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?
i’m an asian girl and i have tried those “big eye contacts”
in fact, i’m wearing them right now.
how ever the correct term is “Circle Lens”
and i know what u mean. there are girls who buys the black circle lens and their eyes look like something on a horror film.
but the ones i brought are colored. slightly colored and people’s reactions towards them are pretty positive.
they come in many different colors and sometimes design too. but i usually stay away from the black ones.
@Vivien : Glad its working for you! I just get scared tho lol
I’m with you– when I see the ad in the magazine, I just feel spooked without the need to check out the real life thing. The ad looks like “hey, come, come and be a ju-on with me..” freaky smiling all cutesyly with bizarro evil eyes. Like the evil ppl from that book Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
Though my question is actually: where did you get Lasik surgery, how much and most importantly, how has your vision faired?
@Dian : Its been 2 years and my sight has been decent. I reckon I could write about it some day 🙂
i’m totally with you on this one.
one of my friends bought those big black lenses from an internet store and she thinks it makes her look cute like a doll. we think she looks alien/high (but none of us has the guts to tell her…yet)
i really don’t understand these asian products….
I am a Caucasian girl, and I am a fan of the huge eyes and Asian eyes. I own some of the “Colorvue Big Eyes 2”, and love them. I wear them everyday. The Circle ones are nice and look natural (I have green eyes and they just seem to frame them). I also own a pair of dolly black, which are large and black. They do look sort of freaky and “dolly” especially since I have blond hair. But overall I love them and think their great.
where can i buy des big eye contacts n New York?
I have big eyes, and the ting is my iris, is too big… therefor I cant wear normal size colored contact lenses. they move around and I look freaky. Its not that I dislike my eye color, they are my best feature, big light brown. But sometimes I like to change up a bit, especially at night. I have them in green and a honey color. They fit me perfectly, because my eyes are big and my iris is already big. People always tell me they love my eyes( with the contacts on) and the weird thing is they look soo natural. I guess you have to have big eyes to pull it of. and wear natural blending colors. I have no idea why someone would like big black eyes.. it is freaky looking .. like a doll…
I bought a pair and I love them. They are much more comfortable than the lens from America.
i think its still way better than a colored contact lens, that just looks off with any asians.very creepy- i still have nightmares from the film geisha. i think to wear the black one you must have a dark iris (almost black) to begin with, so when you wear it the difference wont be as shocking (dead doll eyes). but if you wear the brown ones, it will actually look very natural but alas less dramatic (to some people this is a bad point). i personally like them, since they are much larger and feel much durable than ordinary contact lens so they are much easier to put on- and the “natural colour” of the contact lens fits more with asian eyes than any other colored contact lens- so its another plus for me since i cant wear “invisible” lenses since i always end up missing them.
that reminds me of a funny story! You see, my eyes are (from the middle and towards the out) yellow, hazel, green, blue and a dark gray ring on the outside. So this guy I had just met and who is a major anime fan asks: where did you buy your circle lenses? And i just reply : its genetic.com lol…so yeah they dont make much if a diference on me ;p
Even normal contact lens creep me out. I always thing something is stuck in her eyes. Let’s get this in context here: me staring into my lover’s eye. I like it when she wears glasses. I think it looks better. Besides, contacts are not good for your eyes.
Then she started putting in colored contacts, and I almost got sick. Eyes are the windows to your soul. She’d be better off wearing sunglasses. At least that looks cool. Color contacts just make people look dead.
Hi,
Well I think all lenses are kinda fake looking as is makeup generally, but if you don’t take it too seriously it really doesn’t matter. I got those big eye lenses because I am of Indian descent and have big eyes and those lenses make my eyes look soooooooooooo amazing in pics and from abt 2 feet away anything closer than that and i bet ppl are confused and generally that is followed by their being weirded out! My unsuspecting roommate keeps telling me how nice I look though lol!
One of my friends wears this and she looks fucking scary. She is not Asian, and I honestly dont understand why some people do it. Creeps me out so much that I call my friend Alien xD