Lens review: Vassen Dolly Plus Brown

 Hello folks!

 

I planned to share a circle lens review today and it's gonna be about the Vassen Dolly Plus Browns, sometimes also spelled as Vassen Dolly+ Brown.  I don't know what the current situation for these lenses is but they used to be one of the evergreens for cosplay and, back in the day when yellowish lenses were super rare, these were a go-to lens for many cosplayers who needed yellow or golden eyes for a character.

Now let's do this~

 

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.5 mm

Water content: 42% 

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

 

So this is a big and dolly lens just like the name implies, it should come as no surprise that Vassen lenses usually are on the bigger side. It's a very lovely, easily palatable lens that is attractive and will look great on almost everyone. It has a certain delightful 'anime look' to it as well, making it a good pick for cosplaying.

 

The color is a lovely very yellowish brown, in fact so much that if these didn't have brown in the name I would just call them yellow. It's a pretty color, not the easiest to find and surprisingly natural for being what is basically a very unnatural shade of "brown". They blend rather well into my eyes, the transition from the colorful parts into my natural iris is smooth and not jarring. The design is super cute and there's a big, prominent black rim to add to the illusion of moe moe eyes.

It should be noted though that these are not really brown as the name implies so yeah, if you're considering buying these and expecting a brown lens you're probably gonna end up being disappointed. This lens is commonly known to be a more goldenish, honey-like color – at least within the cosplay community. So if that's what you're looking for then the Vassen Dolly Plus Browns are a good choice.

 

One lens in.

The color shows up really well and the payoff is great. It's decently vibrant, fresh and lively. The color coverage appears to be dense enough to not allow for a 'halo effect', but I'm not completely sure on that as it was cloudy the one and only time I wore these lenses. I'm honestly bummed about that cuz the sun was out when I started prepping and then, of course, once I'm done the sun had been swallowed up by this huge mass of clouds. -.- Typical.

Lens photos ahead! All photos taken by me during a February noon with a cloudy sky. There's no color filters or such on the close-up photos and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

Indoors, natural room light.

Indoors, yellow room light.

Bathroom light.

Flash photo.

Unlit corridor, poor natural light in the distance.

Facing a window, not sun side. (aka backyard view)

Outdoors, back against where the sun would be. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing the direction of the sun while standing under a roof.

Outdoors, facing the direction where the sun would have been.

I've already mentioned it many times on previous lens reviews but yeah, these were also a part of the expired bunch I found in a cardboard box I had stashed away and forgotten about, for years. Which means I only wore the lenses to take the photos needed for this review and then immediately discarded them. I can not grade comfort properly due to this so my comfort grading is not complete nor necessarily even fair, take it as a rough estimate.

Comfort appeared to be fine for the 10 or so odd minutes I wore these lenses, they were thin and I barely felt them in my eyes. They were comfy, no scratching or such but they might have been a bit dryish but honestly, it's impossible to say if it's the lenses or my naturally dry eyes acting up. Regardless these were pleasant to wear and my wild guess is that I could have worn them for 3-5 hours if they hadn't been expired. 

 

All in all I think this is a lovely lens that is still relevant. It's beautiful, has a gorgeous honey color and would work really well for both cosplay and fashion. You could even use these lenses to be a less-scary vampire, a supernatural seductress or any magical creature you see fit. It's a fun lens and yes, I kinda wish I had found the box earlier so I would have gotten some use out of these...

Distance photo~

Looking for reviews of Dolly Plus lenses in other colors?
I got you covered: Green, Blue, Violet, Gray, Red

Short summary:

Color: 8/10
Not really a brown lens, more like a beautiful mid-to-dark golden or yellow color. It's sublime.
Design: 8/10 
Cutesy style lens that works for most looks. It has this 'manga' style to it.
Opacity: 7/10 

Color coverage is good and the edges blend nicely into my eyes without compromising intensity and effect.
Enlargement: 8/10
Definitely dolly and big, the black rim is huge and impactful.

Comfort: 7/10 

Appears to be thin and comfortable. I barely felt that I had lenses on and I have sensitive, dry eyes.
Naturalness: 2/10

Too big and well, the color is of an unnatural shade so these won't really fly far.

Thanks for reading, more coming soon!

Shiro Samurai out.