For years, people with astigmatism had very few choices for eyewear. You either wore glasses or toric contacts. And no, there was no such thing as colored contacts for astigmatism.
Good news: times are changing! Colored toric lenses are now available. However, they’re a bit harder to find than standard colored contacts. Let’s dive in and find your best options!
A Little Bit of History
The first toric contact lenses were approved for the U.S. market in 1978. This was followed by colored contact lenses in the 1980s and by disposable toric lenses in 1992. In the early 21st century, there were still no commercially available colored toric lenses.
Clerio Vision’s TORIColors changed all that in 2022. Sadly, this was a short-lived win for people with astigmatism. Manufacturing of this product has since been discontinued. So what’s next?
Why Are Colored Contacts for Astigmatism So Hard to Find?
Why is it so hard to “add color” to the already available soft toric lens technology? Let’s look at how astigmatic eyes work.
If you have astigmatism, your cornea is shaped like an American football, rather than the typical basketball shape. This irregular curve causes light to focus on multiple points in the eye instead of just one. This then results in blurry or distorted vision at all distances.
Standard contact lenses are spherical. They have the same optical power all the way around. They can rotate freely in the eye without affecting vision. With toric lenses, the lens surface is divided into meridians, which require different optical powers. This is referred to as your “axis.”
Locking Your Lenses In Place
Because a toric lens has a specific orientation, it must stay locked in place. If you blink and the lens rotates just 10 degrees, your vision will blur instantly. To prevent this, manufacturers use “stabilization” technologies in the design of these lenses.
Adding a colored tint to this complex engineering is difficult. If a colored lens rotates, you may experience blurred vision. Plus, the colored pattern might also misalign with your pupil. This could create an unnatural look.
These considerations make colored toric lenses more complicated and expensive to mass manufacture.
What Is Actually Available?
Colored toric lenses are hard to find, but there are some available. Here are your current options.
Desio
Desio is one of the few brands that offers toric colored lenses at scale, and it approaches them as custom medical products rather than off-the-shelf cosmetic lenses.
The brand was launched in 2011 by Qualimed, an Italian manufacturer with a background in contact lens production and distribution across global optical markets.
Its toric lenses are not pre-made in standard prescriptions. Each order is produced to match your exact values for power, cylinder, and axis. This means you can get your exact prescription, including higher powers and more precise astigmatism correction.
Below, you can see the drop-down menus you’ll use to fill out your prescription.
The range of colors is good, with around 20 to choose from, including variations of brown, hazel, gray, blue, and green. Many of their lenses are designed for dark eyes, so the results are very saturated colors.
Desio lenses are typically for daily wear and can be used for up to three months with proper care. They follow medical manufacturing standards, with CE marking and FDA clearance. Their pricing is very reasonable, too, with lenses starting at $50 (at the time of writing).
The downside is production time. Since their toric lenses are made to order, they take up to eight weeks to manufacture. Once the contacts are ready, orders are shipped with a tracking link and typically take one to three working days to arrive.
While Desio isn’t a great option if you need lenses quickly, they are definitely one of the more reliable companies for colored astigmatism lenses.
Solotica
Solotica is a Brazilian brand that has found global fame through influencers who wear their signature bright opaque lenses. The brand is known for its Hidrocor line, which is a daily wear colored lens that can be worn for up to a year with proper care. You can also order Hidrocor toric lenses, which are Hidrocor lenses “customized” to your astigmatism prescription.
Most of Solotica’s colored lenses are yearly lenses intended for daily wear with proper cleaning and storage. Designs vary across collections, with some including a defined limbal ring. Others, like Hidrocor, use a more blended edge for a softer transition between the lens and your natural iris.
When you find a collection and lens color you like on the Solotica site, you’ll be able to fill out the form below with your prescription values.
Note that Solotica lenses are sold singularly, so if you want to order a pair (which most people do!), you’ll need to make sure you select a quantity of two. If your prescription is different for each eye, then you’ll need to fill out the form twice, once for each eye.
Solotica lenses are custom-made, and they say on their site that this process takes 12 weeks. That’s a long time! So if you need colored lenses for an upcoming special event, you’ll need to bear this in mind.
Orders are shipped from Brazil with a tracking link so you can see where your package is and when it will arrive. Solotica claims you should receive your lenses within four days after the 12-week processing time.
Lenstown / Olens
Olens and Lenstown are two well-known Korean cosmetic lens brands. Their lenses seem to focus on subtle enhancement, with a lot of shades like brown, ash, and soft gray that blend into the iris rather than fully covering it.
There are a few brighter toric options available, though, like the Lenstown ones pictured above: Bubbly Candy Purple Violet, Smoky Pink, and Bubbly Candy Blue. Olens’ contact lenses are made from FDA-approved materials, including Puscon. However, Lenstown’s contacts generally don’t have FDA approval, which might be a dealbreaker for some.
Unfortunately, lenses by Lenstown currently only appear to be offered with 180-axis values. So, unless this happens to match your prescription, Lenstown might not be an option for you.
However, on the product pages for Olens lenses, you’ll find that you’re able to select a full range of axis values, so you can choose the values that best align with your prescription.
Most of their lenses are monthly wear and designed to be lightweight, although how comfortable they are will depend on how they fit your eyes specifically. They have quite a lot of toric options, but of course, there are fewer color options than with their standard ranges.
Results can vary according to designs, and the final look depends heavily on your natural eye color. Most people do agree that Olens and Lenstown are a brand better suited to subtle changes rather than bold transformations.
KPOP2.com
KPOP2 is an online retailer that focuses on Korean cosmetic contact lenses, including brands like Olens and Lenstown, which have toric product lines.
They appear to mostly offer monthly and longer-wear lenses. Color options tend to focus on natural-looking enhancements, such as brown, gray, and soft blends, though some brighter shades are available, too.
Not every design comes in a toric version, and prescription ranges for some products are more limited than what you would find with standard clear toric lenses from major manufacturers.
The site caters to international buyers who want access to styles that are not stocked by U.S. retailers, and it has become a big name for shoppers looking for a wider range of colored lenses. More importantly, it also sells toric lenses for astigmatism.
When you order toric lenses from KPOP2, you can fill out its custom prescription form:
Here, you can select your prescription’s power, cylinder (CYL), axis, and base curve (BC) for both your left and right eyes.
KPOP2’s Reputation and “Legit-Ness”
KPOP2 does not manufacture its lenses but acts as a distributor for many brands. It sources products from Korean brands and fulfills orders internationally.
The site has been operating for several years and has built a steady international customer base. It’s especially popular among buyers looking for specific styles seen in Korean beauty trends or on social media.
Most reviews for the site talk about a wide selection and access to hard-to-find lenses, with mixed experiences around shipping speed and order processing times.
One Redditor on the AsianBeauty sub-Reddit asked the question if KPOP2 was legit:
“I wanted to buy some contact lenses from them but I’m not sure if they’re legit… has anyone bought from them before??”
In response, the Redditor received a pretty resounding yes, with one Redditor saying:
“I’ve bought from them twice before, they’re legit!”
However, after some digging, I also found that a few people have complained about their customer service, which seems to be a bit hit-or-miss.
They do cater to returns and exchanges with some stipulations, but you’ll have to pay for the shipping costs. In some cases, the cost of shipping is more than the cost of the order itself, so it wouldn’t even make sense to do a return.
So, ordering KPOP2 is always going to be a bit of a risk, as if you don’t like the product you receive, you’re left with limited options and money down the drain. You can read more about their returns policy here.
Delivery Times From KPOP2
It should be noted that many of the toric or custom options are made to order, which affects turnaround time. On their site, it currently says that a custom order (which includes toric lenses) takes four to 15 business days to make to order. Learn more about their processing and shipping information here.
Then you have to wait for your order to arrive. Some buyers have complained of very long shipping times for the U.S. However, the site does also offer expedited shipping to the U.S. which they claim will take two to five days.
Key Factors to Consider Before Buying
Thinking about trying colored contacts for astigmatism? Before you pull out your credit card, there are some specific factors to consider.
The Wait Time
When you’re ordering colored torics, be prepared to wait for weeks to get them. If you’re ordering your contacts for an event, such as a cosplay convention, make sure to plan with this in mind.
Comfort vs. Beauty
Toric lenses are thicker than spherical lenses. Colored lenses are thicker than clear lenses. Toric + colored? Expect some compromises in terms of your comfort.
You won’t enjoy as much oxygen permeability since colored lenses are typically made from hydrogel materials, not the more permeable silicone hydrogel.
This means that:
- You may not be able to wear them for 14 hours straight like your clear lenses.
- You might experience dry eyes. You may need to use re-wetting drops more frequently.
So, Are There Good Options?
Yes, Desio and Solotica are good options. There are also some options available from Olens and Lenstown. Make sure to provide them with your exact prescription and prepare to wait. Likewise, brace yourself for the price, too.
If you’re okay with a higher price and a long wait, these colored contacts could be a good choice for you! Otherwise, it might be best to stick with eyeglasses or clear toric lenses. You can easily order clear toric lenses through a U.S.-based online vendor like EZContacts.
TL;DR
- If you decide to try colored contacts for astigmatism, prepare to wait, be aware of possible compromises to your eye comfort, and always provide your exact prescription.
- Colored contacts for astigmatism only became available in 2022, even though toric lenses and colored contact lenses have been commercially available for decades.
- This was through Clerio Vision’s TORIColors, which was unfortunately discontinued soon after.
- The only viable colored toric lens options come from the Italian company Desio, the Brazilian company Solotica, or Korean companies like Lenstown and Olens.
- Because these are customized lenses that ship from outside the U.S., they’re more expensive and can take longer than 12 weeks to arrive in some cases.
