Colored contacts for Halloween: Are they safe?

Halloween contact lenses may be just what you need to terrorize trick-or-treaters or wow party-goers this year. These fanciful colored contacts can take your startling or sassy costume to a whole new level. But they aren’t always safe and should be bought and worn with caution. 

Are Halloween contacts safe? 

Halloween contact lenses certainly aren’t harmless. Anything you place on your eyeball has the potential to cause an injury or infection that could lead to vision loss. 

Costume contact lenses can be great for Halloween, but it's safest to order them through your eye doctor.

Decades of research and development have produced colored and costume contact lenses that are safe — when prescribed correctly, worn properly and maintained carefully.   

But not all Halloween contacts fit these guidelines. The safety of these specialty lenses (also known as theatrical, special-effects or costume contacts) boils down to buying them from the right people and wearing them the right way.