Contact Lens Contest Offers Chance for Celebrity Mentorship

What do you hope to achieve one day? Answering that simple question in the form of a 30 to 60 second video clip will get five lucky winners the opportunity to be mentored by one of five teen celebrities including Joe Jonas and Charice.

The contest, sponsored by fashion contact lenses maker Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, is called the ACUVUE® 1-DAY Contest, a play on the name of both the daily disposable lenses and Charice’s song “One Day” from her upcoming international album.

“One Day isn’t just the name of my song, it’s an anthem for anyone whose dreams might seem bigger than life or unattainable, but they don’t give up,” says Charice, the young Filipina singer who achieved fame through YouTube and was given the moniker The Most Talented Girl in the World, by none other than Oprah Winfrey.

To enter the contest, which runs until June 30^th, people need only upload a video explaining what gives them the confidence to chase after their dreams and why they deserve this unique chance to be mentored by a celebrity. Winners receive a trip to Los Angeles to meet with their idols, $2,000 which they can use to pursue their dream, and a one year supply of Acuvue contact lenses. The full rules can be found on Acuvue’s YouTube page.

Forget 3D Glasses, Here Come 3D Contact Lenses

If you thought you had comfort issues with 3D glasses, and they do give many people headaches, imagine the problems that could be caused by 3D fashion contact lenses. And yet that’s just what a group of researchers at the University of Washington has developed.

The contact lenses in question would have partially transparent LEDs; the scientists have already cracked the problem of making red and blue pixels and when they master green pixels, you’ll be one step closer to watch Avatar in 3D with your eyes closed. That’s something else to consider: once the technology comes to fruition there will be no blocking out unpleasant imagery once you’ve popped the lenses in. Closing your eyes won’t change what you see, only removing the lenses will.

The plan is for the display to turn on and off so you’re not walking around with a colorful mess obstructing your field of vision all of the time. Scientists plan to power these lenses via a belt mounted battery pack that will wirelessl transmit electricity to a resonating antenna in the lens.

Similar technology is being considered for other applications, such as augmented reality contact lenses. With a pair of these babies hugging your retinas, it would be like having an iPhone in your eye, with data on nearby stores, parks, and venues popping up just in front of your pupils. Once this finally hits stores, it’s bound to have an even more profound impact on human interaction than Lady Gaga’s camera glasses.

Natalie Portman’s Black Swan Contact Lenses

If you’ve been paying any attention to Oscars predictions for 2011, you’re probably familiar with Natalie Portman’s role in director Darren Aronofsky’s film Black Swan.  Natalie Portman portrays Nina Sayers, a striving ballet dancer hoping to play both the innocent white swan and the wicked black swan in a production of “Swan Lake.” While CGI had a big role in Portman going from beauty to beast, she had some help from a very special pair of fashion contact lenses.

Kevin Carter and his wife Ginni started their own theatrical eye effects business in the mid-90’s and 9mm SFX has since become a hot destination for directors and make up artists looking to give their characters a spooky twist.

Since starting his business, Carter’s work has appeared in over 100 films including 300, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Resident Evil: Afterlife. “They’re soft contact lenses, regular day wear. We use a tiny paintbrush and we actually use dyes, not paint,” Carter told Oregon Live. Each pair of contact lenses takes several hours and Carter works sans magnifying glass.

Though he often doesn’t get to see the set or meet the actors, Carter still gets satisfaction from positive feedback about his handiwork. “Having Guillermo del Toro say ‘I love your lenses!’ was the greatest thing ever,” he says, referring to his work on the Hellboy sequel.

Carter, who hails from Medford, Oregon, got his start working for his father making therapeutic contact lenses before a love of horror films drew him to his current calling.

Can Contact Lenses Get Lost in Your Eye?

It’s happened to most contact lens wearers at one point or another. Your lenses accidentally slide off center and gets stuck behind your eyelid. It can be uncomfortable, but the first thing you need to know is that contact lenses cannot get lost behind your eye. They cannot somehow infiltrate your brain or any other parts of your body despite the pervasiveness of this myth. It is a physical impossibility.

The membrane that protects the eye acts as a barrier and prevents anything, even something as small as a contact lens, from getting behind it. Lenses usually get unseated from the center of your eye because they are too dry or you’ve been rubbing your eyes excessively. Thinner lenses also tend to get dislocated more easily so someone who wears dailies might be more familiar with the contact lenses scavenger hunt than someone who wears longer term gas permeable lenses.

Here are some steps to follow if your contact lens gets shifted off the center of your eye:

For soft contact lenses –

1) Look down at your nose and close your eyes.

2) Put one of your fingers on your eyelid at the corner of your eye closest to your nose.

3) Gently massage the lens towards the other corner of your eye.

4) Open your eye and remove the lens.

For hard lenses –

1)Make sure you’re over a surface where the lens won’t get lost if it pops out. It’s best to use a light colored surface where the lens won’t bounce such as a hand towel.

2) Hold your eyelid out of the way and use a hand mirror to locate the lens. If you have trouble finding it, the lens may have fallen out already leaving a lingering itchiness or irritation.

3) Once you’ve found the lens on your eye, you can use the lower portion of your lid to push the lens outward. Alternately, some eye doctors will provide you with a small plunger that suctions the convex side of the lens for just such situations.

If all else fails, you should consult an eye doctor. If your lenses are repeatedly falling off center, it may be time to get a contact lens eye exam to try to diagnose the problem.

Halloween and the Dangers of Fashion Contact Lenses

It used to be that the scariest things to happen around Halloween were the slasher flicks at the local multiplex, or if you have kids, the perennial urban legend of poison- or razor blade-tainted trick-or-treat candy. However, this year, ophthalmologists are speaking out about another fear, a very real one. Fashion contact lenses.

A necessary ingredient for many Halloween costumes, decorative or fashion contacts are not inherently dangerous. That said they can result in serious complications if they are not properly fitted and cleaned. Consequently, recent FDA legislation made it illegal to market these non-prescription lenses as over-the-counter products.

Dr. Thomas Steinemann, a clinical correspondent for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, cautioned in a release, “Permanent eye damage can occur from using over-the-counter lenses. Any type of contact lens is a medical device that requires a prescription and proper fitting by an eye-care professional.” Some of the complications include pain, inflammation, infection, and permanent vision loss (via Bloomberg Businessweek).

Here are some recommendations from the FDA for people who plan to get decorative contacts:

1. Get a contact lens eye exam from a licensed eye care professional, even if you feel your vision is perfect.

2. Get a valid prescription that includes the brand and lens dimensions.

3. Buy the lenses from an eye care professional or from a vendor who requires that you provide prescription information for the lenses.

4. Follow directions for cleaning, disinfecting, and wearing the lenses, and visit your eye care professional for follow-up eye exams.