November 6, 2015

Lens review: Beaucon Jewels Brown

Hello hello ~

I'm gonna throw in a circle lens review here before Kitacon bombs in! ^o^ Truth is that I had originally planned to use these lenses for when I cosplay Japan from Hetalia at said con but, err, I think I'll have to use another pair. ._. Read on and you'll know why!

Notice the authenticity stickers! Beaucon has started doing that too!
As far as I've seen Beaucon lenses can only be found at HoneyColor's site so yeah, that's where I bought mine, in case anyone is curious. ^^ So yeah, these have a pretty much identical pattern to all those very popular EOS Sugar Candy and Vassen Sakura Candy lenses. Those lenses go under some different names but yeah, they're often called something with 'Candy' in the name and there's several different manufacturers making the same design you probably know which ones I mean.
But yeah, the reason I'm mentioning this is because even though the Beaucon Jewels have the same design as those aforementioned there is one big difference and that's the size. You see, if you ever wished those Candy lenses came with a smaller diameter then the Beaucon Jewels series are the answer to your prayers! o/

Taken outdoors in sunlight.
Taken indoors, bathroom light.
Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.0 mm
Water content: 45%
Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

As you can see on the photos above, the similarity to those super well-known 'Candy' lenses is striking. The Beaucon Jewels series are a great choice if you like this kind of design but would rather have lenses with a smaller enlargement effect ~

So yeah, I took the lenses out of their bottles and put them to soak the night before. I had problems inserting them because they would constantly go out of my eye (with the eyelid movement when I blink) before setting properly.
As soon as I got the first lens in (my right eye) it felt really uncomfortable and kept stinging. I took the lens out, cleaned it and put it back in again. I constantly still felt that there was something on my eye at all times (in an annoying way) and if I moved my gaze it would do this kind of scratchy feeling. My eye watered but I told myself to keep it on at least until I get all photos taken.
For some reason the left lens felt normal and I think I know why – the right lens was from a production batch that was to expire next month, if I didn't open them. Yes, that's December 2015!! D: So yeah, I'm pretty sure this is why the right lens kept feeling bad.
Note to self: open lenses in good time before they expire, to avoid nasty surprises. Then again, this particular pair was ordered for maximum 2 months ago so I'm not to blame, really...

One lens in.
Notice how they aren't enlarging my eyes much; I think this is a nice enlargement as it's still discreet enough to not look too dolly/unnatural but it makes your eyes stand out.
These lenses have a very simple but appealing design – a single color and a thick dark limbal ring. I think that the limbal ring is not a true black but more or a really dark black-brown. It doesn't jump at you as much as some of the circle lenses with bolder limbal rings. 

Lens photos ahead!
All photos are taken by me during a November morning with a cloudy sky. There was a lot of fog (and frost on the ground) so yeah, the quality isn't as good as it could be, because of a lack of sunlight. Oh, and there's no color filters or such on the close-up photos and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

Indoors in my apartment, facing the window.
Apartment room light, lamps on.
Bathroom light.
Flash photo.
White light in the corridor.
Yellow light in the corridor.
Yellow light in the staircase.
Storage room indoors, natural light coming from the window.
Outdoors facing the direction of the light.
Outdoors with my back against the light. (facing wall)
Outdoors, facing the corner of the building.
I apologize for my eyeliner being derpy my previous one that I had used for years finally called it quits and R.I.P:ed on me. While the new one has a more precise applicator than my previous eyeliner it also seems like it peels off easier.

The color of the lenses is a light brown it makes me think of toffee or something, yum! These lenses mix nicely with my real eye color which, by the way, is a light blue-gray with a greenish tint and a golden ring next to the pupil. I have chameleon eyes that adjust to their surroundings lol.
The lenses do show up as brown in all lights that I tried, so I'd say that the color opacity is alright. Oh, and in terms of naturalness they aren't too shabby, haha. But yeah, the thick limbal ring still make these look quite obviously like colored contact lenses...

Distance photos!

I would really like these lenses a lot, if it wasn't for the highly disappointing comfort. :'( It's such a letdown. For some reason it seems like everyone, except me, finds these lenses to be comfortable?
I want to share a few more final words about the comfort: the right lens I took off as soon as I was done with the photos because I just couldn't stand it. The left one (which wouldn't have expired until 2017, had I left it unopened) was fine for like 1,5 hours and then suddenly it felt like it was so dry that it glued itself to my eye. D: I don't know why it suddenly felt so unbearably dry when it had been all nice and comfy during the photo taking. It was weird. :S Oh, and I got an "eye headache" that lasted for hours after having taken off the lenses...
So yeah, even if a part of me wants to grade a higher number for comfort (because I still want to love these lenses) I just can't justify it because I couldn't wear even the better lens for 2 hours. :/ I hope that my other Beaucon pairs will be more comfy than these – maybe this was just an unlucky pair combined with one lens expiring way too soon?
I guess I could stand wearing these for a photoshoot, but a whole convention day is out of the question...

Oh well, whatever the case I'd still want to say that these lenses are a good choice for cosplaying especially "adult-looking" male characters and for more serious/older female chars too mainly because of the small size. These lenses do give the "anime eye" look, at least according to me. :)

Want to check out more reviews of the Beaucon Jewels series? :3
I have reviewed other colors too: Violet, Pink Brown, Green
Short summary:

Color: 7/10
Nice and pleasant light brown. The color is reminiscent of toffee.
Design: 8/10
Simple design but it's very likable. It works great for cosplaying male anime and video game characters.
Opacity: 7/10
Opacity is good because the lenses change my eye color notably

Enlargement: 3/10
It's small but it's there.
Comfort: 2/10
The right lens is almost unwearable (possibly because it would have expired next month had I not opened it) although the left one is comfy but dries reaaaaally fast. I can't wear these for more than 2 hours.

Naturalness: 3/10
The thick dark limbal ring easily gives them away as circle lenses, even though the size and color are okay.

Shiro Samurai says goodbye! Thanks for reading!


Alluring Alyss said...

Great review~! I'm also a cosplayer, and I'm wondering if there are any lenses stores you recommend~? <33

Shiro Samurai said...


Thanks for asking! I've actually recently been thinking about making a blog post about lens store and wig store recommendations, to help others out, because I know quite many trustable sites. ^^

But to answer your question – I've bought from plenty of lens stores over the years but those that I'd recommend the most are these:
Pinky Paradise

All of them I've bought from on multiple occasions and I always received my orders in a timely manner, had good customer service and of course received authentic (and thus safe to wear) lenses. ^^ You can buy from any of those listed with confidence.

I hope this helps!
Feel free to contact me if you need any more assistance ~

Resa Peralta said...

Amazing, it looks so good on you! And you are so handsome. :D