonzReviews

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/fonzreviews

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@fonzreviews

 

With that said, folks with lighter eyes (like myself) have a much harder problem.

Professional contacts (like 9mm) provide superb coverage, but are not good for extended wear. And they are pricey.

"Regular" contacts in brown generally focus on being "pretty" ... they are really made for the ladies who already have dark eyes and want a bit of "pop" - they are not made to provide just an intense, dark color. 

Most "Regular" contacts also often have HUGE pupil holes; so even if there is good color coverage, there is always a noticeable ring of blue (or green or gray) around the pupil which looks completely fake.

The companies that used to make plain dark lenses with small pupil holes have gone out of business (like Expressions, or Waikon)  

I have found Freshlook, Air-Optix, Bella and recently, Purecolors HD, to have too-large pupil holes and/or not dark enough for a proper transformation. The Purecolors HD were so bad that I could barely tell I had them in! Needless to say, they went right into the trash!

I've ordered three new pairs - one from Korea and two from Hong Kong - I haven't received them yet, but I'll let you know how they work out!

UPDATE #1

I received the "Hyacinth Brown" lenses from the "Eyecandys" site from Korea. Again, HUGE eyeholes and not enough coloration. All these did was give me a dark limbal ring and nothing else. So again - right into the trash. Only positive was the lens case I received with them. I contacted their customer service and asked if they indeed carry very dark brown lenses with small pupil holes - let's see if they answer...

As 2023 Nears Its End...

I want to wish all my readers a very joyous holiday season and a wonderful New Year! I hope you have tons of fun with handsome cops, sexy muscle-bruthas (real and Converted) and drop-dead virile guys that bring a smile to your face and an ache to your heart!

And of course, wearing as little clothes (or as much rubber) as possible...