I’ve been wearing coloured contact lenses for years now, mostly on special occasions and nights out, when I’m in the mood to get fully glammed. It’s never anything crazy, just a subtle adjustment to my natural dark brown – one that’s collected many compliments every time I’ve worn them.
I’ve never found affordable and readily accessible cosmetic lenses in Australia. Instead, I’ve resorted to buying my year’s supply on family trips to India and lugging home copious boxes. So the launch of Dimple Color is very welcome news.
Dimple, founded in 2019, is a Sydney-based direct-to-consumer subscription service for prescription lenses. (Consult an optometrist or other eye-health specialist before buying or using contact lenses – including non-prescription lenses. Serious eye damage can otherwise occur.) After noticing a demand from existing customers for tinted versions, founder Shaun Polovin took action.
“The Australian market isn’t as mature as some of the other markets in Asia where coloured lenses have become more of a staple cosmetic product,” he says. “There’s probably a misconception when you say coloured lenses [where] the average person would automatically think, ‘Oh, gimmicky and Halloween-y’, that’s kind of the reference.”
But coloured contact lenses are an increasing part of Western beauty routines, worn on the red carpets by the likes of Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez and Jennifer Aniston.
Often it’s big pharmaceutical companies – that aren’t necessarily beauty-focused – producing coloured contacts, with limited options that don’t keep up to date with current styles and trends. With Dimple Color’s elevated, local approach, it’s shifting the narrative to create “natural-looking colour lenses that can be used as part of enhancement”.
The range (designed in Australia and made in Korea) features three different types of lenses: one-tone, two-tone and three-tone – each referring to the number of pigments layered onto the contacts. The Lunar one-tone lenses are the most natural-looking collection, working with your underlying eye colour to add a subtle hue on top. The Statement two-tone lenses – as the name suggests – give a bold, piercing look with maximum coverage and colour-changing effect. And if you’re looking to enhance the size of your eyes along with their colour, the three-toned Tempo collection features an external limbal ring to make them appear bigger while still keeping a natural feel.
Popular colours include the Burnt Butter Hazel, Toasted Honey and Aloe Green. Thanks to its direct-to-consumer model, consumers can get a better price too. The team offers one-month lenses at $45 and three-month lenses at $65 for both prescription and non-prescription wearers.
And to help you pick the most suitable colour and tone, there’s a short quiz on its website based on your natural eye colour and personality traits, as well as filters on its Instagram page so you can virtually try on the different contacts. If you’re looking to get a pair, use code DIMPLEBY15 to get 15 per cent off your order.
We hope you like the products we recommend on Broadsheet. Our editors select each one independently. Broadsheet may receive an affiliate commission when you follow some links.
This story was updated at 4.22pm on June 5, 2023, to include important safety advice about buying contact lenses without first consulting an optometrist or other eye-health specialist.
