Solotica Hidrocor Ice and Hidrocor Cristal Lenses 2019 | Review

Today I will be sharing my experience of the Solotica Hidrocor Ice and Hidrocor Cristal contact lenses; show how they look on blue eyes and also will be comparing them. 

the content of my lens.me package:Solotica Hidrocor Ice and Hidrocor Cristal lenses (1 pair each)
Opti-Free Pure Moist Multi-purpose Lens Solution
travel lens case with tweezers and applicator tool

Solotica is the contact lens brand to go to if you want to drastically change your eye colour while still wanting to look natural - aka changing a (mostly) dark eye to a light one without the doll-like enlarging effect. They provide an incredibly great coverage for dark eyes, just do a quick Google search to find them. It will be hard to come across a review of the brand's lenses that are shown on light eyes, but hey, that's why I am here for.

Now, fret not, my friends. Even though I have naturally blue eyes, I wanted lenses that are as light as possible without them being straight up white. I think I succeeded, but by the end of the post, you will be able to tell as well. 

lens.me travel case for contact lenses with handy tools

I got my Solotica lenses through LENS.ME. They offer a great selection of coloured contact lenses. Beforehand, they contacted me if I wanted to try Solotica lenses, and since it is a brand I've never tried before, I said yes, of course. The delivery was very quick, my package arrived just within a couple of days from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

They sent out the nicest package with 2 additional contact lens solutions, separate cases for both pairs of lenses, an on-the-go lens case with a lens applicator and tweezers (shown above) and Oreo cookies. They also attached a handwritten note. I really appreciate when companies pay attention to details, and they certainly do that.  

Solotica Hidrocor Ice and Hidrocor Cristal

Before the actual review of the lenses: 

Please always visit an optometrist before purchasing your first pair of contact lenses. They will tell you if your eyes are suitable for lenses or not; if the curve of your eyes is different from the average and which types of lenses are suitable for it. The eyesight is incredibly important and not worth risking it.

Solotica Hidrocor Ice vs. Cristal closeup

As mentioned above, looking through the entire Solotica selection, I picked the lightest lenses possible: Ice and Cristal. Both of them are from the Hidrocor family, the main difference being the actual colour. 

Hidrocor Ice is a very pale, almost white-ish blue, while Hidrocor Cristal is a pale green. They look rather similar in the lens case, but you can see the difference when they are on the eyes.

Both of them look very natural in terms of mimicking the actual iris of a human. They don't have a limbal ring, and they have a slight starburst effect to them - aka the darker lines you see pointing towards the pupil hole.

Solotica Hidrocor Ice vs. Cristal on blue eyes - comparison
enlarge the photo for detailed look

Even though I have blue eyes, they still change them drastically, almost to the point of looking like a vampire from up North, where there is a lot of ice and snow. The would pop even more on darker skintones and dark natural eyes. 

Solotica Hidrocor Ice on blue eyes:

Solotica Hidrocor Ice details:

Diameter: 14.2 mm

Base curve radius: 8.7 mm

Water content: 38%

Prescription: yes

Material: Polymacon 

Using cycle: 1 year

Limbal ring: no

As shown above and below, I start the demonstration by showing the baby blue one: Hidrocor Ice. Later, you'll see the pale green Hidrocor Cristal as well, just keep scrolling.

Solotica Hidrocor Ice lenses

Comfort and performance:

As far as comfort goes, they perform great. Having a diameter of 14.2 mm, they are not the enlarging kind, making it a lot easier to insert them (for me, anyway). Unlike with some lenses upon first use, I didn't feel any discomfort. They maintain their moisture level up to 6-7 hours without my eyes being dry or itchy. 

Solotica Hidrocor Ice natural blue contact lenses

Opacity:

The coverage of these lenses is excellent as you can see, they completely masked my natural blue eyes. Solotica lenses are known for their great opacity on dark eyes as well, so this wasn't a surprise at all. 

Solotica Hidrocor Cristal on blue eyes

Solotica Hidrocor Cristal details:

Diameter: 14.2 mm

Base curve radius: 8.7 mm

Water content: 38%

Prescription: yes

Material: Polymacon 

Using cycle: 1 year

Limbal ring: no

Hidrocor Cristal performed the same way as Ice did, the only difference being the colour. Cristal is a very pale icy green.

Solotica Hidrocor Cristal lenses

Different opacity and colour per year?

An interesting factor I found out while looking for swatches is the following: a good handful of Solotica lenses have changed throughout the years when it comes to colour and lightness, even though there is no official statement regarding it. Based on other reviews, Hidrocor Ice used to be darker than Cristal, and now it is a lot lighter. Please do keep that in mind when looking up photos of them. 

I directly asked my LENS.ME contact about this, and according to the answer, my lenses shown here were made in the last 6-12 months, and they are the most recent ones the brand makes. In other words, mine are up to date and were made in 2018. 😇 There is no 2019 opacity for them.

Solotica Hidrocor Cristal light green contact lenses

Overall:

Try Solotica lenses if you are looking for coloured contacts that mimic the human eye perfectly or if you want to drastically change your eye while still showcasing a natural colour. They are comfortable, so everyday wear would not be a problem. The only drawback I can think of is the price, they easily cost around 90-100 USD per pair.

Where to buy?

As for the LENS.ME website, I had a great experience with them. The package arrived within 2-3 days in a pristine state, they pay attention to details, the website is simple to look through and my contact is super nice and easy to talk to. Absolutely recommended based on my personal experience. 

Musings:

When I was in the process of picking out the lenses to test, it took me a hot minute to look up photos and videos of them. There aren't that many besides the official instagram of Solotica and LENS.ME. Therefore, an honorable mention goes to FonzEvil, who has great videos of Solotica lenses and made it really easy for me to decide which lenses I wanted to try. He has dark eyes, so if you're curious how effectively these lenses work on such eyes, definitely check out his videos. 

Which one do you like more, the blue or the green one? Would you try lenses that drastically lighten your eye colour? Let me know down below. 

~ Evinde

I received the lenses as PR products to test and review. This is not a sponsored review, nor did I buy them with my own money. All opinions are based on my own experience, as always.