Acrylic, Glass Or Silicone Eyes?

Glass and Urethane. I can't decide which I like better

However, when I buy glass I only buy the really nice ones and that means $. They cost more than the Urethane eyes so I don't have many pairs. My Masha wears 2 sets of glass eyes by the Japanese Artist Silver. Her eyes photograph beautifully. The detail is stunning and they have a beautiful way of catching the light. I would even say they catch light better than my Urethane eyes.

My other dolls have Urethane. The Mystics my boy wears are lovely. I love all the detail and they too photograph beautifully. I also have Enchanted eyes and they are nice too, but so far I prefer the style of Mystic eyes for Urethane eyes.

 

I say acrylic solely because Volks Metallics exist XD
Glass eyes look the most lifelike and catch light the best. They have beautiful point highlights that you just can't get in any other medium. But I think urethanes or silicones (Masterpiece and the like) have the best colors. Also, silicone will fill the socket nicely with no gap and have a more realistic ratio of white-to-iris: I had a pair of Saffrin silicone eyes in Nightflower, and they looked infinitely more lifelike than acrylic.

 

I was wondering what people think of different kinds of eyes. Not only what material they are made from but also wievs on different brands. Like glass eyes - why pay 35$ if you can get some at 10$

Personally I have a lot of different eyes but I know that especially in the beginning it would have been really nice to know more about the different eyes and brands.

In some dolls I really like to use silicone - or soft glass - eyes. Sometimes if the shape of the eyewell is a little difficult those are the ones that fits the best. There's some really cute colours out there but I find it difficult to know what colour they really are. Some brands seem closer to the pictures on the site than others.

As for glass eyes I have both some 35$ and some 10$ eyes. It seems to me that if I want more subtle colours I often have to get the more expensive brands. But at one point I had two sets of eyes that were very close in colour. One was cheap and one more expensive. And the only difference I could see what the the more expensive ones were slightly lighter. (I know that there are glass eyes that are way more expensive than 30 - 40$ but I have never seen any in real life)

I also have some urethane eyes and they are very beautiful. They seem to be way more difficult to get though.

To be hones for me it's often a question of the colour I want. I might have a specific colour in mind and I then start hunting for that colour. And when I find it I'll buy it regardless of material - as long at it isn't acrylic. Not because there's anything wrong with acrylic. I just don't like them much. I have bought some in the past but I always end up replacing them eventually. So I have decided not to buy any more. (There is one exception though. I have one doll with SafrinDoll Na'vi eyes and she's keeping those.)

So what do you guys think?


Dustbunnie

 

There's a lot of discussion of this topic in an archived General Discussion thread: http://www.denofangels.com/forums/s...prefer-plastic-acyrlic-silicone-or-glass-eyes

 

Initially, I didn't like glass eyes at all because they had no depth or realism to them. I preferred acrylic and silicone because they looked like a real eye!
I've grown to really like glass eyes because I have finally found some that look very nice, though still not realistic (we're talking irises here).
I still don't prefer glass eyes that are a single solid color.

As for price difference in glass eyes, unfortunately, my only experience with that is that the cheaper ones have ridiculously "pointy" domes that really can't be used in any of the dolls I have. I loathe them.

I'm in a happy medium right now, loving both acrylics and glass if they are the right color for my doll and if the domes fit properly and don't wreak havoc on my photos, etc.

 

Sorry about that. I did try to find any threads about eyes but I can't figure out how to do a search for a word in the subject line and not in the posts.

Dustbunnie

 

I think you've already explained it yourself. Even though it's the same material, sometimes you have to pay more to get better quality. It doesn't mean that the cheap glass eyes aren't acceptable, but for finicky people like myself, sometimes cheap eyes doesn't look good enough for personal tastes.

The saying "You get what you pay for" is true for a reason. It's true up to a certain point, but it's a good catch all motto for most things.

 

Acrylics for sure!!!

They are so detailed and lifelike, glass and other eyes seem way too boring and simple to me. Plus, acrylics are cheaper, easier to find, and can come with a bunch of designs and whatnot.

I've had people tell me acrylics aren't high quality, but honestly, I've had some pretty crappy glass eyes. Just like with EVERYTHING about this hobby, some things are not as high quality as others. Just like some people say they don't like how acrylics look 'printed', mine do not look printed or pixelated, I think they got some bad eyes.

Though I will admit glass eyes are shinier than other eyes, but acrylics certainly look the best, in my most humble opinion. Silicone eyes are impossible to upkeep without constant care and they can even yellow.

 

I prefer glass to acrylic, and I have yet to purchase any urethane or silicone eyes.

Glass catches the light better than acrylic, that's a given, but sometimes glass eyes lack a lot of detail. I have some pairs of acrylics that I am very happy with, but they don't have the same glow that glass does.

 

Price wise - Definitely glass or acrylic. All of my acrylics develop cracks in them after a couple wears and do not tend to capture as well in pictures. [Depending on the color of course!]
I have a Urethane pair on the way but only because it is coming with a doll. I can't afford Urethane otherwise...

 

I think I like glass eyes most of all, but I like acrylics, too.

I am in love with the glass eyes I've purchased from LUTS. They catch light very well (though not with the same sparkle as the acrylics mentioned above) and practically glow in the right light settings. I like the over-all look of glass to acrylic, usually.

However, my IH Storm is wearing acrylic eyes from FantasEYES, and they are by far my favorite. They catch light and have amazing shine. ChronicallySpaced commented when she was editing pictures of that doll that she didn't have to do anything to make the eye brighter in the photo--and I love them for that.

I've never had the pleasure of owning urethane, and I've seen/heard so many good things about them. Someday, I'll get a pair. My preferences might change then, if I like them a lot. XD

 

I prefer glass eyes in most dolls. However, I do have acrylic and silicone. In acrylic I like the metalic eyes the best for photography and catching light. I do not own urethane, but the ones I have seen in doll meets are increadible in detail. I have been in the hobby since 2004/5 and I have not seen any yellowed eyes not even on my own dolls with the acrylic. I prefer the glass for the upkeep and durability factors and Luts glass eyes have a nice detail to them. I have been lucky and even a pair of cheap green within green eyes for my Nanuri head have a nice quality I have not seen anywhere else. With cheap glass its the luck of the draw often, but with high quality they seem to be made the best.

 

Of the ones I've tried, I prefer glass. Acrylics look too dead, silicones I find hard to handle. I have yet to try urethanes, but they look so beautiful in pictures, that I dream of replacing all my dolls' eyes with them.

 

I love the big, bright whites of silicone eyes-- and also the small, shiny, domed irises. I love very "graphic" eyes that pop out at me, and I've always found that silicone is best for that sort of look.

Acrylics tend to fit badly in my dolls, and they seem to leave the whole eyehole looking dark and unreadable.

Glass is a second for me; I like the "creaminess" of the irises, but they're usually just not bold enough for me.

 

NOT acrylic for me. Perhaps I've just never found a good pair, but I don't like them. They all seem pixellated or flat. Silicone is nice because of how well they fit in the eye wells, but I've had an issue with the pupils in silicone eyes bleeding out over time... So glass is probably my favourite. Although some of the really cheap glass eyes that have been appearing lately just don't do it for me.

 

I've always disliked acrylic, nothing about them really appeals to me, so for the first year in this hobby all of my dolls had glass eyes which I loved. Then I was experimenting and realized that I needed eyes that had some give to them, so I bought a couple pairs of silicone, now all of my dolls have silicone. I love the colors, they fit in the eyewells so I don't have to worry about gaps, they capture light so well I never have to brighten them in photos, and they don't have that weird thing light colored glass eyes seem to get where the light goes right through the side of them (am I the only one bugged by that?).
Even if they breakdown over time, I think it will be worth for me to just replace them, I'm definatly a silicone gal.

 

I like glass eyes.^^ I find it better the quality. But I also like silicone and acrylic too. For me it always depends on the color. On some of my photos I see how badly their eyes are sitting or as it is reflected in acrylic, even in glass.
For me, the sequence goes like this.

1.glass
2.Silicon
3.acrylic

 

I'd rank my eye preferences as follows:

1. urethane
2. glass and silicone (I like both equally!)
3. acrylics

Over the years I've accumulated doll eyes of various kinds - acrylics, glass, silicone, urethanes - from different companies, ranging in price from very cheap to rather expensive. I probably have about 100 pairs of eyes in total

I prefer urethanes over others and I'm currently in the process of transitioning most of my dolls to these eyes. I love how they capture light, how they photograph, how much depth they have and the overall look and feel of them. They are not as realistic as some of the better acrylics or silicone eyes, but for most of my dolls, I actually prefer this. They are like little jewels!

Having said this, I also like silicone eyes and some of my dolls have Soom silicones as their permanent eyes. These capture light as no other type of eyes I've ever seen, and even though overall I do like urethanes more, I enjoy variety as well.

Glass eyes are hit or miss for me. In general, the less expensive eyes are usually a miss. However, I have two pairs of cheaper glass eyes that are absolutely gorgeous, and which have become permanent eyes for two of my dolls. Kanis Augen glass eyes are more expensive, but are beautiful in how realistic they are, and for those dolls that I prefer a less stylized look, KA eyes are the ones I turn to.

In 2012, my goal is to transition about 70% of my dolls to urethane eyes. The other 30% will be split between glass and silicone, depending on the look that I'm after. And, while I do have a ton of acrylics, I use them only to test out eye colors for incoming dolls before investing in one of the other type of eyes for them. I do not like the look of acrylics for many reasons (poor light capture, flat photography, etc.), but they are absolutely perfect for testing out eye colors, as one can buy them in a rainbow of colors without spending a fortune!