I will never forget the day I was told I would need to wear glasses, I was about 9 or 10 and thought it was the end of the world! From this day on I begged and pleaded with various opticians to give me contact lenses and they all said the same - "when you're 13". As a child that seemed like a lifetime away and the day of my 13th birthday off I went for my lenses and was the happiest teenager ever. I think these little things changed my whole teenage years for the better. Not only were glasses not a fashion statement then (even though it's not that long ago), but for my lifestyle they just mad my life much easier but I will go into that a bit later.

TYPES OF LENSES
The most common types of disposable lenses on the market are:
- Daily disposable
- 2 Week disposable
- Monthly disposable

COST OF LENSES
This all depends on which you get, I am quite lucky that I haven't had many problems with the health of my eyes and must have tried about 20 brands over the years without any issues.
The lenses I get at the moment cost £12 for 32 pairs of daily lenses. I probably only wear them one or two days a week so for £12 they would last me around 4 or 5 months.
The monthly lenses I buy cost me about the same for 6 pairs, each pair lasts a month and you can use them as often as little as you need.
There doesn't seem to be as much range with 2 week lenses as the others, but on average the price seems to be around £20 for 6 pairs.

WHICH IS FOR YOU?
Daily lenses - For those who don't wear contact lenses daily or do not want the hassle of lens care. Open a new pair each time you wear the lenses and throw them away when you take them out.

Monthly lenses - For those who want to wear the lenses often and will take care of their lenses. These work out at much better value if you wear lenses a few days a week. You will need a case for your lenses and a bottle of contact lens solution. You need to take out these lenses and put them in a case of solution until you wear them again. After one month you throw them away.

2 week lenses - I haven't used these myself but I do like the sound of them, some of the monthly's don't feel as fresh and comfortable in the eye after a couple of weeks so these sound like a good option.

PUTTING THEM IN AND TAKING THEM OUT (the bit everyone asks about)
When I first started wearing contact lenses I didn't actually know anybody who wore them, now I know a few people but most people still gasp and make noises when they find out I wear them (my boyfriend nearly fainter when he first saw me put them in, he's used to it now). Often I get asked "does it hurt to put them in?" well the answer is no. If it hurt I wouldn't wear them if it was torturous using lenses, they wouldn't be for sale if they caused pain and suffering. If is honestly now as routine and pain free as brushing my teeth.

Always make sure you have washed and dried your hands before putting them near your eyes!

If you look up, use one hand to gently pull your lower eyelid down and place the lens on the white of your eye, look straight ahead again and the lens will move into place, I put them in looking straight now, but at first it's easier to look up as you don't blink as much as when you are looking at it coming towards your eye. If you're still blinking try to use the one finger with the hand you are putting the lens in with to hold your lower lid and the other hand to hold open the top lid, the blinking WILL stop after you've done it a few times. It's just a natural reaction as you don't know what to expect.

Not half as scary as you'd think, when I first started wearing them I used to blink every time I put my hand near my eye and I used to have to use my two hands to hold my eye open whilst my mum put the lens in. After a week I was doing it with no problems whatsoever, when putting them in you don't really need to touch your eye, just place the lens onto the eye and it will stick itself. When taking it out you barely need to touch the lens and it will almost fall out onto your hand. There shouldn't be any need at all to poke and prod around your eye. If you struggle to put the lens in it's best to put it back in the solution and try again in a while as the more you try your eye is likely to water and make it more difficult.
I have had two lenses out of hundreds of pairs break in my eye, on one occasion half of the lens came out on my finger and the other half fell out of my eye, on the second occasion I had to flush my eye out and roll it around and it came out. I have heard of very rare occasions when people have had to have these removed by an optician or doctor but this is extremely rare!
Be careful if you have long nails as the lenses are delicate and they are like a strong cling film kind of texture so you can break them with nails but there shouldn't be any need to have your nails on the lenses. Again be careful taking them out with nails, as you could scratch your eye, just the same way. This might sound frightening, but I don't know many people who scratch their face when applying make up so there shouldn't be any need to scratch your eye.

It is very easy to put in and take out lenses and you may need help from someone at first but it honestly is so easy after a couple of times.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T.................
- If you accidentally fall asleep in your lenses you will not do it again in a hurry, it leaves your eyes feeling absolutely terrible and can cause damage. I have to admit I have done this a few times it's easy to forget you have them in. You do get into the habit of taking them out each night though.
- Don't wear contact lenses in the shower
- Don't use tap water on your lenses
- Don't wear the lenses for too long - Different lenses have different recommended lengths of time to keep them in for. There is a reason for these, so do take notice of them. My first ever lenses I was advised not to wear them for longer than 8 hours, some others have been 12 hours. You need to give your eyes a rest from lenses and let them breathe to maintain good eye health.

THE POSITIVES
Well for me there have been so many over the years so here are just a few of my personal positives:
* I used to do a lot of sport, glasses were constantly getting knocked off and broken and the lenses were so much easier (and less costly than new glasses). I'm not a fan of swimming but they would be a good idea for people who are.
* Even with these fancy lenses in glasses I still used to find I got a bit of glare from streetlights and car lights when it is dark, there was no glare at all with the lenses.
* No windscreen wipers needed! When I'm expecting to be out in wet weather I wear my lenses. I know somebody invented an umbrella but it isn't practical to be putting an umbrella up and down when you're out shopping and only going down two doors, but it's also not practical to have to wipe specks of rain off your glasses every time. Also in cold weather, glasses have a tendency to steam up when going into a warm building and it's so annoying.
* Sunglasses - I know these have also improved in appearance in recent years but prescription sunglasses are another thing I just can't get to grips with, they used to be ugly and usually it means carrying them around, or carrying your glasses around and swapping them each time you go indoors or out in the sunlight. Now I can choose whatever sunglasses I like and put them on with my contacts in.
* Because the lens covers the surface of your eye you have the same peripheral vision as you would have without glasses and you can't see under, over or out of the sides of contact lenses.


PRACTICAL AND TRENDY THINGS TO GET
Travel cases
In the pound shop recently I got a little travel case, it is a small box like a make up compact which contains a little mirror when you flip it open, there is a lens case in and 2 tiny plastic bottles that you can fill with your solution. For those who don't wear dailies this is a great little thing to have. The bottles can hold enough solution for 2 or 3 days so it's great for a weekend away, especially as the big bottles of solution would be too large to take as hand luggage on a plane. The whole travel case would easily fit into a make up bag.

Solutions
You can buy large bottles and travel sized bottles, for obvious reasons the travel size bottles are handy but also, like most minis, are not as good value for money. Most supermarkets do value bottles of solution these days which is great. When I first started wearing lenses I used to pay £13 for a bottle of solution and I recently picked up 4 big bottles for under £10.

Cases
For me the case doesn't matter as I have the same prescription in both eyes. Most cases have letters on the lids so you know which is which. You can now get funky novelty cases too. Most cases cost only £1-2. There are a couple of styles of cases you can get, some are better than others at making sure the lenses are immersed in the liquid properly which is good if the lens case is not going to be sat still on a shelf all the time.

Coloured lenses
Cat's eyes, zombie eyes, checkered eyes, red eyes or just a different colour eye, whatever takes your fancy... most of these can now be got with or without prescription. The non-prescription lenses are cheaper and they can last different lengths of time. Some are single use and some can be used for 3 months or even a year although I don't think I personally would want to put lenses in a year after they were opened. These vary in price from about £10 - £30 depending on how long they last.

OVERALL
I don't mind wearing glasses so much now but it is nice to put the lenses in when I'm dressing up or just fancy a change. I would definitely recommend lenses to anyone who is thinking about wearing them. They are not nearly as scary as they may sound and within a few days it's more than likely you won't look back. I do order cheap lenses online now, but this is after years of wearing lenses and I still go for regular check ups and eye tests at the optician. For new wearers of lenses I would strongly suggest getting your first few months lenses from an optician. Lenses are not an option for some people with certain eye problems and not only will they be able to give you a more accurate prescription (some people's prescriptions are slightly altered from glasses to lenses) but they will also be able to show you how to correctly put them in and remove them and give you advice on caring for your eyes and lenses.
They will also give you a lens check up after a week or so to see how you are getting on with the lenses, to see how you are getting on with them and to make sure the prescription is correct and that the lenses and solution is suitable for your eyes.
Don't be put off if they are not as there are so many brands of lenses and solutions around these days that there is bound to be one that suits you.
Many opticians give you free trials of their contact lenses.

It's not all a breeze, I've had a couple of problems with lenses but I would guess that in well over 10 years of wearing lenses, only 2 or 3 times have I ever had a problem with them. The positives far outweigh the negatives for me and I'll continue to wear them until I can afford laser eye treatment! (I can't see that happening......ever!)