Key Takeaways
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The right colored contacts can enhance your natural beauty and complete your bridal look
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Choose lens colors based on your skin tone, hair color, and desired effect
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Test new lenses at least a month before your wedding day
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Inform your makeup artist about your contacts for optimal makeup application
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Consider lens material, wear schedule, and proper care for maximum comfort
Introduction
Your wedding day is all about showcasing your beauty and personality. While most brides focus on the dress, venue, flowers, and makeup, colored contact lenses can be that perfect finishing touch that enhances your natural features and completes your bridal look.
Colored contacts can transform your appearance, make your eyes pop in photographs, and eliminate glasses glare in your wedding photos. Whether you want to subtly enhance your natural eye color or completely transform it for a dramatic effect, this guide will help you choose the perfect colored contact lenses for your special day.
Why Colored Contact Lenses Are Perfect for Brides
Colored contact lenses offer several unique advantages that make them ideal for brides on their wedding day:
Enhanced Photography Results
Your wedding photos will be treasured for a lifetime. Colored contacts make your eyes more vibrant and expressive, creating stunning portraits where your eyes truly sparkle. The subtle enhancement ensures your gaze captures attention in every photo, especially in close-up shots.
Freedom from Glasses
Many brides who normally wear glasses choose contacts for their wedding day. This eliminates glare in photos, allows for more makeup options, and ensures nothing obstructs your face in those precious captured moments. Contacts also work seamlessly with veils, tiaras, and other headpieces that might interfere with glasses.
Complementing Your Wedding Colors
Colored contacts can be coordinated with your wedding color scheme, bouquet, or jewelry tones. This subtle coordination creates a harmonious look that pulls your entire bridal appearance together in an unexpected but beautiful way.
Confidence Boost
The right colored contacts can give you that extra boost of confidence as you walk down the aisle. Knowing your eyes look their absolute best helps you feel more radiant and self-assured on a day when all eyes are on you.
Creating a Memorable Look
Your wedding day is extraordinary, and your appearance should reflect that. Colored contacts offer a special enhancement you might not wear daily, making your bridal look truly unique and memorable for your once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
Practical All-Day Comfort
Modern colored contacts are designed for all-day comfort, making them perfect for the extended wear needed during wedding festivities. From morning preparations through the reception, quality lenses stay comfortable without the need for adjustments that glasses might require."> </artifact> </artifacts>
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Understanding Different Types of Colored Contact Lenses
Before selecting colored contacts for your wedding, it's important to understand the various types available and how they can enhance your bridal look.
Visibility Tint Lenses
This type of lens contains a minor color tint that doesn't affect the color of your eyes.
These lenses are mainly designed to help you see them better during handling and insertion, rather than changing your eye color. They're ideal if you just need vision correction without altering your natural eye color.
Enhancement Tint Lenses
This type of lens enhances the natural color of your eyes if you have light-colored eyes and want them to appear more intensely.
Enhancement tints are semi-transparent and work best for brides with naturally light blue, green, or hazel eyes who want to intensify their existing eye color.
Opaque Tint Lenses
These lenses are not transparent and can change your eye color completely. This type could be the best choice for those who have dark eyes and want to change the color of their eyes. Also, contact lenses with opaque tint are available in the markets with a wide range of colors.
Opaque tints completely cover your natural eye color and are perfect for brides with darker eyes who want a dramatic transformation. These lenses feature patterns of colors, lines, and dots to create a natural-looking effect despite the complete color change.
Matching Color Contact Lenses with Your Skin Tone
Choosing the right colored contact lenses as a bride depends on many more factors, not just the lens type on your eye's shape. These factors include your skin tone, hair color, and the look you want to appear by.
Fair Skin Tones
People with a fair skin tone look great with any colored contact lenses, especially lenses with shades of grey or blue; it will give them a classy and natural look.
Brides with fair skin have the most versatility when choosing colored contacts. Cool-toned lenses like blue, grey, and violet can create a striking contrast against your skin, while green and hazel lenses offer a more subtle enhancement.
Medium Skin Tones
People with a medium skin tone usually prefer the colors green, grey, hazel, or dark blue contact lenses because of their contrast with their tanned skin.
For medium skin tones, emerald green, amber, honey brown, and deep blue lenses can create a beautiful harmony with your complexion. These colors complement the warmth in your skin while providing enough contrast to make your eyes stand out.
Dark Skin Tones
Dark skin works best with warm and smoky colors because it gives you this sexy and attractive look. Take care of loud colors like aqua or pink because they won't complement your look.
Brides with darker skin tones look stunning in honey brown, amber, rich hazel, and smoky grey lenses. These warm, earthy tones create a beautiful contrast against deeper skin tones while maintaining a natural appearance.
Preparing to Wear Contact Lenses for Your Wedding
Schedule an Eye Exam
If you plan to wear contact lenses to look natural without sacrificing clear vision, it's best to schedule an eye exam appointment weeks ahead of your wedding. A qualified eye care professional can test your visual acuity and update your contact lenses according to your prescription. An eye exam can also be an opportunity to get your contact lenses properly fitted and ensure you don't feel any pain or discomfort when you wear them on your wedding day.
Even if you're considering non-prescription colored lenses, a proper eye exam is essential to ensure the lenses fit correctly and won't cause irritation on your big day.
Do a Contact Lens Rehearsal
If you're thinking of wearing contact lenses for the first time on your wedding day, our advice is simple. Don't! You wouldn't leave it until your wedding day to try on your dress for the first time, so don't make that same mistake with your contact lenses. If you intend to wear new lenses on your wedding day, try them out at least a month before. Even if you're a regular contact lens wearer, your eyes may react to new lenses. Testing them out beforehand gives you time to come up with an alternative should any issues arise.
Plan to wear your chosen lenses for a full day to ensure they remain comfortable throughout extended wear. This trial run will help you identify any potential issues before your wedding day.
Choosing the Right Lens Material
There are two main types of lens material that you may want to consider based on your personal preferences and vision needs.
Soft Contact Lenses
The increasing popularity and adoption of contact lenses means there are various designs and materials to choose from, but soft contact lenses are most commonly prescribed in the UK, accounting for 98% of new fits. This type of contact lens is typically made of materials like silicone hydrogel, which is highly flexible and enables oxygen to permeate the surface of the eye.
Whether you wear your contacts for a few hours or the entire day from ceremony to reception, opting for this lens material means your eyes will stay comfortable and are less prone to drying.
Soft contacts are the most popular choice for brides due to their comfort and ease of adaptation, especially for those new to contact lenses.
Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) Lenses
RGP lenses are more durable and provide sharper vision for some wearers, but they typically require a longer adjustment period. These lenses may be an option for brides who already wear them regularly, but they're not recommended for first-time wearers just before a wedding.
Popular Colored Contact Lens Options for Brides
Brides who want to stand out on one of their most memorable occasions should consider coloured contact lenses for a more unique and memorable aesthetic. The optical retailer Lenstore offers a wide variety of coloured lenses designed to transform or enhance your natural eye colour, available in both vision and non-vision correction forms. These are also available for different wear times, such as the Air Optix Colors monthly-use lenses and Freshlook daily disposables in pure hazel, grey, green, and blue.
For Brown Eyes
Colored contact lenses transform the natural color of your iris with a new shade, making them perfect for enhancing or completely changing brown eyes. These lenses feature a tinted design that overlays your iris, offering a wide range of options. For dark brown eyes, opaque color contacts work best to fully change the eye color, while enhancer lenses subtly brighten and add depth to your natural hue.
Green Lenses for Brown Eyes
Bella Elite Emerald Green lenses are a top pick for dark brown eyes, blending bright and deep green tones for a striking yet natural effect. With a subtle limbal ring, these lenses add dimension and illuminate the eyes, creating a radiant and enchanting appearance. Perfect for those seeking a natural-looking transformation, Emerald Green is a timeless favorite.
Blue Lenses for Brown Eyes
Ocean Blue lenses from the Bella One-Day collection offer a vibrant yet authentic blue tone that beautifully conceals dark brown eyes. A mix of blue, yellow, and gray hues, coupled with a defining limbal ring, creates a stunning blue eye effect. These daily lenses are perfect for all-day comfort and a completely natural blue transformation.
Gray Lenses for Brown Eyes
Bella Elite Gray Olive lenses stand out for their unique blend of medium gray and dark olive tones. The two-tone design and subtle limbal ring provide full coverage for dark brown eyes while adding captivating depth and complexity. These lenses are perfect for achieving a dramatic yet natural gray look.
For Blue, Green, and Hazel Eyes
If you have naturally lighter eyes, enhancement tints can intensify your eye color without a complete transformation. Brands like FreshLook Colorblends offer subtle enhancement options that add depth and vibrancy to light-colored eyes.
To enhance your natural eye color, try FreshLook Colorblends. They're available in a wide range of colors, including brown, gemstone green, gray honey and true sapphire.
For a Subtle Enhancement
Some lenses, such as the Acuvue Define Vivid Style, accent your eye color, rather than change them. They feature a dark brown rim that makes eyes appear brighter and more vivid.
These lenses are perfect for brides who want a subtle enhancement that makes their eyes pop in photographs without a dramatic color change.
Coordinating Contact Lenses with Your Wedding Look
Matching with Your Makeup
Now, you almost know the best color of contact lenses that suit your skin tone, eye shape, and color. So, it's time to get ready for the wedding day! Remember to inform your makeup artist that you are wearing contact lenses because they may apply your makeup differently to avoid harming the lens.
Coordinate with your makeup artist in advance to ensure your eye makeup complements your colored contacts. For example, copper and bronze eyeshadows enhance blue lenses, while purple and plum shades make green lenses pop.
When to Insert Your Lenses on the Wedding Day
Once your big day arrives, the most important thing to remember is to put your contacts in before you apply makeup. If you're having a professional do your makeup, let them know you're wearing lenses, as they may apply your makeup differently.
Insert your lenses after showering but before starting your makeup application. This prevents makeup particles from getting trapped between the lens and your eye.
Makeup Tips for Contact Lens Wearers
Here are a few important makeup tips for contact lens wearers:
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Make sure your hands and your makeup artist's are clean before you start!
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Never apply eyeliner to the inner lid of your eye. This could contaminate your lenses.
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Avoid powder eyeshadow and fiber mascara, as they can stick to your contacts and irritate your eyes. Mascara that's drying out and contains clumps can have the same effect.
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Avoid oil-based makeup, even if it isn't applied to your face. Oil-based concealers and foundations can make their way into your eyes over the course of the day. Oil can slip under your contact lens, causing discomfort.
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Finally, don't put your lenses in too early in the day. It's best to minimize the time they're in your eyes. Equally, don't put them in just before your ceremony because your eyes may be a little red while they adjust!
Contact Lens Care for Your Wedding Day
Essential Items to Pack
While contact lenses are relatively more comfortable to wear than glasses, you still need to bring care products to ensure safety and hygiene on your wedding day. For example, a trusted contact lens solution from the brand Cleadew is a must if you remove monthly-use lenses and reuse them for the rest of your celebration or honeymoon trip. Soaking your lenses in the solution overnight can kill bacteria and viruses that have deposited on the surface and can otherwise cause eye infections. In addition to a cleaning solution, you can check with your eye doctor for rewetting eye drops or artificial tears that keep your eyes hydrated throughout your wedding day.
Prepare a small emergency kit with:
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Contact lens solution
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A clean lens case
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Rewetting drops or artificial tears
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Your prescription glasses as a backup
When to Remove Your Lenses
Our advice is to take your contact lenses out as soon as you can. The longer you wear contacts, the more likely they'll start irritating your eyes. Once you've had your official photographs taken and the party's started, you might want to switch to glasses. Or, if you want to wear your lenses for the duration of the day, pop them out as soon as you make it back to your hotel suite.
If you experience any redness, irritation, scratchy sensations or visual disturbances, you must remove your contact lenses. Photos or no photos! Wearing contacts can put you at risk of eye infections, especially if you don't care for them properly. Even harmless-seeming symptoms like red eyes could be an indicator of an eye infection. If in doubt, take them out!
Additional Tips for Lens Comfort
On an important day like your wedding day, you might want to switch your lenses out for a fresh pair as soon as they start to feel uncomfortable. That way, you'll have clear vision right into the early hours!
Keep your eyes comfortable throughout your wedding day by:
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Staying hydrated
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Avoiding smoky or dusty environments when possible
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Using preservative-free rewetting drops as needed
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Taking short breaks from your lenses if necessary
Choosing Quality Contact Lens Brands
There are many colored contact lens brands to choose from, and selecting a reputable brand is important to ensure you get a high-quality product. Look for a brand with a good reputation, a history of customer satisfaction, and a wide range of lens colors to choose from.
Bella Lenses Collection
Bella Colored Contact Lenses are non-prescription colored contact lenses designed for those looking to enhance their eye appearance with vibrant, expressive colors. Crafted with exceptional quality and safety, Bella color lenses offer a stylish and comfortable way to transform your look. With a diverse selection of shades, from subtle eye enhancements to bold color transformations, Bella Lenses cater to every style and preference.
Bella Diamond Lenses
Vivid limbal ring to draw attention to the eyes. Ideal for warm and cool-toned skin tones. Available in 14 colors. Each pair intended to be worn up to 3 months.
Bella Elite Lenses
Exquisite colors with a subtle limbal ring for a natural look on darker eyes. Comes in 18 colors. Each pair intended to wear up to 3 months.
Bella Glow Lenses
Designed for a glamorous and lavish appearance. Colors feature a medium to strong limbal ring for eye-catching effect. Available in 9 colors. Each pair intended to wear up to 3 months.
Bella Natural Lenses
Offers the most natural color contact lenses. Comes in a variety of blue, gray, hazel, green and green-yellow colors. Provides full UV ray protection. Available in 8 colors. Each pair intended to wear up to 3 months.
Final Checklist for Brides Wearing Colored Contacts
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Schedule an eye exam at least 1-2 months before your wedding
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Test your chosen lenses for a full day at least a month before
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Coordinate with your makeup artist about your contact lenses
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Practice inserting and removing your lenses until you're comfortable
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Prepare an emergency kit with solution, case, and rewetting drops
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Have a backup plan (extra lenses or glasses) in case of issues
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Remember to insert lenses before makeup application on your wedding day
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Take breaks if needed throughout your wedding day
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Remove lenses at the end of the night or if any discomfort occurs
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I wear colored contacts if I've never worn contacts before?
Yes, but it's crucial to have an eye exam first and practice wearing them well before your wedding day. Start with shorter wearing periods and gradually increase the time to build tolerance and comfort.
Do I need a prescription for colored contact lenses?
These contact brands and others like them are available Plano (with zero corrective power). But even if you want to wear Plano colored lenses, you still need an up-to-date prescription from your eye care provider.
In most countries, including the US and UK, you need a valid prescription for all contact lenses, including non-corrective colored lenses. This ensures the lenses fit properly and won't damage your eyes.
How long can I safely wear my colored contacts on my wedding day?
Most soft contact lenses can be safely worn for 8-12 hours. However, wedding days are often long and stressful, which can increase eye dryness. Use rewetting drops throughout the day and remove your lenses if you experience any discomfort.
Will colored contacts look natural in my wedding photos?
Quality colored contacts from reputable brands are designed to look natural, especially in photographs. Ensure you choose lenses with a design that includes a limbal ring (the darker circle around the iris) for a more natural appearance.
Can I cry with contacts in?
Yes, you can cry with contacts in, and your emotional wedding moments won't be ruined! Tears are compatible with contact lenses. Just avoid rubbing your eyes if they tear up, as this could dislodge a lens or introduce bacteria.
Conclusion
Choosing the perfect colored contact lenses for your wedding day involves considering your skin tone, desired effect, comfort needs, and coordinating with your overall bridal look. With proper preparation, the right lens selection, and appropriate care, colored contacts can beautifully enhance your eyes and ensure you look stunning in every wedding photo.
Remember to consult with an eye care professional, test your lenses well in advance, and prepare an emergency kit for your wedding day. With these precautions in place, you can confidently showcase your beautiful eyes as you walk down the aisle and celebrate your special day.
