We’ve all seen the Hollywood stereotype of the female scientist with her hair in a tight bun and her tortoise-shell framed glasses who changes her studious look suddenly by whipping off her glasses and deftly letting her hair down by pulling at one central pin. Immediately, her male colleague who thought of her only as a fellow scientist is enraptured by the vision before him, exclaiming “My word. Dr. Smith, you’re beautiful!”.

While switching from glasses to contact lenses may not elicit such instantaneous attention from the male of the species, many women find contact lenses to be a freeing and fun experience. Glasses may do in some situations and circumstances, but can be less convenient in others. And if you have spent a lot of time on the creating the perfect makeup look for your eyes, it’s nice to have people be able to see it.

Contact lenses are available for almost all prescriptions and vision problems, including astigmatism and bifocal needs. Contacts also come in disposable versions that are worn for specific lengths of time and then replaced with a fresh, clean lens, which reduces the incidence of infections and irritations from the build-up of protein, calcium and lipids - all found naturally in your tears.

There are also colored lenses that can change or enhance your eye color while you wear them. They are available without vision correction for those whose eyesight is within normal limits. Colored contacts are clear in the center, allowing clear vision. At times, blinking may cause the lens to slip a bit bringing the colored portion over the pupil and at night your pupils may dilate with diminished light, making them larger than the clear center.

I wear both glasses and contacts. Finding a fun frame for your glasses makes them perfect for certain occasions or just casual wear. Since switching to disposable contacts, I find my eyes are more comfortable than they were with daily lenses. I haven’t tried colored contacts yet but would love to. If any of you have tried colored contacts, let me know about your experiences with them.