Popular Special Effects Lenses

While many people wear contact lenses to correct vision problems, that's not the only reason to wear them. Special effects lenses were originally made popular in movies, but are now available to the everyday consumer.

Which lenses are the most popular? Let's take a look.

Colored Contacts
Without a doubt, the most popular special effects lenses are also the simplest. These contacts just change the color of your eyes and are tremendously popular among young people in particular who enjoy testing new eye colors.

These colored contacts tend to work best with light colored eyes (blue, grey, green, etc.) but there are also versions created specifically for darker eyes that need more pigment. You can use common eye colors, like blue or green or you can try something a little creepier, perhaps red or yellow. A fun way to use colored lenses is to wear just one at a time, leaving the other eye natural.

Evil Eyes
If you want something a little more sinister than just the eye color change, look for lenses that change the shape of your pupil. This can be a fun way to amp up the fear factor. These types of contacts come with vertical slit pupils, like a cat eye. You can usually buy them in a variety of colors, with red and yellow being the most common. These lenses need to be put in just so, however, to ensure that the pupil is facing the right way.

Party On
If you hit the dance floor on a regular basis, then black light eyes are a must have. They glow in the black light and create a very interesting effect for parties and raves. These are still fairly new, but already extremely popular and in demand.

Movie Effects
With movies like Twilight being so popular, vampire contacts and wolf lenses are all the rage. Vampire contacts are usually red, but allow for the pupil in the center, while a wolf eye is animal like and brown with streaks.
These aren't the only movie effect lenses you can get, though. Look for your favorite horror movie brought to life in your eyes with contacts that mimic the effects from movies like Hellraiser, Tempest and Jeepers Creepers.

There are plenty of options to turn you into the monster of your dreams.

White
While these could technically be labeled as colored lenses, the fact is that white contact lenses actually cover up any existing color and make your eyes a fun white color, essentially eliminating the color. This type of contact lens is particularly popular if you are into zombies and want the blank, undead look.

Pictures
While not quite as common as colored contact lenses, these fun lenses are found everywhere just the same. They come with images of everything from spiders, roaches or skulls on them to flowers, smiley faces and swirls. Having a picture in your eye can be a fun way to grab people`s attention and the variety of images available means that each person can choose the style that suits their personality.

Special effects contact lenses can be a fun way to change your look . . . subtly or in a rather obvious manner. They are also ideal for costume parties and Halloween when you need those special vampire eyes. The price tag can be a little high, especially if you are going for hand painted, so keep that in mind when buying for a special occasion.

These contact lenses aren't meant for long term use usually, so you'll need to take them out and clean them as you would with regular contacts before using again. With proper care, specialty lenses can last up to 4-5 months.