There can be few people who have failed to notice the surge in popularity of cosmetic and coloured contact lenses these days. Who can forget the longing vampirish look of Edward Cullen or that ‘Lady Gaga look’ or even something more alien looking such as an Avatar. Coloured contact lenses have also been embraced in mainstream fashion and beauty culture and come in all manner of designs that can create striking effects such as a total change in eye colour to more subtle enhancements that accentuate the natural beauty of your eye. Those wishing to experiment with coloured contact lenses also have a variety of lens types to choose from as they come with vision correction and without (so-called plano lenses), and there are also daily disposable coloured contact lenses as well as monthly disposable lenses.

So-called ‘big eye’ contact lenses, which are designed to create an alluring look by making the pupils appear larger, are the craze behind what has been dubbed the Lady Gaga look. However, it may come as a surprise to know that that this is by no means a modern idea and in fact women have been seeking ways to make their pupils look larger for centuries. In the Middle Ages, women in Italy and Spain went to dangerous lengths to create just such a look and used a highly poisonous plant, deadly nightshade (or belladonna), to make a tincture that they would put into their eyes to dilate them. Belladonna contains a chemical compound, atropine, which is still used today in the world of ophthalmology as a medicine for dilating pupils. In fact, this practice gave rise to the plant’s name belladonna, which means ‘beautiful lady’ in Italian. Continue reading →