About contact lenses and sort of a review

For me contact lenses play an optional part in cosplay. I think a lot of cosplayers also see they as fine tuning or matter of engaging to the hobby rather than absolute part of the costume. Since I use glasses every day at work I thought that getting a prescription contact lenses wouldn’t hurt. Especially as regular cosmetic contact lenses I’ve used during my cosplay years don’t seem to fit, I had two reasons to make an appointment to my optician. The person prescribing should be licensed optician, optometrist or an eye doctor.

What the optician does in the first sitting with a new contact lens user is somewhat the following; asks questions about health and need for lenses to map out what type of lenses would work best and examines the eyes with a microscope for correct base curve, prescription and possible astigmatism. Then optician gives instruction of how to insert, remove and care for your lenses. The optician picks the pair of lenses based on the examinations and checks that the lenses fit properly on the eyes.

The prescription should have information about your eyes (diopter powers, base curve, diameter), lens care instructions, the date, the period of validity and the name of the optician

The cost of the first lens fitting in Finland costs varies from 15-40. Sometimes the fitting is free if you make an order for lenses at the same time. Even if you order lenses online, I recommend getting a prescription. Even if the probability is low, some people are not suitable wearers of contact lenses. It’s the job of an optician or eye doctor to give the green light and find the perfect lens type.

Base curve, diameter and power clearly visible in the package.

 

Buying from well known manufacturers or checking the seller’s site for detailed information about the lenses is really important. If the seller uses names or registered trademarks without any word of the manufacturer or the basic info about the lenses, including the base curve, diameter or safety instructions are nowhere to be found, it’s probably better to find another site to buy from. The seller should also provide information about wearing, removing and caring for your lenses from wear schedule to suitable cleaning solutions. Most sites also list the water consistence of the lenses, which is almost straight forward guide to the comfort level of the lenses.

The markings on the cases were added by absent minded cosplayer, who wanter to make sure that lenses would be worn in correct eyes.

I decided to buy my first pair of lenses from the optician, since they sell only genuine products. I chose one-day lenses, since I only need or want to use them time to time. With one-day lenses I can skip the lens care totally, so it’s hygienic and easy.

Even if I fitted one-day clear lenses I wanted to order tinted lenses. I ended up with “single wear” products from Starlens. They are one-day contact lenses which tinted all over, meaning that they don’t have a “hole” in the center for the pupil. And since they are only tinted, they work best with light colored eyes. The lenses looked so interesting that I had to test them. One package with two lenses was about 11 euros. An they are non-toric. Toric lenses for antigmatism are bit more expencive and they usually month or year lenses.

The Starlens Biomedics 1-day has six different colors; blue, brown, green, violet, mandarin and turquoise. I chose green to be tested first, because I have two green eyed characters chosen for Desucon Frostbite.

The water consistence of the lenses is 52% and they felt really comfortable. I forgot that I was even wearing lenses. And since the lenses were tinted, not opaque or printed, the outcome was natural. My eyes are light blue and the structure of the iris is clearly visible with the lens. Behold the scary eye!

I was skeptical about seeing everything in green, but the world looked rather normal when wearing the lenses. The brown ones might dim the vision a little, more so if they are worn in the evening or in dim lighting. But I think that is something I could live with, since the lenses were so comfortable and I liked the outcome.

Of course in cosplay purposes they might not always work, since some characters have true BAZOOM-effect on their eyes or the color or design on the eyes is really distinctive. But for characters with “normal” eyes or when the eye color just doesn’t match with the cosplayers eyes and the change doesn’t need to be dramatic, I recommend these lenses. I’m going to wear the lenses for Alicia for example. No BAZOOM needed.

 

General view on the progress and contacts trial run

Midsummer Day is on the next weekend. While everyone else are staring at a ridiculously huge campfire and eating sausages with potato salad, I shall try to finish all the incomplete stuff for Joxter and Muddler. Yoki will spend the weekend away, but she’s been really efficient these past few days. She found the perfect suede jacket to be torn to materials for Muddler’s ears.

Attaching rather real looking tail.

I already altered Muddler’s sock patterns according to our test version, but I’m going to start sewing on Saturday. I don’t want Yoki to be around when I start to curse and blame all the innocent creatures on Earth when things get difficult. I also finished Joxter’s hat. Only thing I still need to do with my costume is to weather it and possible find character loyal undershirt. The coat is pretty hot to wear.

Unidentified flying objects drying/flying in Yoki's room.

By the way, my convention envy got downgraded when I realized that there is only under few weeks to get the cosplays together. I’m bit worried for our companion Karan. I heard from Yoki, that she has made all the easy stuff, when I asked about the condition of her cosplay last weekend. We talked via Skype today, both parties working on the costumes. Karan assured that she will make it. Let's still cross our fingers!

Yoki painting the base shoes for Muddler's socks.

Now to the contact lenses. We bought them from Cybershop when they had sale going on. It was a nice coincidence that I found a pair for us both for half the price they originally were. Yoki’s lenses are 2-tone Onyx grey and mine are 3-tone Aqua marine. They are labeled to last a year. On our infrequent use possibly longer. We both have contacts on our left eyes, right on the picture. It's always pretty weird to put the lenses in the eyes after a long period of time. But next to that, they work nicely for our purpose.

CasualtyCosplay FAQ

Nothing much have happened on the costume front and my brains are on a summer mode, so I will take a hold of Yoki's suggestion of answering the frequently asked questions. The questions are collected from the comments on our Youtube account.

Where do you get your outfits?

This is the most popular question of all. I think I have answered this regarding most of our costumes here on the blog. But presumably, if I have not mentioned commissioners then the costumes can be labeled as our own creation. Information about the wigs or the shops we have purchased them I have seen quite pointless to share until now, because most of the queries came from other countries than Finland and we tend to buy them locally. But I know we have some Finnish readers, so this is all for them.

I might get some of those mentioned Finnish cosplayers gasp with this confession... If we buy the wigs new, we buy them from Finnish costume store Punanaamio. Now, now... Hold your horses! One error with cheap plastics wigs taught us to buy washable XTPRO-quality wigs. They are not as good as kanelon wigs, but for our purposes they have worked well. They can be dyed to some extent and styled easily. I have worked with few types and can recommend shoulder to short wigs as they are. They are thick enough not to expose the net underneath. The longest possible XTPRO needs weft add-ons for my tastes. The size of the wigs suits us pretty well, which is quite crucial, because they are not adjustable. Our head sizes are between 56-57.

Contact lenses we purchase from Cybershop. They sell lenses for cosmetic use only! I have always been really pleased with the shop, so I highly recommend their services.

How did you make Mayuri's hat and ear-chin piece/Deidara's scope, ponytail and palms/Sasori's body?

These are the questions which I usually leave to be, if they are not send trough private messages or e-mails. These inquiries for detailed information and construction tips usually consider props and costume parts which are expensive to buy, rare or they are not sold anywhere. I take pride on these particular objects, because I have found way to accomplish them. And to succeed on them I have used many working hours and my imagination, which are rather valuable for any artist. So no, I’m not going to share step by step tutorials of them publicly. I always answer the inquirer personally and try to describe the process verbally the best I can. Normally I ask them to not to share the information as it is.

Questions about clothes and patterns I answer willingly. They are the things I don’t struggle with much and have professional knowledge about. I have been thinking of making tutorials from pattern making, because it is rather popular subject on the questions I get.

Is Yoki a girl or a boy ?

Yes, this is one of the frequently asked questions. And Yoki is surely a girl.

Where are you?

This is not probably a question, but people tend to misunderstad where we are from. To make things clear, I looked out a map. And no, we don't have polar bears.