May 30, 2022

Lens review: I.Fairy Poppy Red

 Hello people!

It's been a bit quiet here on the blog, I've been quite busy with my work practice and haven't had anything to really write about. But now I've got a circle lens review to share so that's at least something, right? I will tell you all about this very pretty red lens called I.Fairy Poppy Red, let's go!



Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 16.2 mm
Water content: 55%
Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)
 

I really like that the lenses use poppy in the name red poppies are famous as a symbol of remembrance for WW1 and how they grew on ravaged battlefields, most notably in Flanders Fields. Probably one of the reasons why I originally bought these to use for either costesting or photoshooting Prussia from Hetalia hehe, but then I think what happened was that Firith had lost pieces of the costume so I couldn't borrow it and then the plans fell through. :'D I borrowed that costume at Närcon many years ago but don't really have photos of it.

Anygays, this is a pretty big lens and it's a very vibrant and gorgeous red shade. It screams cosplay to me, it's no doubt a very good cosplay lens perfect size, very visible color, versatile design! I absolutely adore the shade of red, it's so fresh and has such a lovely brightness to it. The design is rather simple with a classic burst-like print with darker red streaks mixed in with the lighter base color for depth.

One lens in.

As you can see the red color is super visible but still doesn't look like a crazy lens or over-the-top. The coverage is great and despite how different it is from my natural eye color (grayish blue) it doesn't clash and actually transitions surprisingly well! It's not the smoothest fade ever but it works! 
The design is semi-realistic if we look at how it vaguely resembles a real iris, except just a lot bigger. I.Fairy lenses are known for being big though so that's nothing new under the sun!

Lens photos incoming!
All photos taken by me during a May afternoon with a mostly clear 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.


Natural room light.

Bathroom light.

Flash photo, indoors.

Unlit corridor, weak natural light in the distance.

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

Outdoors, back against the sun. (facing wall)

Outdoors, facing the sun while standing under the roof's shadow.

Outdoors, facing the sun directly.

I forgot about the expiry date on these (time goes by so fast!) so I did not get to wear them for any cosplay photoshoot whatsoever, only this review. Boo. :[ Oh well, a review is better than nothing and I like to think that I'm helping some other geek or fashionista out there somewhere, someday. 
But what this means is that I can't really grade comfort properly and I'm thus basing my grade on my first (and only) impression of wearing these lenses, aka the time it took for me to get these photos taken. Please do not wear expired lenses for anime conventions or any prolonged time, preferably not at all to be safe. What little I can tell about these lenses was that they seemed very comfortable; I barely felt that I was wearing lenses except for that when I moved my eyes around I could feel like the corners of the lens on my iris, if that makes sense? It's a pretty common sensation so it's nothing that I personally find uncomfortable, it's almost the norm on a lot of circle lenses and in particular on those with bigger diameters. 
The lenses were otherwise thin and comfortable and didn't hinder my vision in any way, no red corners or such. I'm assuming that if these had been fresh I could most likely have gotten 3-5 hours of wear out of them on my dry af eyes, that's without using eyedrops. Might not sound like much as people with more "normal eyes" can wear circle lenses sometimes up to 8 hours in one go but yeah, I can't do those numbers. And with expired lenses I'm not gonna go and gauge wearable time, I'm just doing a very rough estimate.

I think that's about all I had to say about these colored peepers. It's an amazing cosplay lens in all fields, I can't recommend these enough if you need red contact lenses for a costume! The red color is fantastic in terms of both vibrancy and coverage and, while the size enlargement is clearly noticeable, it shouldn't be overpowering unless you have notably small eyes. I.Fairy is also a trustable and safe brand that has been around for many years, I'd say it's one of the staple brands in the market and very distinguishable. What more can I say? If you are on the lookout for awesome red lenses for your next costuming venture then don't sleep on the Poppy Reds!

Distance photo!


Short summary:

Color: 9/10
Amazing bright red color performance, really vibrant and with great visibility even from distances.
Design: 9/10
Simple and classic burst-like print, mimicing a real iris to some degree. Gorgeous and high versatility!
Opacity: 9/10
Very solid coverage without looking tacky. High pigmentation and tasteful color transition at pupil opening.
Enlargement: 7/10
Very clearly big but due to the lack of a pronounced black rim it's not as obviously dolly.
Comfort: 7/10
Appears comfy and thin, barely feel them. Rough estimate is 3-5 hours on super dry eyes.
Naturalness: 3/10
They're red and big so that's already a no, but it's definitely not an obnoxious fake-looking red lens either.

Thanks for viewing, what do you think of these lenses? :D

April 17, 2022

Lens review: I-Codi Funcle F207

 Hello ninjas and geeks~

It's time for another Sharingan contact lens review and yes, this one is also from the Funcle series! Today I will share with you a review of the I-Codi Funcle F207 and without further ramenblings let's get started!
 


Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.2 mm
Water content: 55%
Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)


 
This lens design is very clearly styled to look like Sharingan (lit. Copy Wheel Eye) from the popular Naruto anime series. I can't guarantee these being 100% accurate or canon as there's a lot of different evolved and advanced forms of Sharingan eyes throughout the Naruto manga and each character tends to have their own Sharingan designs too. Oh and yeah, for those unfamiliar with the Naruto series Sharingan is one of the Three Great Eye Techniques (the other two being Byakugan and Rinnegan) and it's a special type of doujutsu (pupil technique) that is most famous for being what makes the Uchiha clan renowned. The Sharingan's main ability is to copy any ninja technique that it sees the opponent using. It's pretty cool if you ask me!

One lens in.
 
This is a very eye-catching lens when worn, it's impossible not to notice! It's a bold print, similar in design to how a Mangekyou Sharingan might appear in Naruto it has the signature red and black color and pinwheel design that is typical for the look. 
There is a medium thick black rim around the edges of the lens which brings added intensity to the design. The color coverage is very opaque, my real gray-blue eye color doesn't show through the red at all! Of course it shows a little bit at the pupil hole in the middle but it's honestly not distracting at all as the opening is smaller than on your average circle lenses anyway.
Oh and yeah, these lenses have this curious little thing that despite being animation lenses they appear to almost 'glow' in certain bright lights, when not worn, due to the red color letting a tiny tiny bit of sunlight or such pass through it! It's really hard to describe but as someone who has worn a lot of super opaque crazy lenses over the years I just noticed it. It's like there's this ever-so-slight transparency that shows up in specific light conditions and yes, it's one of those things that you see with your naked eye but it's almost impossible to catch on camera lol.

One thing that I should also mention is that these lenses do spin a little (as most lenses do, although it's much more noticeable on lenses with certain designs) although, in my opinion, it's not as obvious as on the F105s I reviewed earlier. Could be just me but I felt like the F207s were less prone to spinning overall and if they spun I didn't notice it as much.
 
Lens photos incoming!
All photos taken by me during an afternoon with a mostly clear 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.
 
Natural room light, indoors.

Bathroom light.

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

Flash photo indoors.

Outdoors, back against the sun (facing wall).

Outdoors, facing the sun while under the roof's shadow.

Outdoors, facing the sun directly.
 
Just like with most lenses I've reviewed lately these were part of the set that I had tucked away and forgotten about years ago. The sad thing is that I only found the lenses a while back and by then they had all expired in their unopened packaging. But instead of just throwing everything away I wanted to at least do reviews, in case it helps someone out there. This means that I only wore these lenses for the time necessary to take the review photos and then immediately discarded them, regardless of how comfortable they felt to wear. Please do not wear expired lenses for anime conventions etc because you want to save money or whatever, it's not worth the risks.
Based on my first and only time wearing these cool cosplay lenses (which was about 10-20 minutes) I can say that they were especially comfortable. I mean so comfortable that I literally did not feel that I even had lenses on! They were thin and so comfy and much better than I expected. Of course there were the typical red corners at the edges of my vision, which is pretty much always the case with this type of lenses (due to the pupil hole being smaller than on your average circle lens). In my opinion it's not particularly disturbing or anything and you honestly get accustomed to it rather fast. Of course if you move your gaze around a lot, especially in places with poorer light conditions, it can make you feel a bit nauseous with the "red tunnel" effect at the edges of your field of vision, especially if you're not used to wearing lenses that do this.
Summa summarum is that I wouldn't be all that surprised if I could wear these lenses for at least 4-5 hours (without eyedrops) if they had been fresh; it might not sound like much but that's a long time in my book, considering my eyes are naturally really dry and quite sensitive.
 
Bonus! Comparison of F207 (viewer's left) with F105 (viewer's right)
 
I personally think that these Sharingan inspired lenses are really cool and I would totally repurchase them if I could find them somewhere; ifairycon used to sell them back in the days but don't anymore. I think these are great for Naruto cosplayers and especially for original characters where it's not crucial that your Sharingan lenses have to look a really certain way (as is the case with existing characters). These are honestly really badass and if you're a nerd like me you won't be disappointed with the effect!

Distance photo!

Unnamed Naruto OC for review purposes, yay. :D

Short summary:

Color: 10/10 
Great red color and overall vibrancy, gives the desired effect.
Design: 9/10 
Might not be 100% accurate to existing Naruto Sharingan designs but very recognizable and awesome regardless!
Opacity: 10/10
I have no complaints, great coverage and does its job.
Enlargement: 3/10 
There's a slight enlargement effect but it's not much, really.
Comfort: 8/10 
Very comfortable it seems, thin and I don't even feel that I have lenses on.. except for the red corners.
Naturalness: 0/10 
Don't even try to convince me that you were born with Mangekyou Sharingan in this mortal world.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this review!

April 5, 2022

Lens review: I-Codi Funcle F105

 Hello nerds!

It's once again time for another circle lens review but this time it's gonna be something a bit different from the usual. I will be reviewing a Funcle lens, which is an animation lens series made by I-Codi. This particular lens is inspired by the style of the well-known Sharingan (lit. Copy Wheel Eye) eyes from the Naruto anime! Review of I-Codi Funcle F105 coming through, let's go!



Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.2 mm
Water content: 55%
Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)
 


This is very obviously a Sharingan styled lens although it's not mentioned in the marketing it's simply known under the number F105 in Funcle's series. I can't vouch for these being 100% accurate or canon as there's several different evolved forms of Sharingan eyes throughout the Naruto manga and each character tends to have their unique Sharingan designs too.
For those not familiar with the Naruto series Sharingan is one of the Three Great Eye Techniques (the other two being Byakugan and Rinnegan) and it's a special type of doujutsu (pupil technique) that is most known from the Uchiha clan. The Sharingan's best known ability is to copy any ninja technique that it sees the opponent using. It's pretty dope!

One lens in.

This is a very opaque lens, as is to be expected by any colored contact lenses that dabble into the crazy lens territory. It has a simple but thin black rim around the edges, a very red color with great color coverage and a Mangekyou Sharingan inspired print with lines and those pinwheel points at the center. And before you ask, yes they do spin in your eyes somewhat so you might want to keep a small pocket mirror around if you wear this type of lens to an anime convention and don't want to look cross-eyed lol. I noticed that, for some reason, the lens on my right eye spun more eagerly than the one on my left eye which mostly stayed put; it's possibly explained by the fact that I normally wear glasses with prisms to correct my tendency for double vision and my right eye "slips away" a lot easier than my left when I'm not wearing glasses.

But anygays, this is not a very enlarging lens so it's not gonna make your eyes look huge or anything. There is a small size increase but it's not all that noticeable and honestly, every person out there will notice that your eyes are bright red before noticing that they're a tad bigger than normal lmao. I want to mention one thing and that's the interesting little tidbit that, despite these lenses being super opaque when worn, they do have a slight hint of transparency (when compared to other crazy/animation lenses of other brands) that is quite peculiar! You don't really notice it at first but in certain bright lights like sunshine and such you can see that the red part of the lens actually lets through a miniscule amount of light which makes it look like they 'glow' a bit. It's really hard to describe but I couldn't help but notice it when I've worn so many other ultra compact crazy lenses before that block out all light!

Lens photos incoming!
All photos taken by me during an afternoon with a mostly clear 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.

Natural room light indoors.

Bathroom light.

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

Flash photo indoors.

Outdoors, back against the sun (facing wall).

Outdoors, facing the sun while standing under the roof's shadow.

Outdoors, facing the sun directly.

Sadly these lenses were part of those that I had completely forgotten about so yeah, they had expired by the time I (re)found them and got around to do this review. This means I can't grade comfort properly as I only wore them for the time necessary to take the review photos and then discarded them. Do not wear expired lenses for a con because you want to save money or whatnot, just please don't. It's not worth the risks!
What little I can say from my first and only time wearing these bad boys (which was about 10-20 minutes) regarding comfort was that these lenses were absurdly comfortable. I mean really, I almost find it funny that out of all possible lenses it's the fucking Sharingans that are the comfiest lenses I've tried in literal ages? xD Of course there were the red corners at the edges of my vision, which is to be expected with this type of lenses (as the pupil hole is generally smaller than on your average circle lens) although it wasn't particularly disturbing or anything, in fact you get used to it really quickly. There is the risk though that if you move your gaze around a lot quickly it can make you feel a bit nauseous with the bright red flashing at the edges of your vision, especially if you're not used to the effect.
All in all I wouldn't be surprised at all if I could wear these for at least 4-5 hours if they hadn't been expired, and that's a long time considering my eyes are naturally really dry (I have to spam eyedrops periodically and that's without lenses, so yeah).

I would honestly recommend these Sharingan inspired lenses if you can find them somewhere, especially if you aren't on the lookout for any super specific Sharingan style for a certain existing character like Madara or Sasuke. Apparently ifairycon doesn't carry these anymore sadly, that's where I bought mine years ago. Regardless these get thumbs up from me and a parrot sticker.

Distance photo!

Yes, I totally did a random Naruto OC for this review. :D

Short summary:

Color: 10/10 
Very bright and clearly red color, it works for its intended purpose.
Design: 8/10 
A bit simplified, when compared to other Sharingan-styled lenses, but it's still obviously recognizable as one.
Opacity: 10/10
No qualms here, it's very covering as this style of lenses should be.
Enlargement: 3/10 
There's a slight enlargement effect but it's not really all that noticeable.
Comfort: 9/10 
Appears to be hilariously comfortable. Thin and invisible to wear, I literally didn't feel them at all! Red corners in vision, as expected.
Naturalness: 0/10 
No, don't even come at me claiming otherwise. No Uchihas in this world.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions then leave a comment! ^.^

March 19, 2022

Lens review: RevoColour Twinkle Olive Green

Hello everyone!

It's time for another circle lens review and it's gonna be about the RevoColour Twinkle Olive Greens! This is the second RevoColour Twinkle series lens that I'm reviewing, I have a few more colors waiting in line as well.

But now let's get on with this one!
 


Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.5 mm
Water content: 45%
Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)
 

These lenses stand out a bit from contemporary designs as they look quite different. They have a thick limbal ring but it's not very intense due to the dotted nature of it and how it hinges more towards a dark brown, rather than a pure black, in tone. The green color is printed on in a very dotted manner, there's a lot of dots scattered around the lens which gives a somewhat sparkly and teary look when worn. 
 
One lens in.

As you can see the color is a rather soft green, it's very clearly green and the shade is pretty. It blends rather naturally into my gray-blue eyes too. The shade of green is on the lighter side, I'm not sure I would call it 'olive green' as in the name but regardless it is a nice color. The color coverage is better than I expected too, especially with all those clear gaps in the design and the overall transparency when viewed in their bottles; one could easily be fooled into thinking that these lenses won't show up that much.
There's some size increase in these, further enhanced by the somewhat prominent dark rim. It's not incredibly dolly or such but it does add a youthful, somewhat cutesy look I'd say.

Lens photos below!
All photos taken by yours truly during a March afternoon with a mostly clear 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.
 
Natural room light indoors.

Bathroom light.

Unlit corridor, weak natural light in the distance.

Flash photo.

Facing a window indoors, not sun side.

Outdoors, back against the sun (facing a wall).

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

Outdoors, facing the sun directly.

Based on my very first (and only) time wearing these lenses I felt that the comfort appeared to be particularly good; I quite literally did not feel like I had lenses on. They were very thin and comfortable to wear! I can't grade comfort properly though as these lenses had expired (in their vials) by the time I got around to do this review due to me forgetting about their existence, oops. I only wore these for like 10 mins and I promptly discarded them immediately after I got all the review photos taken. I wouldn't be surprised if I could wear these for at least 4-5 hours if they had been a new fresh pair though. It might not sound like much for the average Joe but I have naturally really dry eyes so yeah, 4-5 hours is among the best I can do without eyedrops. 
I also want to mention that please do not wear expired lenses to conventions etc for the sake of saving money, it's just not worth the risk of messing up your vision. Just don't. 

All in all this is a pretty nice lens. The design is beautiful, unique and stands out without being all over your face. It looks bubbly and textured when worn, thanks to the varying transparency in the print. It's a cute lens with a nice green color that blends well while retaining an alluring look. I would recommend these, especially as a fashion lens – they might be okay for cosplay too but that's assuming that you want a toned-down look and mostly want to do close-up photos, as these aren't really vibrant enough to show from greater distances.

Distance photo below!


Want to see more Twinkle lenses? 
I have some other colors reviewed here: Violet, Pink, Blue

Short summary:

Color: 7/10  
A medium light and soft green. Not sure how 'olive' it is but it retains its color well and looks great.
Design: 7/10
A cute and youthful design with a dark rim. Gives a rather magical touch to your eyes.
Opacity: 6/10
I'm surprised by how covering these are! Green lenses can be really hit-or-miss on light blue eyes but these look clearly green in all lights despite their "transparent patches". Thumbs up!
Enlargement: 6/10
Somewhat big and dolly thanks to the dark limbal ring being prominent enough.
Comfort: 9/10
Appears to be exceptionally comfortable. I didn't feel them at all.
Naturalness: 5/10
Too big to fly and the design itself is somewhat too artsy. But it's definitely not screamingly unnatural either, a middle ground.

Thank you for reading my reviews~
Shiro Samurai says bye.