Controversial Anime Contact Lenses
One of the hottest beauty trends in Asia is the “anime eyes” look. The concept is to make your eyes look “cartoon-ish” and over-sized, like an anime or comic character.
To achieve the look, people are purchasing something called circle contact lenses. These lenses are larger than a traditional contact lens and cover part of the whites of your eyes.
Should you rush out and get yourself a pair? Not necessarily.
Anime Circle Lenses May NOT Be Safe
Optometrists warn that over-sized, large circle lenses may not be safe and could cause eye infections or even blindness.Those warnings haven’t slowed down sales across Asia where they are a popular fashion accessory among young women. It seems as though an American actually started the trend. In her “Bad Romance” music video, Lady Gaga has digitally altered eyeballs that look similar to these anime contact lenses.
Will the Asian anime eyes trend hit the U.S. anytime soon? Probably not. Thanks to regulations put in place by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, American consumers are unlikely to have access to this possibly unsafe trend in eyewear.
The biggest danger, says American optometrists, is that people obtain contact lenses from online retailers and outside the care of a doctor without a prescription. This can be very dangerous for a number of reasons. First of all, there’s risk involved in the quality of the contact lenses. Low quality contacts are unsafe to wear and can really hurt your eyes if worn frequently.
Outside of the care of an optometrist, few people know how to properly care for their contact lenses. That’s why it’s illegal in the United State to sell contact lenses without a current prescription from a licensed doctor of optometry. This regulation keeps patients safe and puts a standard in place for consumers to have their eyes examined at least once a year.
If you like the look of unique, costume lenses though, don’t worry. There are safe options you can explore that will be fun to wear without jeopardizing your eye health. Ask your closest America’s Best optometrist to show you the full selection of costume lenses if you are looking for the same effect without the risks!
