You really can "say goodbye to dry."

As I was crawling underneath the gym bleachers aiding my friend in her frantic search for her dropped contact lenses, I remembering vowing to myself, "Well. I'm never getting contacts." However as it happened, five years later, there I was at the optometrist, flinching wildly every time he started jabbing his finger (and a trial pair of Acuvue Oasys) in the general direction of my eye. Ten surely frustrating minutes later, they were finally in.

Before I'd visited the optometrist, I'd done my research and read that most everyone claim they couldn't even feel the contacts in their eyes. How ridiculous, I thought, even as my eyes blinked furiously in their attempt to expel this foreign object that felt very like like a most unwelcome eyelash. Ten seconds later, however, I was singing a different tune. The lenses really felt like nothing. In fact, for a few moments, I was worried I'd blinked too hard and knocked the things out.

I've now worn the lenses for nearly two years, and they're still amazing. There have been days when I've put them in at 7AM and removed them at 3AM - and had no problems whatsoever with dryness or discomfort. I've napped in them (unhealthy, yes) for six hours, and woken up with only the slightest sensation of grittiness, which always disappears after a few blinks. I've even had those sort of evenings when I've prodded my eye for a few minutes trying to remove contacts that I'd already taken out a few hours earlier; they simply feel that natural.

The lenses are both easy to wear and to remove. They slide easily onto the eye, with minimal adhesion to the finger, and can be 'plucked' out without permanent damage to the lens' shape. When I first was learning how to wear and remove these contacts, I had it down in five minutes. That sounds atrociously long now, but when I remember how terrified I used to be of having a finger anywhere near my eye...

The lenses are tinted blue for easy finding (and I've dropped these on all sorts of sinks, counters, and floors). The tint won't affect eye color, but it might add a slight blue 'aura' around the pupil. In my humble opinion, it's actually a very nice aesthetic effect.

The lenses do have to be changed every two weeks, but I've easily worn them for a little longer without problems. They do begin to feel a little dirtier and a little blurrier after a week and a half, however. It is nothing major, but I've definitely felt it when it was near the end of two weeks. I could attribute a portion of this to the fact that I spend close to 7-10 hours in front of a computer each day.

The price range is a little steep (I purchase mine for $25.99/box at Costco), considering the prices of competing products. I used to be fairly stingy about wearing the contacts for a little longer than the prescribed two weeks, but I must admit it feels wonderfully refreshing to break open a new pack and slide fresh and cool contacts onto the eyes.

I've worn trial pairs of other contacts (Focus Dailies is the only brand I recall), and each time, I've been unable to wear the lenses past ten hours without experiencing severe dryness. Thus, in my opinion, the extra $ for Acuvue Oasys is worth the extra comfort.