Lens review: GEO Mimi Cafe Waffle Gray

This time I want to share my discovery of the Mimi Cafe Waffle Gray lenses of the GEO brand. They are from the Cafe Mimi series, just like the Mimi Cafe Latte Brown, which I have reviewed before. I was really satisfied with the Latte Brown so I was eager of trying more lenses of the same series! I was expecting good comfort and a pretty pattern. 

Expectations fulfilled? 

I opened them on Sunday 28th of September and put them to soak in solution. I left them in this bath overnight and put them on Monday morning. The 8.7mm base curve wasn't a problem when I popped them in my eyes, and neither was the 15mm diameter. As soon as both were in my eyes, I noticed something annoying though - they were moving all the time. Every time I blinked they would slide upward in my eyes before sliding back in place the next second. It didn't hurt or anything but it was really irritating (for my nerves, not for my eyes).

I ignored it and went outside. It was windy and I was biking; I kept worrying the contacts would pop out of my eyes. Even when I was indoors I had this feeling a few times. At least five times during the morning it felt like the contacts would pop out of my eyes.

By this point I was fairly annoyed and very disappointed by the lack of comfort. 

I didn't get to take pics for my review on Monday because the weather was cloudy and dark so I wore the same contacts on the following day, 30th of September. This time they behaved better. They didn't move as annoyingly much, but still more than your usual circle lenses.

Of course it's still possible to wear them, but I find them rather uncomfortable for being circle lenses. I don't think it has anything to do with base curve or diameter. I have lenses that have a base curve of 8.8mm (the EOS Max Misty Blue) and some that have a diameter of 16.2mm (the I.Fairy Tofi Gold) and neither of them feels this uncomfortable or moves this much in my eyes.

Comfort-wise, still better than the EOS Dolly Eye Brown. 

Now for pictures.

Photographer is Shiro Samurai. All pics are unedited to show real colors, as usual.

Bottles.

It's hard to tell apart "right" and "wrong" side.

On my finger.

One lens in. Notice enlargement.

Looking into the sun. It's sunset and I'm outdoors.

Outdoors, turning my back to the sun.

Outdoors, on the "shadow" side of the building.

Outdoors in the sunlight. For some reason it's less bright.

Indoors. Shitty yellow-ish light in the staircase.

Indoors, looking through the window.
It's still sunset and the light hitting my eyes is very bright.

Indoors. White-ish light in the corridor.

Indoors, standing in front of a window in the corridor.

Indoors. Flash pic.

Bathroom light.

Normal room light (sunset-ish).

In front of another window.

Sideways glance.

Now some pics taken from a distance.

 Bonus pic!

It didn't want to cooperate.

In short: 

Color: 8/10

The three colors give a special look and don't blend into each other. The lenses sometimes look pretty dark though. The color isn't vibrant either, but it's dull in a good way.

Design: 10/10

Original, noticeable and very pretty.

Opacity: 9/10

They don't blend in my natural (fairly light) eye color but I assume they would look darker on brown eyes. The transparent hole in the middle lets little to none of the real eye color show.

Enlargement: 8/10

They look bigger than they seem.

Comfort: 6/10

I was disappointed by the comfort. I feel them in my eyes every now and then. There is also this annoying thing that they move all the time, so I get blurred vision when I blink because the colored part of the contact moves to partially cover my pupil. I also feel it when they move. The 42% water content doesn't seem to help.
Naturalness: 4/10
This pattern is totally natural... not.

GEO Mimi Cafe Latte Brown.

Lens review: Vassen Lollipop Red

This time it's the Vassen Lollipop Red's turn. They also go under the name I.Fairy Cara Red. I was very drawn to these because of their design, and also because I really wanted red contacts. It's my first pair of red lenses. I decided to wear them on the 7th of September because I had put them to soak in solution on the previous day. I happened to be trying on my vampire fangs (of the Scarecrow brand) on the same day so I got in the "vampire" mood and did some creepy make-up too.

But first, pictures of the bottles. Diameter is 14.5mm and base curve is 8.6mm, pretty usual.

Photographer is Shiro Samurai.

The left lens is on the "right" side; the right lens is on the "wrong" side.

One lens in.

Now with creepy make-up.

Taken in normal room light, facing the window. It's cloudy.

Taken indoors, with flash.

Yellow bathroom light...

Taken outdoors, with the flash, in the evening. It's still cloudy.

Still outdoors, without flash, no sun.

Taken under a lamp in the stairs. Yellow light.

Taken in the corridor, right under a lamp with white-ish light.

From a distance.

So... I like these a lot, but I was a bit disappointed comfort-wise. Don't get me wrong, they are comfortable to wear but lately I've only worn very comfortable contacts (like the EOS New Adult Brown and I.Fairy Tofi Gold) so I felt a difference. I felt them slightly in my eyes. Also the pupil hole is fairly small so I was seeing red corners pretty often. At times it was a bit of a hinder for my vision. These contacts move easily in my eyes too - half my vision goes red for a split-second when I blink.

But they are still comfortable to wear for several hours in a row, and I barely felt them in my eyes. 

They are very bright and they look obviously red even in bad light so you'd better have some appropriate make-up.

In short: 

Color: 10/10

You can see in any light that they are bright red. The pupil hole doesn't let any of your eye color show either.
Opacity: 9/10
Not 100% opaque but they still cover your eye color. I assume they look slightly darker on brown eyes.

Design: 10/10

Very bright and sparkly.

Enlargement: 8/10

Pretty good enlargement. 

Comfort: 7/10

As I wrote you can wear them for a while but the red corners are slightly annoying and give a small restriction of my vision at times. I feel them in my eyes, but it's very slight so it's not really a problem.
Naturalness: 0/10
The only natural thing about these is that I still have eyes.

Lens review: White Mesh/Screen lenses

This time I'll review something a bit different. The White Screen or White Mesh lenses are part of the Crazy/Halloween/Cosplay/Animation/Special effects type of contacts. I got the impression that people want to try this kind of freaky contacts but that they are scared. I don't know how true this is, really. At least, I was scared of the limited vision that these contacts would give me.

It turned out much better than I feared - my vision wasn't quite as limited as I thought it would be.

Also, for people like me who have a vision defect and who usually can't try any "Crazy" lenses because they don't come in prescription... exceptions exist. Honey Color has the White Mesh in prescription here!

Before I forget: these lenses have a diameter of 14.0mm and a base curve of 8.6mm.

Let's get to the review now.

Photographer: Shiro Samurai.

Lenses in the bottles. They do have prescription!

The left lens is on the "right" side and the right lens is on the "wrong" side.

I'll put this into my eye. (flash photo)

One lens in.

Both. Taken indoors while facing the window.

Normal room light (during the evening).

Bathroom light.

Room light; taken with flash.

Outdoors. It's cloudy.

Outdoors, looking at the sun.

From a distance.

Okay, so... wow. These are really freaky. They give this "white eye" effect I was looking for.
Now you probably wonder how it feels to have these things in your eyes... It's not bad. I don't see dots everywhere but my vision is limited - it feels like I'm in the fog. The brighter the light, the thicker the "fog" will be.
- In a dark room, I didn't even feel or notice the contacts in my eyes. My vision was just like it usually is in the darkness.
- In dim light, I notice a slight difference. It's just like little fog.
- In bright light (outdoors in the sunlight) it can be harder to see. I can still see outlines of things without problems but it was a bit harder to make out my photographer's traits even when he was standing close. This also happens indoors when close to a window. If I look toward a light, the white haze is more obvious. It looks like a white veil in front of my eyes.

So I could see fairly well despite the fog/haze. I went to town and bought some stuff without major problems. I freaked out a kid who stared at my eyes. I could bike safely. I can read as long as the letters are big enough, or as long as I'm close enough. I haven't tried reading a book but I could read signs and car registers. It was only a little harder than usual.
Despite the white fog, my vision was sharp thanks to the prescription.
There is also a trick to avoid having the white fog for a second. If you squint a lot or look through a small hole, your vision will be just like usual.
All in all, the white haze isn't much of a handicap. For me who is slightly short-sighted, the "fog" isn't much more of a problem than not wearing contacts at all.

So if you want to try the White Mesh aka White Screen contacts, dogo ahead. They're freaky and they aren't very troublesome to wear. Be assured that people will stare at you while you wear these though; they are very noticeable even from a distance.

In short:

Color: 9/10
They aren't pure white (just almost); they show as a light grey circle that effectively covers your iris and pupil. It's still quite the effect!
Design: 10/10
They do what they promise. I can't judge them on how pretty they are but on how effective they are - how well the pattern covers my iris.
Opacity: 10/10
They ate up my eyes. The mesh/screen doesn't let your iris and pupil show at all.
Enlargement: 3/10
Very slight. But who cares about a bigger iris when it looks like you don't even have one?
Comfort: 10/10
The question of comfort is a tough one but I will give points for comfort only, without taking the white haze into account. I don't feel them in my eyes at all.
It's true that the "fog" feeling affects comfort but you know it when you buy this kind of contacts that they will limit your vision.
Naturalness: 0/10
I'm not sure that even a blind person would have such freaky eyes.

Lens review: I.Fairy Tofi Gold

This time I will review the I.Fairy Tofi Gold. As you can figure out from the name, they have a yellow/golden color (that turns green-ish in dim or bad light). Their base curve is 8.6mm and their diameter is 16.2mm, which is huge. I had high expectations for these contacts because I needed some that were fairly enlarging, had a noticeable golden color and were comfortable. My previous yellow contacts never met all of these requirements

Here's what they look like.

Photographer is Shiro Samurai.

In the bottles.

Showing the "right" side.

One "right" side (on the right) and one "wrong" side (on the left).

One lens in. Notice the enlargement.

Both lenses in, feat. make-up. Taken indoors, facing the window.

Normal room light.

Bathroom light.

Indoors, taken with the flash.

Indoors. Taken in the corridor.

 We then went outside for more different lights. All following pics are taken on the "sun" side of the building.

Outdoors in the shadows.

Facing the sun.

From a distance, looking into the sun (not recommended).

From a distance, in the shadows.

Close-up, in the shadows.

After this, we went around the building and took some pics in its shadow.

Outdoors on the "shadow" side.

"shadow" side again.

Same place, with the flash.

So, what do you think? Do they fill the requirements? For me they do. The only thing I am a bit displeased about is that they look green-ish in certain lights. But otherwise it's not really a problem because they are still very pretty.

In short:

Color: 9/10

It is the yellow I wanted. The only flaws are that they sometimes look greenish. Their beautiful yellow shade makes up for this. They are pretty even in dim light.

Design: 10/10

Amazing flower-ish pattern. One of the most beautiful lens designs I've seen.
Opacity: 9/10
Very opaque, except for the big pupil hole.

Enlargement: 10/10

Much better than expected. They give me big and gorgeous eyes.

Comfort: 9/10

They take quite a while to dry out and I don't feel them in my eyes. The only drawback is that they slightly blur my side vision; I sometimes see dark corners.
Naturalness: 1/10
They're literally eating up my eyes.

Bonus 

These contacts refused to cooperate at first.

Opening... oh sh*t. What do I do now?

Now pouring it in my palm... all the solution came out, but the lens stayed.