Comparing Different Circle Lens Brands

We often get asked questions like "Which brand if the most comfortable?", "Which brand is your favourite?", "Do you prefer A over B?" etc.  So in this blog post I will describe the pros and cons of the circle lenses of the top manufacturers in Korea.

The clear favorite amongst our staff here is NEO Vision brand lenses

Pros:

• Super thin lenses, as thin as regular monthly clear contacts
• UV protection
• High water content (42%+)
• The thinness and high water content make these lenses incredibly comfortable to wear, even in dry air-conditioned office environments.
• While they don't have a plethora of designs like other major circle lens manufacturers, their designs are ultra-wearable.  Nothing is too crazy, no super bright neon colours or creepily humongous diameters.  Their designs are ones that almost everyone can wear comfortably without scaring people away.
• Consistent colouring between different batches.  So if you ever need a single replacement lens, you can be assured that the one you're ordering now will match the other one which you don't need to replace.
• We receive the fewest number of defective reports of NEO lenses.  The quality is excellent.
• The final consumer might not take this personally, but NEO Vision company never fails to deliver our shipments on time.  They are always prompt, so we prefer ordering from them.  Good products + good service = good company.

Cons:

• Limited selection of designs as said above. They only have 14.2mm and (later in 2013) 14.5mm diameters.
• More expensive than other brands.  But we really feel that the higher price is worth it for the premium quality you get.  Consider this: the least expensive pair of coloured contacts from a popular optical shop like Clearly Contacts costs $20 per vial (not per pair) and lasts for up to 6 months.  So a pair of yearly NEO coloured lenses is inexpensive in comparison

And now onto the world's most popular brand, GEO

Pros:

• Consistent colouring between different batches. 
• Numerous designs.  They are innovating and releasing new ones all the time.  They also have a variety of diameters to choose from (14.0mm - 15.0mm).  Their designs are always innovative and unique, for example, the Mari Gold lenses from 2012 which were the first circle lenses to incorporate metallic flecks!  All products from their Mimi & Premium line (aka Angelcolor Japan OEM) have never failed to sell like hotcakes when released!
• Lenses themselves are pretty good quality, generally thin and comfortable
• Authenticity verification system 
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• Mixed reviews about the duration of the lenses, as some people say that they are not comfortable after 8 to 9 months of wear. This is because protein deposits can accumulate over time if you don't have enzymatic cleaning protocol. We recommend using the iPool nanosilver cleaner to remove residue at least once a week.
• Lenses are thicker than those of NEO, so you can wear them for a shorter period of time before there are feelings of tiredness
• Sadly, GEO is the most counterfeited brand of circle lenses.  Despite the authenticity verification system, you still need to keep your eyes open for fakes.

Dueba (aka G&G) is the longest-established manufacturer of circle lenses.  The features of this brand's products are actually very similar to those of EOS, so for simplicity's sake I will group them together.

Pros:

• A giant assortment of beautiful designs.  They've got 14.0 - 15.0mm diameters to choose from.  Also, they can make designs in additional colours like sky, turquoise, aqua and silver.
• Generally comfortable lenses; they seem to be a bit thicker than GEO's.
• A lot of the cool and hip designs in Japan fashion shops are from these two manufacturers.

Cons:

• They take forever to manufacture the goods which is why our Dueba & EOS lenses are frequently out of stock (sorry!)

Quickly climbing up the popularity ranks and becoming a new favorite is Vassen (who manufactures our Royal Vision Creamy, Bella 4 Tone and Summer Doll series btw).

Pros:

• HUGE variety of really stunning colors and patterns.  They've got everything from 14.0mm to 15.0mm. They have a lot of products which are designed in-house, but a lot of them are copied from GEO and Dueba.  For example, they usually take GEO's designs and make them in larger diameters and in more colors like red and pink.
• Super comfortable, almost as much as NEO Vision's lenses!  They are as thin as NEO Vision's, and water content is pretty good as well.
• No defective item reports of Vassen lenses so far actually.
• Love how them come in yearly or half-year formats.

Cons:

• They also take forever to produce our lenses so thus frequently are out of stock.
• More expensive than GEO lenses.

I hope that this post has been informative and helpful to those who are just starting out with circle lenses or are already fans of circle lenses and would like to learn more about them!

- Coco from EyeCandy's