I tried Acuvue's contact lenses that turn dark under the sun - and I'd buy them if it weren't for the price

I remember a time when I was schooling where more and more of my schoolmates started showing up with cool glasses that could switch colours whenever they were in the sunlight. 

Fast forward a decade later and it seems like technology has enabled those glasses to take a more subtle form — contact lenses that change from clear to dark when exposed to bright lights and could protect against harmful UV rays. 

After wearing contacts daily for more than 10 years and keeping them in for long periods of time, I've recently noticed my eyes getting drier and me squinting more in the sunlight compared to before. 

So when the opportunity came up to give the Acuvue's new Oasys with Transitions contact lens a go, I volunteered my peepers for the test to see if they're worth switching up my current brand for. 

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REVIEW: ACUVUE OASYS WITH TRANSITIONS CONTACT LENSES

If the "transitions" in the name sounds familiar, it's because the built-in 'light intelligent technology' allows the lenses to adjust from clear to dark and back again based on the intensity of changing light conditions — just like the ones in transition glasses.

Additionally, these lenses provide the highest level of UV protection in contact lenses and filters blue light. They continuously balance the amount of light entering the eye, and is said to help the wearer reduce squinting when subjected to bright light.

The Acuvue Oasys also supposedly aids vision recovery from exposure to bright lights five seconds faster than other lenses in the market. 

 

While undergoing certain tests to see if the lenses are suitable, an optometrist dropped the bomb that I was suffering from cornea damage due to my constant wearing of contact lenses. You can read about my experience here. 

No wonder I was noticing some discomfort with my eyes — but I've been brushing them off in lieu of all the craziness that is my day to day life. 

But for the sake of work (and my vanity), I agreed to continue trying out the new Acuvue Oasys lenses for the next two weeks before resolving to cut down on my contact lens usage.

HOW DID THEY FARE?

Although they're designed to act like transition glasses, the Acuvue transitions lenses will not tint your sight and make it darker — no fears of looking like an alien there.

So if you're thinking of replacing your sunnies with these lenses, please don't. They're not designed for that purpose and will not darken your vision the same way sunglasses will. 

When I was wearing them indoors, I did not notice any major difference compared to my regular lenses.

But there was a marked difference when I tested them outdoors. For a (somewhat) fair experiment, I wore my regular coloured lens on my left eye and the transition lens on my right and covered each eye one at a time.

The eye without the transition lens was definitely more sensitive to sunlight and the difference was more apparent when I switched back to my regular lenses. Without wearing lenses at all, there was also a noticeable difference and perhaps my eyes had gotten used to the Acuvue Oasys lenses because I was squinting more than ever.

From observing them in the contact lens case, the lenses transition from clear to dark within seconds in sunlight, but take a few minutes to reverse once indoors.

However, when I wore them, I did not notice any major impact on my vision when walking from indoors to outdoors and vice versa.

In terms of comfort, my eyes felt slightly drier when I was wearing the Acuvue Oasys lenses, although I'm not sure if this was a subconscious effect of learning that my eyes are drier than the average person's.

At $88 for a box of three pairs, one month of wearing the Acuvue Oasys with Transitions lenses will set me back by a cool $60 (since each pair lasts for two weeks). In contrast, my current monthly disposables cost about $15 a month (I bought them in JB), which is four times cheaper.

However, because coloured lenses allow the least amount of oxygen to permeate the eyes, they are the worst kind of lenses according to every optometrist I've ever asked, and it seems like being a cheapskate since my schooling days is taking a toll on my eyes.

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It's never too late to start taking better care of them though, and since I'm earning an adult's salary, it's high time I take more responsibility and make wiser decisions when it comes to choosing lenses that offer more protection for my eyes. 

Although the price of transition lenses are not as expensive as having to pay for complications (like corneal ulcers) resulting from improper contact lens usage, they're still a big jump from the price I'm used to paying so I'd much rather wait till prices drop (fingers crossed!). 

In the meantime, I'll give my eyes their much needed break and switch back to wearing glasses again. 

Want to give Acuvue Oasys a try? Get $20 off your purchase when you download and use the MyACUVUE app for the first time. 

joeylee@asiaone.com