Amidst talks of buying all our supplies for my friend Serra’s lolita party, were were all talking about whether to buy a pair of the new Geo Princess Mimi lenses, and I started thinking about how I came to own circle lenses in the first place.

It all started five years ago when my Korean friend turned up to cheap Tuesday ice cream night and told us she has just bought these awesome contact lenses in Korea. She was asking everyone what they thought of them, but no one knew what she was talking about! It was not until two years later, that I went to Japan that I realized that circle lenses were supposed to make your eyes look bigger. I’d always thought she looked so cute even without makeup and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was!

I bought my first circle lenses as a random impulse by on my last night in Japan in 2009. We were in Don Quixote (ドン・キホーテ), Japanese crazy variety discount store (sells everything, even circle lenses!). At the checkout I saw near the counter a wall of circle lenses for 3,000yen. I picked one up and a few hours later we were on the plane! I threw that pair away a long time ago. I can’t even remember what model or brand they were. I think they might have been Candy Magic.

Cons:

• The look is so subtle that it’s probably not even worth wearing these! It does ‘define’ your eyes, and people around you will be able to tell there is something different (without knowing why!).
• Expensive and only usable for a maximum of 30 days – keeping these for more than one day is not recommended.
• Fragile and can rip if not careful

Next I decided to try a colour lense. This one looked great on the models but unfortunately on me they look like lizard eyes. It might be because my eyes are so dark, or it might be because the design is quite low resolution. I really didn’t like these and didn’t end up wearing them at all. I decided to just go back to black.

I love these lenses! They are huge – 15mm with the design going right to the border. I’m quite impressed with how comfortable these are. After wearing them for a couple of hours I get so used to them that I can forget they are on. But I’m not at all saying it feels like I’m wearing nothing. Of course when you take contacts off your eyes always feel quite relieved.

Pros:

• Comfortable
• Make your eyes look seriously huge
• Usually sold for reasonable price at most retailers (I got mine for $20)

• The look is maybe too dramatic and noticeable. People are always looking at me twice or even staring a bit to figure out what’s with my eyes.
• Because they are so big, people who don’t have much experience with putting in lenses might have some trouble getting these on.