My Halloween

Halloween costume party is probably one of the most exciting costume bashes across the United States and even in other countries. Decorating homes and streets with spooky ornamentation wouldn’t be enough without the loud, scary costumes that live out the Day of the Dead.

Wearing Halloween contacts is the best part of costuming as it does not only complete the garbing fun but also brings out the uniqueness of each character conveyed. Contact lenses can be scary, funny and sexy, depending on the colors and design chosen. At the same time, some individuals would love to personify their favorite anime character on a Halloween celebration. For example, Sasuke, a protagonist in Naruto, is one of the most favorite personalities in this Japanese manga series. His character is often mimicked in costume plays by imitating his clothes and accessories. But the most important part of dressing as Sasuke is to wear his eyes. Epitomizing anime heroes is very common amongst teenagers. Everyone blab about their clothes, make-ups and other accessories that make their garbing truly effective. In most situations, Halloween make-up complements the whole idea of personifying a certain character as it helps a lot in incarnating the trademark of that character. But whether a make-up is available or not, contact lenses can already make costuming complete and unique.

However, many individuals make mistakes when wearing contacts and most of the time, it ends up in disaster. So, to make Halloween celebration happy and safe all the time, here are 4 common mistakes to avoid when wearing Halloween contacts.

1. Using non-prescription Halloween contacts. Many people are not aware that even costume contacts can be bought or customized with prescriptions. Individuals who are normally wearing prescription glasses or contact lenses must not forget to inquire from a costume store if they could order a pair of Rx contacts. So, whether sharingan contacts, zombies or any character contacts, they should also come with right prescriptions.
2. Using non-FDA approved contacts. Contact lenses should be approved by the US Food and Drugs to ensure that the materials used are safe for the human eyes.
3. Wearing dirty or infected contacts. It is advisable to wash hands with soap before putting on the contacts to avoid infecting the eyes. Many teen-agers who are in haste to complete their garbing forget washing their hands after they apply make-up; hence infecting the contacts and irritating their eyes.
4. Sleeping with contacts in. After the party and everyone is so tired, many forget to remove their contacts, which is dangerous and many people got blinded by doing this. Unless the contacts are made safe for overnight wear, wearers can’t be too careless about this. Contact lenses, by nature, restrict the flow of oxygen to the cornea (the surface of the eye). The longer a person wears the contacts, the longer the flow of oxygen is constrained

Want to make your costume really amazing? Then you will need to change your eyes as well and Halloween costume lenses can help with that. Find out how to get the best looking costume lenses without paying a fortune.

Who offers best selection of Halloween contacts

Have you already planned your costume and are now looking for the right Halloween contacts to go with it? Or do you just want to browse for costume lenses until you see a pair that you really like, and make the costume to match? In either case, you should first check out the most popular collections of Halloween contact lenses available online from stores like Extreme SFX. They offer affordable Halloween contact lenses that create great effects.

The most popular lenses are:

Banshee
Black Out and White Out
Vampire Red
White Cat, RedCat, Yellow Cat and Green Cat
Angelic
LeStat
If you didn’t find a suitable design from their Value lens selection, there are many other options in the Custom lenses section.

How much do costume lenses cost?

If you think that theatrical costume lenses are very expensive, you might be pleasantly surprised – you can pick up an exciting looking pair of Halloween costume lenses for about 60 dollars. Mass produced lenses like the Extreme SFX Value Lenses are very affordable. This is because they are sold online without the high oveheads of traditional stores.

On the other hand, hand-painted, custom-made costume lenses could cost a few hundred dollars. Particulary expensive are scleral costume lenses, which cover not only your pupil and iris, but the entire visible area of your eye. These contacts do provide the most amazing effect, particularly the Black Sclera lenses. Also, custom-made lenses are usually painted to order, so you would need to order them several weeks in advance.

How to care for your Halloween costume lenses

Caring for your Halloween costume contacts is quite simple – all you need is a no-rub multipurpose solution, a pair of plastic tweezers and a contact lens case. You can get it all from any chemist shop. There is no special solution for costume contact lenses so you can use any multipurpose solution – only make sure it’s marked “for soft contact lenses”. If you have several pairs of scary contacts, each should live in its own case.

Step by step care for costume lenses:

always wash your hands with soap before handling contact lenses
pick up the lens gently with tweezers (be careful not to tear it), place it on your fingertip and rinse it with a no-rub contact lens solution
now it is ready to put in your eye
after taking your costume lenses out, give them another rinse and place them in their case with fresh solution, until the next time you use them.
If you are not planning to wear your lenses for several weeks, it is recommended that you change the solution and rinse them once a week. If you forgot to do so and your lenses spent a few weeks in their case unattended, give them a double rinse and place them in fresh solution for at least a couple hours before wearing them.

For people who wear corrective or color contact lenses every day, costume lenses will feel pretty much the same as usual. If you never wore contact lenses before, at first you might feel a slight discomfort and an urge to rub your eye. One suggestion is to use lubricant drops, which you can buy from any chemist shop. Also, start wearing your lenses a few days before the party – a couple of hours the first day, 3-4 hours the second day, and so on.

Get yourself a pair of exciting or even sexy Halloween contacts and be the center of attention at any party!

Haley Robinson is a color contact lens expert and a founder of Halloween Contacts Consumer Guide which provides you with information about all types of Halloween special effect contacts and costume contact lens reviews.

There have been many FDA warnings and publications in Optometry magazines about the dangers of halloween costume contacts. As a result many people are afraid to wear them, considering them to be unsafe.

While it is true that there have been numerous cases of individuals contracting serious eye infections after having worn costume contact lenses, the lenses themselves aren’t the cause. Most times the problems have been caused by poor hygiene, improper lens care and sharing of lenses between friends. Even though Halloween Costume contacts can really complete the dramatic character transformation that your halloween costume requires always remember that your eyes are very precious. Halloween Contacts have to be treated with the same level of care that a regular contact lens wearer would take when caring for their regular contact lenses. NEVER share lenses with anyone else and NEVER wear someone else’s lenses. When lenses are shared, microscopic organisms are transferred between the wearers and serious eye problems can result.

How can I find safe lenses?

Firstly look for a well known brand like Gothika, available from ExtremeSFX.com or Crazy Lenses manufactured by Coopervision. The Gothika Lenses are manufactured using the same materials, processes and in the same machines used to make conventional (clear) contacts. The only difference is that a layer of color is machine printed onto the front surface of the lens. Because the color is on the outside of the lens, it does not actually touch your eye. The color layer is sealed over with a thin layer of clear contact lens material to ensure it does not flake off or irritate your eye. If cared for properly and fitted on the advice of a licensed eye care professional, they are perfectly safe for your eyes and are just as comfortable as regular clear contacts.

The Gothika brand of lenses, available at ExtremeSFX.com are of very high quality. In fact they are the exact same lenses sold online by the largest internet retail stores like Coastal Contacts, Vision Direct, Lensquest etc. They are manufactured, packaged and sterilized to the highest international standards for contact lenses and are fully in compliance with US contact lens manufacture, packaging and sterilization regulations.

One word of caution though, they should not be worn for extended periods of time, usually no more than 8 hours at a time or as recommended by your eye doctor. Because they are slightly thicker than regular contacts, not as much oxygen is able to penetrate the lens and reach your eye. Lenses worn for long periods of time will cause your eyes to become red and irritated. Most people report that they are comfortable if worn for less than 8 hours at a time. Only if you have very sensitive eyes, you might feel some irritation and discomfort during shorter wear periods. As with regular contacts, halloween costume lenses need proper cleaning. Always wash your hands before handling your lenses and rinse your lenses with fresh contact lens solution before inserting them in your eyes. Always follow the recommendations of your eye doctor.

Halloween Contact Lenses Tips and Trends

This Halloween, why not take your costume to the next level? With Halloween contact lenses (also commonly known as “special effects contact lenses” or “decorative lenses”) you can do just that. As long as you adhere to the health and safety advice mentioned below, Halloween contacts could be the perfect finishing touch to bring the character in your costume to life!

Special effect contacts have been used in film, television, and theatre, even rock concert stages, for years, and now they’re available at affordable prices to you, the consumer. You can find decorative contact lenses in all kinds of styles. From simple colors (ever wanted to be a red-eyed alien or a green-eyed reptile?) to elaborate designs (zebra stripes, stars, flowers, X’s…) there are as many ways to use decorative contact lenses to enhance your Halloween ensemble as there are jack o’ lanterns aglow on All Hallow’s Eve.

Some of the great designs and styles of Halloween contacts available this year include: hypnotic spirals, cat eyes, wolf eyes, eagle eyes, bloodshot eyes, flames, all-white, all-black. It really gets your creative wheels spinning doesn’t it? What are you going to be this year after all?

One variable you’ll have to consider when poring through the choices is whether you want Halloween contact lenses that cover the entire sclera (that’s the whites of your eyes) or just the pupil (the eyeball). There’s plenty in either category, making it either harder or easier to decide, depending upon your viewpoint.

Knowing the kind of look you’re going for will help a lot. Are you, for example, trying to transform yourself into a particular character (a Vampire, possibly, or even more specifically, the Vampire Lestat himself – because that’s available too)? Special effects lenses that include the entire sclera often creates an all-encompassing, fully-transformative effect, incorporating more of the whole body into “becoming” this other figure. But maybe you merely want to accentuate a “look”, the zeitgeist of an era, or an abstract concept. For this latter option, a cute design or a picture superimposed on your pupil alone, like a temporary tattoo, might be just the thing.

Some current favorites of the decorative lenses you’ll find include those with the Biohazard /”Radioactive” symbol, symbols of poker suits, stars-and-stripes, Dune eyes, dollar-sign eyes, spider webs, smiley faces, both Predator eyes and Alien eyes, both Darth Vader and the Sith. You’ll find styles and designs both timely and timeless as you explore all the options of Halloween lenses available.

Crucial in the safe and responsible use of special effect contact lenses for Halloween or at any other time, according to the FDA, is involvement by a licensed eye care professional. In fact, it’s the law. Decorative lenses improperly made or used improperly have been known to cause permanent eye injury and even eventual blindness. Therefore, you must see your eye doctor before shopping for Halloween contact lenses to get proper fitting and instructions as well as the necessary prescription. You will need this whether you ordinarily wear prescription lenses or not. And don’t even think of purchasing decorative lenses from any store (online or off) that doesn’t ask for your prescription; it is illegal.

Some of the things your doctor will invariably tell you are that decorative contact lenses are not for everyday wear. Consider them for special occasions only. Never sleep or swim or bathe with them in, and don’t use them while engaging in any activity that requires sharp visual acuity, for example cooking or driving or operating heavy machinery. In plain English – someone could get hurt.

Halloween contacts should not be worn unceasingly for long periods of time since prolonged use can cause strain and infection. And they should be clean and disinfected carefully before and after each use, according to your doctor’s instruction. If after using Halloween contact lenses, you notice redness, swelling, or feel any sort of pain in the area, please contact your eye doctor immediately. Even if it turns out to be nothing, the joy in Halloween is that the danger is imagined, so let’s keep it that way.