Photo by tanakawho.
Contacts with cat pupils or neon colours can be fun, but are you sure you want to put a piece of plastic from a costume store into your eye?
We’ve got some tips from the American Optometric Association on how to look cool at parties without getting a raging eye infection. The same advice is equally applicable to Aussies.
First of all, if you can buy the contacts without showing an eye doctor’s prescription, they’re not legit. The real thing can be expensive, though: we found prices ranging from $US22 ($28) to $US50 ($64) per lens from lens.com, AClens, and Wicked Eyez. (These websites all let you order online, but you’ll have to provide your doctor’s information on the checkout screen.)
Once you’ve got the lenses, you have to know how to take care of them. If you wear contacts every day, you already know the drill. But if you’re just picking up a pair to use with a costume, here are the basics:
- Wash your hands before handling the lenses.
- Store them in contact lens solution, and keep the lenses and their case clean.
- Don’t sleep or swim with them in.
- And for Pete’s sake don’t share them with your friends!
Read more about how to take care of your contacts and your eyes, because the bloodshot look stops being cool after you take your zombie costume off.
Comments
2 responses to “Are Cosplay / Halloween Contacts Safe To Use?”
So for someone like me that doesn’t need vision correction. How would I go about getting a pair of dress-up contacts?
Do I need to visit an optometrist? Will it be covered by medicare?
They do make theraputic contacts without any prescription but those are for when you have eye surgery and need a ‘bandaid’ for your eye. I don’t think contacts are covered by medicare, only glasses. I guess you could get a general eye exam and that would be covered, but the contacts themselves would not be. So you’d basically be going to the doctor to tell you you don’t need a prescription.
The costume contacts come with no prescription, but depending on the site, you might have to submit proof that you’ve been to an optometrist and have no prescription or at least provide the name and details of one. In the past, when I’ve ordered prescription contacts online, I’ve just had to tick a box saying I had a valid prescription from an optometrist.