As the world emerges from lock-downs, masking and social-distancing protocols, eye care professionals can play a vital role in helping people jump back into life by showcasing their unique and authentic selves with the help of beauty lenses.
The opportunities in the beauty segment for the contact lens practitioner are tremendous – the three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the daily disposable beauty category was outpacing that of non-beauty lenses by 50% prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.* And if anything, the widespread use of masking has amplified the focus on the eyes!
With 1-Day Acuvue Define brand contact lenses with Lacreon Technology, you now have a range of hyper-personalised contact lens designs that are inspired by nature to grow your practice and help satisfy your patients’ beauty needs.
Playful Beauty
In 2016 the beauty research & development team at Johnson & Johnson Vision embarked on a massive research project involving over 2,000 consumers; conversations with beauty influencers; a study of cosmetics and beauty products; colour forecasting; and a study of natural eyes and organic shapes. Over 400 prototypes were developed to inform the design of the latest in the beauty portfolio, the 1-Day Acuvue Define brand contact lenses with Lacreon Technology Fresh Collection.1
The Fresh Collection features a pop of colours for playful beauty – six vibrant curated colours inspired by nature with hand drawn patterns designed to highlight the hue while naturally blending into the iris. The three colour layers are specially designed to brighten the eyes without masking their natural beauty.
Each of the three colour layers play a unique role in the design. The blending layer features a staggered pattern of variable lengths to help blend the pattern into the iris near the pupil (Figure 1a). Next, the highlight layer adds the pop of nature-inspired colour and creates a feathered appearance when paired with the blending layer, providing additional coverage near the limbus, and creating the illusion of more colours in the lens (Figure 1b). Lastly, the limbal ring is designed to provide a size increase and the organic, disconnected elements mimic the natural structures found in the iris, adding depth (Figure 1c).
Wearer Comfort and Ocular Health
Although a key benefit of these lenses is cosmetic, wearing comfort and ocular health are still of concern to both practitioner and patient. Compromised comfort is not only an annoyance for the patient – it can also mean compromised hygiene. In a study of 1,564 contact lens patients in the US, 89% said they rub their eyes, use eye drops, or manually adjust/move their lenses when their contact lenses are uncomfortable.** Thus, the increased focus on health and hygiene, and the desire to avoid touching the face and eyes, help make a comfortable daily disposable option an obvious choice.2
Two remarkable technologies that may contribute to your decision to reach for 1-Day Acuvue Define are Lacreon Technology and Beauty Wrapped In Comfort. The Lacreon Technology in 1-Day Acuvue Define lenses creates a lasting moisture cushion for 20 hours or more to deliver all day comfort, even on your patients’ longest days.3 Along with keeping moisture in, another potential benefit relates to keeping irritation out. Lysozyme is a naturally occurring enzyme in the tear film. The etafilcon A material, used in 1-Day Acuvue Define Contact Lenses has been shown in vitro to uniquely attract and retain lysozyme in its natural state. This has been shown in vitro to help maintain low levels of inflammatory biomarkers released by the corneal epithelium that can lead to irritation.†4
In Beauty Wrapped In Comfort Technology, pigments are enclosed within the lens material, providing a smooth wettable surface, and ensuring that the pigments do not come in contact with the eye.5 This has been substantiated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As shown in Figure 2, SEM confirms that the pigments of 1-Day Acuvue Define lenses are within the lens polymer and not in contact with the ocular surface.3 Further, AFM (atomic force microscopy) of the lens surfaces show that the lenses have low RMS (root mean square) roughness and peak-to-peak values on the pigmented surfaces, indicating a smooth surface uninterrupted by pigment.3
And as with all Acuvue Brand Contact Lenses, these lenses provide an important UV blocking benefit – 1-Day Acuvue Define Brand Contact Lenses with Lacreon block approximately 81% of UVA rays and approximately 97% of UVB rays, meeting the Class 2 UV blocking requirements as per ANSI Z80.20 and ISO standard 18369-2.‡§3
The 1-Day Acuvue Define Contact Lenses Fresh Collection combines evidence based scientific support of the etafilcon A material with Lacreon Technology and extensive consumer beauty insights to bring you six exciting options for your appearance-focused patients.3,6,7 Figure 3 summarises the Fresh Collection, which complements the core options of 1-Day Acuvue® Define® lenses.
Because centration and movement of beauty lenses can impact appearance as well as physiology and optics, clinical studies assessing fit and performance of these lenses were performed including both Asian and caucasian eyes.8 In a clinical study, practitioners reported that 100% of eyes had acceptable cosmetic lens fit in primary gaze at dispensing, with over 99% also deemed acceptable in extreme lateral eye movement and more than 96% acceptable in extreme up gaze.8 Corneal coverage and lens movement assessments had similarly high ranges of acceptance (98% for centration and coverage, and >98% acceptable movement on upgaze and push-up).8 With regard to the ‘hula-hoop’ phenomenon noted with some cosmetic lenses, no cases were reported on primary gaze, and less than 4% in other gazes.8 And finally, in a clinical study, >98% of eyes had visual acuity of 20/25 or better, and after wearing 1-Day Acuvue Define Fresh Collection lenses for one week, >67% of subjects agreed that they were very satisfied with the quality of their vision in dim lighting.8
Patient Communication
A final note on patient communication… As illustrated in Figure 3, the print patterns in the Fresh Collection are slightly larger and denser than those in the core designs.9 There is a possibility of wearers experiencing mild peripheral visual field symptoms with all eye colour enhancing contact lenses, and as these patterns do provide 10 to 43% more coverage than the core 1-Day Acuvue Define designs, wearers should be informed that adaptation may be recommended during the initial period of wear.9
Authors: Cristina Schnider, OD, MSc, MBA and Quan Wei Ng, OD, MSc
References:
1. JJV Data on File 2021. Fresh variant consumer study summary memo.
2. Chalmers RL, Hickson-Curran SB, Keay L et al. Rates of adverse events with hydrogel and silicone hydrogel daily disposable lenses in a large post-market surveillance registry: the TEMPO registry. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2015;56:654–663.
3. JJV Data on File 2021. Material Properties of 1-DAY ACUVUE® DEFINE® Brand Contact Lenses with LACREON® – Core Variants and Fresh Collection Range Variants, including AFM and SEM Testing.
4. Heynen M, Omali NB, Fadli Z, Coles-Brennan C, Subbaraman LN, Jones L. Selectivity and localization of lysozyme uptake in contemporary hydrogel contact lens materials. J Biomat Sci, Polymer Ed. 2017;28(13):1351-1364.
5. JJV Data on File 2016. BEAUTY WRAPPED IN COMFORT Technology.
6. Efron N, Brennan NA, Chalmers RL, et al. Thirty years of ‘quiet eye’ with etafilcon A. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye 2020;43:285-297.
7. JJV Data on File 2021. Technical attributes for 1-DAY ACUVUE MOIST with LACREON Technology.
8. JJV Data on File 2018; Randomized, double-masked 2×2 cross-over, bilateral, 4-visit dispensing clinical trial, n=126.
9. JJV Data on File 2020. Cosmetic print area comparison between 1-Day Acuvue Define brand contact lenses core variant range and 1-Day Acuvue Define brand contact lenses with Lacreon Fresh Collection.
Important Safety Information
Acuvue brand contact lenses are indicated for vision correction. As with any contact lens, eye problems, including corneal ulcers, can develop. Some wearers may experience mild irritation, itching or discomfort. Lenses should not be prescribed if patients have any eye infection, or experience eye discomfort, excessive tearing, vision changes, redness or other eye problems. Consult the package insert for complete information. Complete information is also available from Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., by calling 1-800-843-2020, or by visiting www.jnjvisionpro.com.
Important Information About UV Blocking
‡Helps protect against transmission of harmful UV radiation to the cornea & into the eye.
§WARNING: UV-absorbing contact lenses are NOT substitutes for protective UV-absorbing eyewear such as UV-absorbing goggles or sunglasses because they do not completely cover the eye and surrounding area. You should continue to use UV-absorbing eyewear as directed. NOTE: Long-term exposure to UV radiation is one of the risk factors associated with cataracts. Exposure is based on a number of factors such as environmental conditions (altitude, geography, cloud cover) and personal factors (extent and nature of outdoor activities). UV-blocking contact lenses help provide protection against harmful UV radiation. However, clinical studies have not been done to demonstrate that wearing UV-blocking contact lenses reduces the risk of developing cataracts or other eye disorders. Consult your eye care practitioner for more information.
PP20211DAVD4766 | March 2022
