contact lens management
Nature -- Only Better
CIBA's newest line of color contact lenses provides subtle excitement.
KAREN WILSON, O.D.

Color contact lenses have never been a big part of my practice so when I was approached about fitting some models in CIBA Vision's new FreshLook Radiance illuminating contact lenses for a product launch event, I was reluctant. However, once I fit the models in these lenses, I was completely won over by the refreshed look they gave to their whole faces.

FreshLook Radiance lenses are available in four effects: Moonlight (silver), Eden (green), Autumn (bronze) and Sunrise (gold). We fit eight models in the lenses, all of whom were of different ethnicities and had different eye and hair colors. According to CIBA Vision, the effect of each lens differs according to each patient's natural eye color, skin tone and hair color.

I examined each model in all of the effects to determine which looked best. What particularly intrigued me was seeing how different the same effect looked on each model. I decided to bring the lenses into my practice.

The FreshLook Radiance in Autumn (top) and Eden (bottom)

Adding a touch of light

Many of my patients have elected not to wear opaque color lenses because they're "too much." Others have tried color lenses, but dropped out for the same reason. While some people may not want a complete change of eye color, they may be interested in a more subtle way to add sparkle to their appearance. That's what makes FreshLook Radiance so unique compared to other color lenses -- it adds a little shimmer, not a completely different color. That little shimmer comes from mica, which is embedded into the lens material.

The lens design features an inner starburst pattern that adds sparkle. The main iris area of the lens is clear so a patient's natural color shows through.

Targeting the most likely

I present the FreshLook Radiance to patients who've worn opaque color lenses in the past, as well as to patients who express an interest in color. They especially appeal to the youngish, hip, club crowd and teenagers, and also to the 40-something woman who's worn soft lenses for years and wants to jazz up her look a bit.

Because successfully marketing FreshLook Radiance depends on achieving an effect that pleases each individual patient, it's important to carry an inventory of all four colors, which CIBA Vision makes in six packs. I keep such a supply of plano lenses. After I discuss the advantages of FreshLook Radiance lenses, I give the patient two colors to choose from depending on her eye color. Asians and African Americans, with dark brown irises, usually choose between Autumn or Sunrise. Those who have blue eyes choose between Moonlight or Eden, while green- or hazel-eyed patients choose between Eden or Autumn. (I base these choices on what I think looked best on the models I initially fitted.) As a result, chair time is quite limited.

Good looks and comfort

I've found that FreshLook Radiance is also comfortable to wear because of the new FreshLook edge design, especially for patients accustomed to a thinner edge profile. They're easy to fit because there's only one base curve, which centers nicely on a wide range of corneal curvatures. Lens powers run from +6.00D to -8.00D in 0.25D steps. If patients trial Freshlook Radiance, they often purchase them, so the line has been profitable for my practice. Even better, all of my patients who've bought the lenses are pleased.

DR. WILSON IS IN SOLO PRACTICE IN TORONTO. CONTACT HER AT 416-924-9210.