Hey, niceeyes. Are they yours?

by ShannonKing features

editor

Jewelry, make-up, tattoos, body piercing and now, colored contacts. These fashions for your eyes are the latest craze in "decorating" your body. Make-up has always been an option for people who don't like the black circles under their eyes, their incredibly light eyelashes or their pale cheeks. Until recently, if you were less than thrilled with your brown eyes, you were out of luck because there was nothing you could do about it. Now however, there are colored contacts available to help you out in an area that was previously off limits.

There are so many different kinds of contacts that are available for everyone, including for those who have perfect 20/20 vision. According to Gina Puma, contact lens technician at Galman and Friedberg Eye Associates in Woodbury, N J., there are two different kinds of colored contacts.

"There are enhancers that are for light eyes such as blue or light green eyes and there are opaque contacts that are to your eyes.

Infection is the main thing that people have to worry about. To make it easier on people to clean their contacts, Renu has marketed a product that is "No Rub." It allows people to-just take out their contacts and put them away without the hassle of separate enzyme cleaners and rubbing to get the protein off of them. Customers can also choose contacts that can be worn for 2 weeks and thrown away, mont_hlywear or yearly wear. Puma said that the policy for contacts at the Eye Associates is that if you open the box, you can't return them.

Even though contacts can be dangerous if not worn and handled

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by JfflC. Hindman staiwriter

The tickets say that you must be there by 9:30 a.m. sharp. In order to get fromPh.illy to New YorltCity we took a 5:42 a.m. train, and lam the complete opposite of wbal some like to call "a morning person," but this experience was well worth the lost minates of sweet dreams. • ABC's ''The View" can be best described as watching a group of girlfriends enjoying some tea and each other's company. Watching these women on TV, some may wooder to themselves whether or not this foursome of ladies are "rear' friends or "for the, camera only." The chemistry between these four women is nothing but genuine darker to change the color of brown and Colored contacts are the latest way to change an asdarker green eyes," pect of your appearance without drastic measures. Puma said. "You can get contacts with your prescription or piano contacts that come without a prescription for people who don't need glasses."

Once seated a comedian comes out to liven the crowd and get them pumped for the women to come out. The atmosphere was so full of energy and booming with music. The set was bigger than I had anticipated.

Once the women came out of the doors the crowd went wild. There was an encouraged standing ovation and the applause was welcomed with the warm smiles of Lisa Ling, Joy Behar, Meredith Viera and Star Jones, co-hosts of The View.

On the train ride there I was wonderingif seeing the show in person would change my mind about which of these co-hosts were my favorite. I have always been impressed by Lisa Ling who I used to watch on Channel One news when I was in grade school. I guess being that she is the woman who represents the twenty-somethings on the show, she is a role model in a way. She is well educated and well spoken and she is uot afraid to disagree with the other women. The day that I was there I was disappointedby heir-contribution to the show. She seemed almost shy, unlike she has ever appeared on the screen before. She proved me wrong on the commercial breaks when she walked right into the audience and greeted everyone saying what a great crowd we were. "Sometimes we get duds," she told us.

There are colored contacts that are available that have designs on them too. If you want cat eyes it's now possible, and alien eyes and 8-balls are no longer impossible to get. Even though they are a fun way express your personality, contacts can also be a health hazard. "A contact lens provides the perfect warm, moist environment on which bacteria thrive," says the Canadian Association of Optometrists.

"One of the most dangerous things you can do for your eyes is to exchange contacts with a friend," said Puma. "It can lead to infection and can be uncomfortable to wear. Contacts have a base curve in diameter that are specially formed to the measurements of an individual's eye. Wearing someone else's contacts can be uncomfortable at the least. They can feel like there is something in your eye or they could even fall out." This is why even putting your contacts in the wrong eyes can be uncomfortable or ineffective. According to Puma, wearing the wrong prescription contacts can cause later damage icate skin around the eye. correctly, there are also contacts that offer very beneficial protection. There are contacts available that offer UV protection from the sun. They block 90 percent of the sun's UV rays and can save your eye from very serious sun damage. However, they only cover the cornea and the rest of the eye is left unprotected. No one should depend solely on UV protectant contacts for their sun protection. Sunglasses provide protection for a much larger.area of the eye and the del-

The next time you 're looking to change your appearance, contacts can be a unique way to bring out the life in your eyes.

Star Jones who I used to find a bit irritatingandappeanldto have an "I know,everything attitude" surprisingly enough did not seem that way at all. This one-time ~ecution attorney was crowd friendly and very funny. She was almost cute in a way. Sile bad a lot to say, but kept the conversation light and fun as she had the crowd gi~g the whole time.

The always-funny Joy Behar of course hadthe audience laughing every othea-minute wiuth her down-to-earth-tell-it-like-it-is attitude. She·has always been my persoaal favorite and still holds the title. She is a mother and a comedian who includes her own life in a lot of the conversation, as do all of the hosts, she seems so nonnal. Her high-heeled Cinderella-glass-slipper-look-a-like-shoessaid it all. On the breaks.the women asked the crowd if they had any questions and one woman in the back shouted out to Behar that she has given her inspiration in her own life.

Meredith Viera has a long list of experience in hosting television. She seems as though she is the head honcho when their friend BW also known as Barbara Walters is n,ot there. Viera has a fresh look. She appears comfortable on the set as though she is in her element. She appears to love the camera.

The women are nothins but a good time to watch. They are as friendly to oneanother when the camera is on as well as when it is off. Even if you disagree with wt. they are saying, you will crack up listening to them battle it out.

Some contacts are tinted so that they can be easily located when lost, but do not change outward appearances.

Philly some tes of oying derto unera or the :. The lCOUrf Lisa ~emy ed by guess 1eis a o disontricreen to the fe get :veryisecue had 1gthe unute al fa·nlife :eeled :d the r that tough there. r elenotht they