Color Contacts for Dark Eyes, An Overview

Whether you need a little inspiration for your next pair of color contacts, or don't know where to begin buying your first pair, we've got you. Here's the Dimple team's guide to finding the right color contact lenses for dark eyes just like yours.

The Basics of Color Contacts

How do contact lenses work? There are "hard" and "soft" lenses, but almost all lenses today are soft. Hard lenses are still used for a few specific medical conditions, while soft lenses are more comfortable and keep the eye better hydrated and oxygenated.

The lens itself is shaped to sit over the iris specifically, so it doesn't wander around the eye and instead moves naturally with it. This is what keeps your color looking natural and staying put, which is why a properly fitted lens matters.

Understanding How Color Contacts Work

So what are the best color lenses for dark eyes? First, it helps to understand the two main types.

Enhancement tint color contacts

These use a translucent color that enhances an existing eye color rather than replacing it. A natural hazel eye might shift more green or more brown with an enhancement lens, and a honey eye can deepen convincingly. But for most dark eyes, enhancement lenses won't create a visible color change.

Opaque color contacts

Opaque lenses use a fully opaque color that blocks your natural eye color underneath. This is how you get a complete color change, including lightening dark eyes, or cover any iris irregularity you'd rather not show.

Prescription color contacts

If you need vision correction, you don't have to choose between that and having fun with color. Dimple offers color contacts in standard prescription strengths for nearsighted and farsighted vision, so you can get both in one lens.

Choosing the Right Type of Color Contact for Dark Eyes

You can wear any opaque lens you like, though enhancement lenses are more limited if you have dark eyes. Here's how each works for you specifically.

Enhancement tint lenses for dark eyes

As mentioned, enhancement lenses mostly add a little extra depth or sparkle to your real eye color when you have dark eyes, rather than changing it. Honey, the palest brown, can deepen further with an enhancement lens. Hazel eyes can shift subtly toward more brown or more green. Beyond that, enhancement tints won't do much for darker eyes.

Opaque color lenses for dark eyes

This is where the fun starts. With an opaque lens, you can lighten your eyes to any shade you want, or go bold with darker colors too. The choice is yours.

Wearing Color Contacts Convincingly on Dark Eyes

Want your new color to look natural rather than obviously "fake"? Your hair and skin tone play the biggest role. Certain eye and hair color pairings show up more often in nature, which is part of why some combinations read as more "natural" than others:

• Black hair: most often paired with darker browns naturally, though green and hazel show up too
• Blonde hair: commonly paired with blue eyes, plus paler browns; green is less common but not unheard of
• Brown hair: pairs well with nearly any eye color; blue is less common but still appears
• Red hair: most often paired with green or blue eyes, with honey appearing occasionally

There's also skin undertone to consider:

• Warm undertones tend to pair well with warm browns, reddish dark browns, warmer blues, bright greens, and honey
• Cool undertones tend to pair well with blue, paler greens, most hazels, grey, and cooler dark browns

And don't forget your makeup: your new eye color looks best with a look that complements it.

Explore Dimple Color

Ready to put this to use? Dimple has many different collections to explore: https://dimplecolor.com/collections/shop