Ever since I discovered the Neo Natural Touch Brown circle lenses, I had been on somewhat of a circle lens craze.

This is not to say that I have been mindlessly purchasing circle lenses of every color and every design. Rather, I had a specific goal in mind: to find the most comfortable, most natural-looking lenses for my plain brown eyes.

And I think I’ve accomplished my mission!

(And they’re not the Neo Natural Touch Brown lenses!)

Since I had so much trouble researching natural-looking circle lenses — reading through hundreds of reviews, comparing how they look via the photos on various online retailers as well as beauty blogs…yet never quite being able to get a fair comparison because the photos are of different models taken with different cameras in different types of light — I’ve decided to do a round-up of the ones I have so that others who are searching for a comfortable pair of natural-looking circle lenses can have some help.

Let’s get started!

Here is a picture of all my lenses. They all have a diameter of 14.2mm with the exception of the Geo Fresh Brown, which are 14.0mm. (14.00 and 14.2mm are recommended for the most natural enlargement. Some people don’t even notice a difference!) If you click on the picture, the linked image is a HUGE 3,200 x 2,700 one so you can really zoom in and get a good look at the lenses.

I have included in the shot above the list I keep alongside my store of lenses. What I did is to mark the bottom of each lens case with a different color Sharpie, and use the same marker to write down the name of the lens on the list so that I can easily tell which is which.

I considered using a label maker instead to mark the lens cases, but I don’t have one that prints labels small enough.  😛

Anyway, I’m sure you’re dying to see what the lenses look like when worn. A fair warning: I am not a great model and my eye are not my best feature. I also piled on a crapload of makeup (shadows from my beloved Naked Palette) so that my eyes may look decent in these pictures, but I know that this may deter some people (especially those in Asia, who prefer a more natural look for eye makeup).

I also don’t do false eyelashes, because I’m a complete spaz in that area.  😥

One more thing: all these photos were taken in one sitting. Meaning, all the switching back and forth between the lenses led to some makeup smearing which I did my best to touch up but obvs couldn’t when rushing to get all the photos done before the girls wake up from their naps.

And only NOW do I see that my eyebrows look lopsided. Should’ve used some brow pencil. Doh!

But nevermind my insecurities. Let’s get going, shall we?

First up…

Geo Fresh Brown

The Geo Fresh Browns were the very first pair of circle lenses I purchased and I really really liked them! Over the period of about a year, I wore them whenever I went out, and not one person ever noticed I was wearing colored contacts, let alone circle lenses. Only now do I notice how noticeable they are compared to other brown lenses!

I still like the little flecks of light brown they provide to my naturally dark irises. They almost make me feel like a princess.  

Look:  5/5. Like I said above, I love the light brown flecks!

Comfort:  3/5. They get dry at about the 5-hour mark. They also seem to be the thickest of the lenses I own.

Naturalness:  4/5. You can tell that I’m wearing brown colored contacts (but probably not circle lenses) under bright lights, or in the sun, if you look close.

Neo Natural Touch Brown

You can read my full review of these lenses here. Short version: LOVE them. However, if I HAD to say one bad thing about these lenses, it would be that the design — the pretty swirl pattern you can see more clearly in the stock photo above — kinda disappears into my dark brown eyes. So unless you were looking really REALLY closely under bright sunlight, it just looks like I have a pair of plain brown circle lenses on.

Look:  4/5. I think these lenses would work better with those with lighter-colored eyes, or those who want to look like they’re wearing plain brown lenses with that extra je ne sais quoi. In other words, LOVELY, but just not for me.

Comfort:  5/5. They’re not kidding when they say Neo Vision lenses are the most comfortable brand of circle lenses. They’re actually THE most comfortable brand of lenses I’ve ever tried!

Naturalness:  4/5. The darkness of the lenses creates an illusion of a slightly larger effect than its actual 14.2mm.

Neo Celeb Brown

These are my least favorite of the bunch. Not to say that they suck, but that they’re the least natural-looking. Perhaps they would work better on someone whose eyes are slightly lighter than my dark brown?

Look:  3/5. I thought that the precise pattern would be cute, but I had forgotten that nature is not always so tidy and regular.

Comfort:  5/5. They’re Neo Vision lenses. ‘Nuff said.

Naturalness:  3/5.  These are definitely noticeable on me, even under your average indoor lights.

Geo Grang Grang Choco

(Please note that these are different from the Grang Grang (Big) Choco lenses, which have a diameter of 15mm as opposed to 14.2mm.)

These feature my favorite design of the bunch! They are natural and pretty, and add an extra sparkle to my eyes without being obvious. The only downside is that they’re slightly less comfortable than Neo lenses. 🙁

Look:  5/5. I can’t say enough about how PRETTY they are!

Comfort:  4/5. More comfortable than the Geo Fresh Brown lenses, but not as good as Neo Vision lenses.

Naturalness:  5/5. You can’t tell I have lenses on unless you look REALLY close, under bright lights.

Neo Extra Size Dali 2 Brown

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! The design of these Neo Extra Size Dali 2 Brown lenses is close enough to the Grang Grang Choco lenses that even when I had one in each eye, I had trouble telling them apart.

And as is the case with all Neo Vision lenses I have tried, these are SUPER comfortable, even more so than regular soft lenses!

(Don’t mind the one red eye in the picture above — these were the last lenses I put on while taking these photos and I accidentally irritated that eye because I was in a rush to get everything done before the kids woke up.)

Look:  5/5. They’re GORGEOUS! Just like the Grang Grang Choco lenses, they add an extra sparkle to my otherwise plain eyes.

Comfort:  5/5. Have I mentioned how awesome Neo Vision lenses feel? HAVE I?  😆

Naturalness:  5/5. Once again, just like the Grang Grang lenses, you can barely tell I have anything on.

I hope this roundup was helpful! I know I would have appreciated an article like this when I was on the hunt for natural-looking, comfortable circle lenses.

Take a look below. Which do you think looks the best?

From top-to-bottom:
Geo Fresh Brown
Neo Natural Touch Brown
Neo Celeb Brown
Geo Grang Grang Choco
Neo Extra Size Dali 2 Brown

Now, here’s where we get to the good stuff.  😀

Remember EyeCandy’s? The circle lens store that sponsored my last circle lens giveaway?

Well, in celebration of my finding my new favorite pair of circle lenses, they have offered to give away ANOTHER pair to one lucky winner!

There’s good news even if you don’t win. Geek in Heels readers can receive a surprise gift for placing an order at EyeCandy’s. Just enter code GEEKINHEELS at checkout to receive your free gift!

As was the case before, the winner of this giveaway will be able to choose ANY pair of lenses from the circle lens category of EyeCandy’s extensive inventory!

What’s more, since EyeCandy’s ships internationally, this giveaway is open WORLDWIDE.

To enter this giveaway, simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. Not sure how to use Rafflecopter? Watch this 52 second video for a tutorial on how to enter a giveaway using Rafflecopter. There are 7 methods of entry, with the first method (commenting on this blog post answering the question “What color lenses would you get if you win?”) being mandatory while the fourth method (Tweeting about the giveaway) can be used once per day:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will end on Saturday, March 16th, 2013, at 12:01am EST, at which point a winner will be randomly chosen and announced here.

Please use a valid email address and/or Twitter handle so that I can contact you if you win! If the winner fails to respond within 48 hours of my contacting them, another winner will be selected.

Good luck, and thank you for entering!