Asian girls are notorious for wanting to change their looks to look like others. Whiter or fairer skin, double eyelids, bigger eyes … what this means is that the cosmetics industry is booming in Asia with many “Asia Exclusive” products.
One of these is the “big eye” phenomenon that I’ve noticed in the past couple of years. I noticed that this craze began when Korean mini series started taking Asia and the world by storm. Suddenly, you couldn’t move for Korean series, Korean cosmetics, Korean food (yum!) and one of these is the “big eye” contact lens.
I know of 2 major brands that carry these – Acuvue and FreshKon. However, they are only sold in Asia apparently. There are other Korean brands too which I am unfamiliar with. These contact lenses don’t correct vision but make the iris of your eye look bigger thereby giving the illusion of having larger eyes. The promise is that you can have larger looking eyes without surgery.
Apparently, the Korean actresses use it and Korea has many brands of similar products so I guess they popularized it and it spread along with the rest of their culture.
I’m not saying its a bad thing, but I truly cannot understand it. I had a close encounter with a girl who used these contact lenses quite recently which prompted my thoughts. It was at an RMK Cosmetics counter and I was interested in checking out their products. She was the sales assistant and she was very friendly and helpful. I could not fault her service skills one bit.
However, I found myself unable to concentrate on her sales pitch because I was too distracted by her eyes! She had on these “big eye” contact lenses and the iris of her eyes looked wholly black, large and shiny. I’m afraid they looked quite unnatural and I was suddenly reminded of a doll with flat shiny eyes. It sent shivers down my spine and so I left without really checking anything out properly. It really was a pity she scared me so because she really was a lovely girl with nice service skills.
So I guess what I’m saying is that these “cosmetic or beauty lenses” are nice for fun but the general public may not be so receptive if you are in the service sector.
I can’t test these myself, having had Lasik surgery to correct my sight. But have you tried wearing these “big eye” contact lenses and what reactions have you gotten?
curlylocks says
May 6, 2008 at 10:07 amI’m afraid I feel the same way you do…. It just looks too unnatural and doll-like!
I’d probably be unable to stop staring if I see someone wearing it in real life..
I think Asian eyes can look really pretty and somehow more fresh-faced and youthful than classic big eyes. Its beautiful in its own way…
blu3 says
May 6, 2008 at 10:15 ami have the Acuvue Define ones in black, and I find those do have a bit of a doll like effect, however its not very noticeable. But I agree, I find other brands tend to look very dramatic and depending on the brand, sometimes scary. Still….I am tempted to try a pair, though in a more natural colour like brown 😛
I know what you mean though about the distracting effect they have. I’ve encountered salespeople wearing just regular colour contacts (not big eye ones) and even those distract me.
rinnah says
May 6, 2008 at 11:23 amMy ex-colleague used to wear these big-eye lenses and while she did look pretty with them (especially from afar), I sometimes couldn’t stop looking at her eyes (in close-up) and thinking inside my head how unnatural it looked! It’s just too black for my liking. Oh but colored contacts on Asians look weird sometimes… I know of this Malay girl who used to wear green contacts to work daily – now that creeped me out!
ParisB says
May 6, 2008 at 11:24 amcurlylocks: I’m glad you agree! I was quite unnerved when I first saw it. I’d read about it before but seeing it in reality is quite different.
blu3:I guess if its subtle it might make a difference to how you look, just not the flat black ones
rinnah: I always wanted to get colored contacts. But now that I’ve had lasik, say goodbye to contacts and specs! hehe…
Andie Summerkiss says
May 6, 2008 at 11:51 amI would love to try those. I got average-sized iris. Colored lenses on wrong people creep me out too
S-Kay says
May 6, 2008 at 12:58 pmI still prefer gray colored lenses =)
cass says
May 6, 2008 at 3:34 pmHey Paris,
Would like to let you know that these contacts actually can correct your eyesight. 🙂
ida yusop says
May 6, 2008 at 3:57 pmi once saw a girl wearing that kind of contact lenses and i thought her eyes looked like alien’s. the iris were too big for her small eyes and all i could see of her eyes were only black and no white. dont like what i saw and dont want to try it on my eyes.
ParisB says
May 6, 2008 at 7:17 pmAndie: I actually kinda like the coloured lenses. Do try the big eye ones and let us know how other people like it hehe…
S-kay: I guess those are more natural yet subtly different.
cass: serious?! Wow I thought they were just for vanity!
ida yusop: lol yes very alien-like. Not so good if you are in the service industry but fun for a day out or weekend or something.
miss p says
May 6, 2008 at 7:57 pmoh! I am buying them~ I have always been told that I have big eyes to start with. I personally don’t find that they alter my eyes too much.
So I experiment with colour lenses instead. From afar they can look quite nice.. I guess girls with small eyes have to be more careful. There are “black” lenses that are shaped smaller to make small eyes look more natural. 🙂
Ms. Blacklace says
May 7, 2008 at 12:52 amYour pretty brown eyes will go from brown to black.
I prefer my brown eyes…
Shortcake says
May 7, 2008 at 10:23 amHi… actually, initially I was really really skeptical of them as well. The black ones did look quite unnatural, but then I tried the brown ones (Freshkon’s Winsome Brown) and am totally hooked! These lenses are NOT like the normal brown colored lenses, so you don’t look like you’re wearing colored lenses at all; they match your natural dark brown irises perfectly. The best thing is; NO ONE notices that I am wear big-lenses but I do get something like : “eh something different about your eyes, looks brighter … or bigger, new eye shadow is it?” Seriously. Also, I have dark-brown irises which tend to turn RED in photos (with flash) and having this lenses reduces that somewhat. But I have friends who tried them but they could not get it into their eyes as the diameter is too big! 😛
ParisB says
May 7, 2008 at 2:04 pmMiss P: Anything that looks more natural helps. Anything that look unnatural just puts people off! 😉
Ms. Blacklace: hehe… so do I!
Shortcake: I guess you got the mix right. The thought about lenses not fitting into the eye is scary! I don’t think I’ll be trying it. Not after I spent all that money so I don’t have to wear specs or contact lenses anymore! LOL…
Cyndi says
May 7, 2008 at 2:33 pmI have a pair imported from Korea and they are fabulous. They give me slightly bigger eyes, but they make my eyes so pretty and mesmerizing. They look so natural that no one notices that I have big eyes contact lens on at all. I only get compliments that my eyes look so pretty! However, I have heard people said that naturally big eyes girls will look better in this big eyed contact lens because they might look weird on girls with small eyes(because they are too big, I think?). Not sure how true is it though. Yes, they can corrects vision as well, and some have astigmatism correction as well!
anne says
May 7, 2008 at 11:37 pmthose contact lenses just reminds me of japanese horror movies
*runs and hides*
ParisB says
May 8, 2008 at 9:45 amCyndi: Well I guess you hit on the right size for your eyes. Thanks for the info about the fact it corrects sight. I had the impression from the ads that it was all for cosmetic reasons only.
anne: *giggles* exactly!
Tine says
May 8, 2008 at 2:01 pmI’d prefer to try on coloured contacts, than these. Methinks I’ll look positively freaky in ’em :p
Monstro says
May 8, 2008 at 9:46 pmSlowest to reply, but just wanted to add anyway:
I do own disposables of the Acuvue Define–and I plan to wear them when we meet up so I can scare you-HAHAHA ;-D
But seriously, I bought them because I hardly wear contacts, and I wanted to enhance my eyes only slightly. Also, I mainly wear them at nights when I go out. So I don’t think anyone has ever noticed or stared at me because it’s pretty dark anyway!
Having said that, I only had one case of staring ever, but I think that was from a bad makeover from Shu. LMAO! Remind me to tell you about THAT.
Amber says
July 28, 2008 at 1:35 pmhi..im coming to japan this christmas could someone tell me where can i buy this lenses and how much are they? im curious about it.thanks!
MIA says
August 5, 2008 at 12:25 amive bought recently the black lenses, and im very satisfied. Actually i ve big dark brown eyes, so with these lenses, i look like a doll with big big eyes. LOL but really they re nice