My First Time Wearing Circle Lenses, Courtesy of Simply-Subtle

I was recently contacted by the circle lens shop Simply-Subtle asking if I would like to review a pair of the circle lens they stock. Circle lenses are something that are in many Lolita's must-wear makeup boxes, but I personally haven't worn contacts in about 9 years, and only very briefly at that! I explained my lack of practice with contact lenses and we decided that I'd try them anyways, as sort of an adventure in circle lenses.

The lenses Simply-Subtle offers are Geo lenses, US FDA approved and each individual lens container includes a scratch-off section for you to reveal an authentication code that you can look up on Geo Medical's website to make sure everything is legit. This is perfect for anyone who's wary about sticking things in their eyes!

A few short days after agreeing to review their lenses, my package arrived safe and sound! As a contact lens noob, the only thing I needed to do was to pick up a bottle of contact solution and soak the contacts for at least 24 hours. There was an instruction pamphlet included with the package, in case you're unsure of exactly how to go about caring for your lenses.

The package was extra cute, and came with a contact lens case.

As a new circle lens wearer I was a bit lost on what sort of color and size to choose, so I told Danielle my eye color and what I was looking for (which basically amounted to I didn't really want anything too big, for fear of looking like an alien), and she chose Xtra Bella Series in violet, which are 15mm. I have relatively light green eyes, so I was curious how well the violet would blend with them, as I've seen some circle lenses that have a very obvious line where the color stops, making it very obvious if the lenses are slightly off center. However, the Xtra Bella lenses in violet were absolutely perfect! They blended perfectly with my natural eye color, even though my eyes are a significantly different color (green is actually the opposite color of purple, on the color wheel derp, I forgot what colors were, the opposite of green is red), creating not only a very natural blend, but also an incredibly striking effect.

Without lenses, and with crooked bangs. Oops.

With Geo's 15mm Xtra Bella Series in violet.

I know some people are total pros at wearing contact lenses, but I am... not one of those people. As gorgeous as these lenses are, and very easy to wear, once they got in my eyes, I personally had one heck of a time trying to get them in my eyes.  

In my circle lens adventures my first step was working up the nerve to get them in. It's not as if I am squicked out by touching my eyeball, because I'm really not, but the concept of putting something in my eye and keeping it there for an extended period of time was sort of freaking me out. I eventually came to my facebook to ask some friends, who are all much more experienced with circle lenses, for some help. I got a ton of help from Amber, a NYC Lolita and Gal, and Laelette, who runs the Lolita Fashion Mentoring Facebook group. It was largely emotional support that amounted to a lot of "Suck it up and just stick it in your eyeballs! You're going to be so kawaii when you're done!". I also fond the following video to be super helpful, it's specifically for those with long nails (which I don't exactly have) but it's great because this girl makes it look so easy:

Generally though, I found the best advice to be to roll your eye up and aim for applying the contact for the white of your eyes, rather than on the iris. A few blinks will slide it into place like magic, and you don't really experience much reflex blinking that way. I found getting them out to be much easier than putting them in, even though many people experience just the opposite, all I had to do was slide them to my lower eyelid where the seal between my eyeball and contact was easily broken.

I know a lot of people who can pop in lenses for the first time and be totally okay with them, but that person is not me (and it is apparently not most people!). Personally, as someone wearing circle lenses for the first time ever, I had to take a few "test drives" with them before I could wear them for any length of time, so my eyes could simply get used to them and stop trying to blink them out every couple of seconds. The very first time I put them in, after a struggle of about a half hour, I got one in and then had to take it out after a couple minutes. So if your very first time with circle lenses isn't going so well, I would simply suggest taking them out and trying again after your eyes have had a bit of a rest. If you're buying yourself a pair to go with a coordinate or a special event, give yourself a few weeks to get used to them! You might not find that you can just pop them in right before you need to be wearing them. I actually thought this was a me problem until I googled around a bit and found that it's normal for people to a) take forever to put contacts in the first time and b) are not always able to wear them for very long at first. I guess circle lenses are now such a common thing in Lolita that I just assumed they would be as easy to wear as a petticoat!

For 10% off your order with Simply-Subtle, use the code FYL at checkout!

As I mentioned, my lenses came courtesy of Simply-Subtle, and I couldn't be happier with them! They came incredibly fast, Danielle was incredibly helpful for a newbie like myself (as well as incredibly patient!), and they have a wide range of different styles and colors of authentic Geo circle lens in stock.

I'm actually really glad I had this chance to test drive a pair of circle lens. It's something I'd considered, because I really like the dolly look they give a lot of people, and they really do make your eyes pop, but I had no idea what to personally expect. I definitely am going to keep trying these on until I am a total pro at them! But until then, I would absolutely love to hear any advice from veteran circle lens wearers, as well as from people who are very new to wearing them!