[Sponsored] Lens review: EyeCandys Doe Blue

Hello and welcome in!

Today I will be reviewing a pair of colored contact lenses that EyeCandys recently sent me for review purposes. ^^ This is a new online circle lens store experience for me so yeah, this post will also feature a small review about their site! I did receive three pairs of lenses (which I will be reviewing separately) and I will be starting with the https://eyecandys.com/products/eyecandys-doe-blue-colour-contacts?ref=shirosamuraiEyeCandys Doe Blue!

The lenses that I'm reviewing in this blog post were sponsored by EyeCandys, meaning that I did not pay for the product(s) myself. This does, however, not affect my honesty in any way. Everything written in this review is my genuine opinion; I don't ever compromise my true thoughts, feelings nor experiences dealing with any shop. My integrity can't be bought.

Discount code 10SAMURAI gives 10% off your order (two pairs minimum) at EyeCandys!

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.2 mm

Water content: 40%

Life span: 3 months

 Before I get around to the actual lens review I want to briefly share my experiences with EyeCandys. They first contacted me at the end of September for a collaboration offer. I had seen advertisements for their shop before on random social media sites so I knew them by name, but I had not bought from them before this. I checked out their store and it seemed legitimate enough, quite easy to browse and they have a fair amount of lenses for sale – with the main focus being on their own brand, EyeCandys, and diverse Korean brands that are new to me (i-Sha, Olola etc). They do have some globally known brands for sale too like Neo Vision, Acuvue, GEO and Freshlooks. They seem to carry prescription options for almost all lenses I've checked, which is good if you need that! They also have these convenient markers highlighting what each lens is good for when you're scrolling, saying stuff like "for dry eyes" and "for dark eyes" etc – it saves you a bit of time as you get a nice overview and thus don't necessarily have to click open each interesting lens to check its specifics. 
The site doesn't stand out from its competitors in terms of visuals and user interfaces, it's rather generic-looking (aside from a doge meme) and has the same style of writing typical to this type of online stores. I feel like your main draw to choose EyeCandys over other shops would be if you're interested in their own brand of lenses (which does have unique designs!) or any of the other Korean brands that the most popular stores don't carry. :) There is a lot of pretty and interesting lenses to choose from and there also seems to be a permanent free shipping offer on orders over 75$, which is always nice! I do notice though that their pricing seem to be a teeny bit on the expensive side when compared to other sites, with 30$ being roughly the average price for a pair. Waiting for sales might be an idea if you're shopping on a budget.

 As I mentioned previously EyeCandys sent me three pairs of lenses to review, all of them from their new collection(s). I did not pick these myself but that doesn't bother me at all because I like variety and the chance to try out lenses that I might not have chosen otherwise!
I have personally not had any issues with the store overall and my contact person Gerri has been super professional, understanding, fast to reply, patient and just overall a stellar customer service experience. They understood English really well too, much better than I initially expected due to the store being based in Asia – South Korea to be exact, the motherland of circle lenses.

I do aknowledge that, as a blogger with a sponsorship deal, that I most likely had some privileges (probably got faster shipping, priority service etc) and my overall experience might thus not be comparable to the experience of an average customer. But I want to say that –based on this one experience– that I personally have no reason to mistrust EyeCandys. All the lenses I received seem legitimate and the whole transaction was smooth. 

One thing that made me raise my eyebrow is that on their "contact us" page is an address in Hong Kong but my package was clearly shipped from South Korea (KR land code and tracking showing departure from a district in Seoul). I'm not savvy in business management stuff so I don't know if this kind of practice is normal for some reason, maybe it's some kind of customer service outsourcing? I honestly have no idea but, whatever the case, I feel like anything being shipped out from South Korea is almost automatically a green flag as that's the country with the highest quality standards for a lot of beauty products and cosmetics in Asia. 
For transparency I want to also mention that I did see messages from customers not receiving their orders on time etc on-site but I also saw that the customer service did reply to these concerns and I can only assume that the issues were solved through email exchanges, as they should be. Generally speaking, regardless of what online store it is, there will always be people with bad experiences – sometimes it's the store's fault and sometimes it's the postal company's and other times it can even be a *gasp* customer error yes, the customer isn't always right. 

With all of that said I think EyeCandys is a legit business that sells authentic lenses. But as with all overseas online stores one should be aware of the risks of long shipping times and eventual other mishaps with orders (out of stock, defective lenses etc). Always place your order well in advance to avoid troubles and frustration from missed deadlines.

 

EyeCandys shipped out my order on 30th September by Korea Post and it arrived in my country on 6th October. The local post was really slow with the clearances and such so it took until 22nd October before it was ready to be picked up. The package was this common cardboard box and I had to go pick it up from the postal office; I didn't have to pay any additional fees though!

Inside the cardboard box was this pretty pink box!

I opened the box and inside was the lenses along with a merry lot of other stuff. The lenses came in separate blister packages, which had me confused for a few seconds because I'm used to it being one box per pair but these lenses were one box per lens! I guess this is good if you need different prescriptions for each eye so yeah, I can see why this is a thing lol.

 

All contents laid out.

Aside from the usual stuff like a guide on how to wear and open lenses etc I also received a small bottle of lubricating eye drops (for contacts), a contact lens applicator kit, egg-shaped lens cases (including tweezers and an applicator as well) and also a couple spare lens cases. This is a pretty handy sponsor package – I especially appreciate the eye drops because I have really dry and sensitive eyes naturally so it will come in handy! I do think some of these additional goodies might be freebies all customers get once your order reaches certain value thresholds. :)

~~ Lens review ahead! ~~ 

So this was of course my first time trying the EyeCandys brand of lenses and, as such, I went in with no expectations when I opened up the cute little cardboard packages to get the lens blisters out. Always make sure to remove lenses from their original packaging and soak them in all-purpose lens solution for some hours before wearing them for the first time – personally I always put lenses to soak overnight, it's easy and convenient. You could technically wear circle lenses straight outta the vials/blisters but it's really not recommended since the solution they are stored in is a stronger kind meant to keep the lenses good in storage and yeah, it might irritate the eyes.

You can see from my photos at the top that it was nigh impossible to photograph the lenses in their blisters; the plastic isn't clear (it's matte) so you can't really see the lens well and that's the reason why I took an additional photo of the lenses in a lens case, which I don't typically do. That's to show the color and style of the lens more accurately. 
I'm gonna be honest here and say that to me these don't look blue at all, it's a super pale blueish gray. It's not as blue as the stock photos make it look – at first I thought maybe there was a mistake and I had accidentally been sent a gray lens but the EyeCandys Doe series doesn't even exist in gray! :D And the packaging and everything is clearly for the Doe Blue. Oh well, I was still excited to try these regardless of what the perceived color was!

One lens in.

The page for these lenses says that the graphic diameter is 12.5 mm which I feel is more accurate than the 14.2 mm marked as the total diameter, especially when it comes to the size and printed area. This is a really small lens, it's almost exactly the same size as my irises are, so for me the enlargement is close to zero. I do want to mention here though that people do actually have different iris and eye sizes so, for someone else, the difference could be more pronounced!

I have naturally light grayish blue eyes with a tiny golden inner ring. Once I got one lens in I looked in the mirror and my first thought was "which eye is the lens in?" lmao. xD It's so similar to my real eyes, both in size and color! There's a slight color difference in that the lenses make my eyes look more slate colored – it looks super natural though. 
It's a bit hard to see on photos but if you look really close there's this kind of subtle ocean ripple-like print towards the edges of the lens, mimicing the patterns of an iris. These lenses also blend deceptively well with my real eye color, it's hard to tell that I have lenses on and the limbal ring is really thin and soft too – I could totally wear these out and go grocery shopping and no one would be the wiser that I have colored contacts on lol.

I would classify these as a most natural lens, suitable for daily occasions or subtle dress-up looks. I don't feel like there's enough vibrancy nor flashiness for cosplay purposes but it can be used for "western characters" (movies, comics etc) if you mainly just want to change your eye color without anything extra at all. I do feel like these lenses would be more interesting and well, probably more blue, on dark eyes. After all, they're created first-hand for brown eyes and the Asian market. On light eyes similar to mine it's more like a color enhancing lens or a slight nudge towards a different shade of blue/gray. The color itself makes me think of rainy summer clouds. It's pretty and boring at the same time because it's so similar to my own eyes, if that makes sense? :'D I generally favor lenses that makes my eyes look clearly different in some way, it's just more exciting to see yourself with an eye color that you don't see in the mirror everyday!

Lens photos ahead!
All photos taken by me during a morning with a clear sky. All close-up photos are free from color filters and such and that's so that the colors would appear as close to real life as possible.

Indoors, natural room light.

Indoors, yellow room light.

Flash photo.

Bathroom light.

Facing window, not sun side.

Outdoors, back against the sun. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing the sun.

Outdoors, facing the sun's direction while under a shadow.

While these lenses might not wow me with their overall impact because they're too similar to my actual eyes they sure did deliver on the comfort department! It should be noted that I have exceptionally dry eyes and usually can't wear contacts comfortably for more than a few hours at a time and yet I could easily wear the Doe Blues for 6 hours before I felt even the first minor drying signs. This is no small feat, these lenses have exceptional comfort for me. I'm not sure how much of a difference it truly makes but I know that typically circle lenses are made of silicone hydrogel but EyeCandys's lenses are made of MPC polymer, a new bioinspired material that has slightly different properties. Of course everyone's eyes are different and yada yada but these lenses, when I put them on, there was that instant feeling of (re)hydration that I haven't really experienced with other lenses. I was like "woah what is this freshness??", it was so pleasant for someone who struggles with eye dryness. Really blew me away. ;o;
On top of that hydration effect and overall top-tier comfort these lenses are also thin and I don't feel them much at all; there's no scratchy feeling or discomfort. I did notice though that in poorer light conditions there is a very minor, barely noticeable blur at the corners of my field of vision and that's probably because of the smaller than average pupil opening and the fact that pupils dilate in weaker lights, meaning that some of the printed color might periodically be "on top" of your pupil and obscure it. This is nothing to be concerned about however, as I said it's so minor I didn't even notice it myself until I was only wearing one lens.

I want to note that these lenses were really difficult to tell apart the 'wrong' and 'right' side upon insertion because the print is identical on both sides; only the miniscule downward edge curve on the 'wrong' side guides you and the curve itself is so abyssmal that I had to do double-takes to be certain I got it right – and I've been wearing contacts for over a decade now, I'd call myself experienced lol. With that said this is perhaps not the best starter lens for first-timers because the risk is higher than average to put them on the wrong way. You have to look really carefully if the edges go fully up like a bowl ('right' way) or if there's even the slightest turn into a saucer shape ('wrong' way).

To sum it all up the Doe Blues would be a comfy and discreet daily lens for casual outings – the comfort definitely allows for long wear times. Overall it's a good lens for natural and toned-down looks, although it doesn't provide much of a change if your eyes are already blue or gray. The design is meant to look near indiscernible to a human iris so if you favor "invisible lenses" then the Doe series let's you stay incognito while delicately tuning your eye color.

Distance photo!

For this review I went with a pirate themed outfit because I wanted to showcase what costume ideas you could do with natural lenses – historical costuming being one of them. I wouldn't use these for anime characters and the like but you can absolutely use natural lenses like this for renaissance festivals, live-action roleplays and anything where you don't want to look like you're wearing contacts. 

Short summary:

Color: 3/10
Somewhat gray on my eyes. A cold, pale shade that makes me think of rain puddles or a clouded, sleeping sea. Quite uniform and passable.

Design: 5/10

A realistic, versatile design. Very subtle pattern of oceanic ripples brings out a delicate touch.

Opacity: 5/10

Changes my eye color but it's hard to discern to what extent due to the similarities. Great blending!

Enlargement: 1/10

Very minor, there's hardly any enlargement effect to speak of. Soft, fuzzy limbal ring.

Comfort: 9/10

Thin and hydrating for a long time! Very comfortable on dry eyes. Potentially a very slight vision blur in poorer light conditions.

Naturalness: 10/10

One of the most natural-looking lenses I've worn. Happens to be very similar to my real eyes despite being a colored lens.

Thankies for reading, more reviews are coming soon!
Thank you, EyeCandys! ♡

Shiro Samurai out~