Green Contact Lenses | Green Contacts Guide

In this day and age you can turn your eyes pretty much any color you can think up. No matter what color eyes you were born with, it won’t stop you from turning them the color you always wanted. It’s important that you understand how the world of colored contacts work, before you start spending money and buying contacts.

There are many people who have always wanted green eyes but were born with darker eyes, or even blue. It’s true that for some people the grass is always “greener” on the other side. In this case, the eye is always greener on the other side. The good news for them is that with a little research and money you can turn your eyes green pretty easily.

It’s important to know what kind of green contact lenses to buy beforehand though. Colored contacts are not all made the same, and sometimes the shade you are looking for might not be best, or work for you like you planned.

There are essentially three types of green contact lenses that you can find. Here we will go over a brief explanation of them.

The first type of green colored contact lens is going to be the tinted style. This style of green contacts is actually not designed to color your eyes when you are wearing them. They are actually tinted in a way that helps you find them when you are either taking them out of the case, putting them in, or if you lose or drop them.

With clear contacts it can be nearly impossible to locate them in certain situations, which you might have run into if you’ve ever dropped yours and had everybody freeze, as to not step on them. Well, this situation while might completely avoidable, can certainly be helped if the contact lenses have a certain tint which helps you find them quicker and easier. The green in these tinted contacts again, is simply for visibility and not for any eye color changing effects.

The second style of green contacts will be the type that changes your eyes to a natural green tint. This will always work better with lighter eyes, but there are some styles out now that can change darker eyes to a natural green tint as well. Light brown will work better than dark brown, and blue and hazel colored eyes even better.

If you’ve ever noticed someones green eyes really stood out and got your attention, if you noticed anything different about that shade of green, there is a good chance that it was a green colored contact lens. The darker the persons eyes, the darker tint they will typically need to get their eyes to turn that color.

The third style, which isn’t quiet as popular for the color green, is the theatrical, or costume green contact lenses. These are the easiest to use for those with dark eyes, because they really don’t take into account what color your natural eyes are before turning them green, because they are basically a solid tint.

Anytime you see someone with a dark colored eye of an unnatural color, usually in a movie, possibly playing some sort of supernatural creature, they will be wearing these types of contacts. You can change your entire eye, just the iris or the sclera, depending on what type of effect you are going for.

Most places that you buy green contacts from will show you a chart of what that specific contact can do for your eye. This helps to prevent someone with dark brown eyes buying a light colored green contacts assuming that it will change their eye color with no complications. Fortunately this helps inform people first, which prevents unneeded purchases and hopes being shattered. It’s important to notice that no matter what color your eyes are now, you can find a good green contact lens to change it, but you just need to do your research.

It helps to find guides, like this one, that go into specifics of each color, because you might actually find out you want to go with a different color then you set out to get. Like I stated earlier, you can basically find any color you can think of these days, so if you do find that you might have better luck with another color you should go for it.

I know people who have a lot of different colored contact lenses, and they change them out every day just like clothes. I believe that in the near future all of these colors are going to get more and more popular and people will start wearing them like they do sunglasses.

You should know that you can easily get green contact lenses for prescriptions as well. This makes a big difference for those who want their eyes to be a different color, but also already wear contact lenses for vision correction. In green this is usually the case, as opposed to other colors you might find.

It can depend on what type of green contact lenses you purchase. Some of the theatrical and plano costume green contacts that are not designed for vision correction will not typically last as long as some of the higher quality green contacts you will buy for every day use.

Typically if you are buying green contacts just for show, let’s say for Halloween or a costume, those will usually last between one and three years, but that can also vary depending on how well you take care of them, and how much use they get.

Proper care of your green contacts will make a big difference in how long they last you, and what kind of condition they stay in. If you wear them out constantly after you purchase them, don’t keep them in solution when not wearing them and handle them roughly, they might only last you a month. On the other hand, if you buy premium quality green contact lenses, wear them on special occasions, take proper care of them, store them correctly and handle them very carefully, you can have them for years.

It’s very important that you notice any tears, breaks or problems with your green contacts that you do not attempt to wear them any further. If you try to wear contacts that are damaged in any way, they can have serious complications and possibly injuries to your eyes. Even the slightest rip or tear in your contacts can damage your eyes very easily. It’s always best to replace your contacts or have them inspected by a professional if you feel anything different or any sort of discomfort when wearing them.

It could also be from the contacts not being the right size for you. While most people’s eyes will fit comfortable with the standard curves and diameter you might find better luck with a higher or lower curvature or diameter than what comes standard. Fortunately most contact lens dealers give you these options to choose from.

Since they have came out with certain versions of extended wear contact lenses there are a growing number of people who have started sleeping in their contact lenses. Some of the newer contact lenses in this market say you can wear them up to 30 days in a row, and sleeping in them is okay.

There are some people who follow these rules, and others who would rather play it safe than sorry. Most of the time the types of contacts that allow you to do this will be prescription and not costume or theatrical types of contact lenses.

If you are buying green contacts that are prescription and the manufacturer says they are extended wear then you should be able to sleep in them, but overall it’s not recommended to start as a habit. If you are tired, or don’t have the solution readily available then one or two nights won’t typically hurt. There is really no reason to sleep in them longer than that because you are just increasing your chances of injury or other problems.

If you buy plano contact lenses solely for costume or Halloween purposes, these will not usually be extended wear so they should most likely not be slept in unless you get explicity okay from your eye care specialist.

There was a study done at a University that tested the effects on sleeping in your contacts and if they caused any damage to your eyes. They ultimately decided that sleeping in your contact lenses increased your long-term risk of developing keratitis which is inflammation of your cornea.

The softer contact lenses were more five times more damaging to the person wearing them compared to the extended wear contact lenses. So if you do decide to sleep in them, make sure they are designed to be slept in, and we still don’t recommend making a habit of it.

In a nutshell, yes, you will need a prescription in order to buy green colored contacts, regardless of where you get them from. At least, legally you will. There are some places you might be able to find green contacts where they won’t require you to show them you have a valid prescription but ultimately this is not legal. A few years back they actually changed the laws regarding purchasing all contact lenses, not just colored.

Basically you used to be able to buy colored contact lenses from anyone who wanted to sell them because there was no requirements needed in order for someone to do so. The problem was that because contact lenses are worn inside your eye, there were many people who believed this wasn’t a good idea. It’s understood that if you are going to be wearing something, regardless if it has any medical benefits, that there should be some sort of rules and regulations associated with them.

Now, if you want to purchase any colored contacts, green included, you will be required to first get a prescription from either a doctor or licensed eye care specialist. This will cut down on people and vendors selling anything less than high quality contacts to people. It might be annoying in the long run, but ultimately it will cut down on a lot of mishaps and problems that can arise when just anyone can sell them.

You can view the exact law that went into effect here. It’s a PDF so you will need a browser or program that can read PDFs in order to view the law. Basically it states that regardless of the power of the contacts, whether or not they are “plano” or “vision correcting” you will be required to get a prescription before you purchase them.

So if you are going to be buying your green contact lenses online, the site you purchase them from will have a system in place that will allow you to prove to them that you do indeed have the proper paperwork to purchase them. This is usually expected when someone is buying regular contact lenses so for those of you who need vision correction and just want to spice it up with having your eyes also become green, you will have no surprises.

This usually does however usually create a slight problem for those who are just buying the green eye contacts for special occasions like costume parties or Halloween. Many people wait until the last minute to buy contacts to complete their costume, only to realize two things. 1. They must first get a prescription and 2. They didn’t allow enough time for shipping before the big date. If you are planning on getting some costume style green contacts for your Halloween costume or party you will usually want the process at least 2 weeks a head of time.

Along with getting the proper prescription you will also need to make sure that you purchase green contacts that have the correct base and curve for your eye. During the ordering process most reputable sites will have that as an option so pay attention and don’t just skip over it. When you get your prescription for your contacts this information should be provided, and if it’s not, you should request it.

While wearing contacts that are not exactly the perfect size might not cause damage, you might notice some slight discomfort which is never good. So just spend the time making sure that you get the right prescription and you know your specific measurements and you should be able to find the perfect green contacts for yourself.