What kind of eyes do you shop for?

I prefer simple design. I think it's prettier with sparkle, but it doesn't work for my dolls...T_T

 

I am not big on eyes, was never willing to pay much for them. Many of my dolls keep their original glass eyes especially the old Volks glass eyes from the early-mid 2000s. Not sure if I'm imagining things or otherwise, I dislike the newer glass eyes. May be, it's because the doll's eyes are smaller, making the glass eyes sparkle less or may be, it's the angle in which the eyes are attached but whatever the reason - imagined or real, I change the eyes of newer Volks dolls as soon as they arrive.

So, I've been looking around for eyes. I have a preference for acrylic and glass. I'm not into exotic eyes with special design inside or anime eyes. I like Urethane and Enchanted but they're expensive, I have not bought any but will soon try. Acrylic is my favorite. They dull over time, so they need replacement but they're easy and cheap to replace.

 

Urethane are my favorite, but I also have a fair few dolls with glass eyes... Some are realistic colors, styles and sizes, but many aren't. It just depends on the doll.

Several of my crew even have eyes that aren't really "eyes" at all... They're gemstone marbles.

 

I’m not sure if you’ll know what I’m talking about but I absolutely adore those sculpted eyes where the irises are made of clay. They look so nice and I really think they bring the dolls to life! I’m sure they must be hard to make tho

 

I usually prefer hyperrealistic urethane eyes unless we are talking about DDs or dolls that are strictly fantasy oriented and wouldn't have realistic eyes to begin with.... My tastes are sadly expensive...

 

I really like hard, small iris eyes. I had soft glass, but they got discolored by my kneaded eraser and I switched to acrylic. I like glass most of all material wise, but most of them aren't realistic enough for my taste (not necessarily in color, just in texture and size if that makes sense), so I mostly have acrylics from this one Etsy seller. Oh, and one doll has black beads for her eyes. I also can't bring myself to pay a lot, so they are mostly on the cheaper end. There is one urethane eye maker that has been tempting me though...

 

I have a special space in my heart for glass eyes, I've never been disappointed by a pair of glass eyes I've purchased.

TBF, I do a lot of clay sculpting and resin casting so I make a lot of my eyes but I also have a pretty assortment of glass eyes from blind bags and such.

I've never seen silicon or mako eyes in person so they intimidate me a bit.

 

I find myself admiring the look of fantasy eyes on other peoples' dolls, but I've never owned a pair. I seem to gravitate towards glass eyes with med-small iris, and usually in gray, green, gray-green, or brown. Most of the eyes I've purchased to date were for smaller dolls, so the search for hyper-realism hasn't been much of an issue. I have a large doll on the way, though, so my eye horizons have broadened lately.

 

I must be in the minority but I love big irises! I lean towards glass and urethane for material. I just like the shine and look of them. I do love a good pair of natural looking eyes but some dolls lend themselves to fantasy eyes and I’m happy to comply.

I have some anime stylize dolls that get acrylic anime eyes to match but they’re my exception for sure.

 

Depends on the aesthetic of the doll. I like glass personally but sometimes acrylic works better. Unless the sculpt is anime esque like dollfie dream, I don't look at anime esque eyes.

 

I love love love urethane eyes! I would never buy anything different (maybe some really good quality glass but...)

 

Realistic & detailed for me. I prefer glass but will use Masterpiece if those are available. I really want the eyes to be detailed ie. have some lines in the iris or a blending of colors. I hate flat colored eyes. I also prefer a slightly larger pupil as I find those easier to set properly. I'm not at all fond of colored pupils & the jury's still out on sparkly ones. If I could find a pair with a normal pupil, I'd like to try some for my Little Fees.

 

Small iris urethanes have become my go-to for eyes nowadays. For their specific style, I tend to lean more realistic. Considering most of my crew has smaller set, more realistic eyes (as they tend to be older teenagers/adults), I need irises best suited to fit without looking too cartoony (or overwhelmed by the iris).

For certain characters, I do like some interesting additional styles. I'm absolutely infatuated with glow-in-the-dark eyes, and metallic/highly reflective eyes are cool. I also like eyes with interesting color schemes and detail.

 

I stopped shopping for eyes once I realized I can make my own! It’s a huge money saver. But maybe down the road I’ll want a pair of those sparkly Oscar Eyes or something.

 

Since I started in the hobby in 2013, I have only bought Eyeco silicone eyes because of their realistic look. Almost all my dolls are OCs that live in the real world so I wanted them to look as natural as possible. The worst part about them is that they really attract dust and are not as, I don't know how to put it, clear? as I would like.
But in the past year, I am starting to guess urethane eyes would be best but they are pretty expensive so I'm really trying to save to get a copuple of pairs from Etsy for my main couple.

 

I love natural, small iris eyes, because they do tend to be more realistic, even if I prefer a more stylized theme on everything else.

 

I prefer realistic -- fantasy eyes with no pupils creep me out, although I somewhat suspect that's particular to my dolls. I've seen it done perfectly well for other people's dolls, after all. At the same time, I like sparkly eyes that seem to follow you. Resin are my favorite (my best doll purchase to date are my first girl's gorgeous brown mako eyes) but my newest has claimed some blown glass eyes older than I am. They're pretty enough that I ordered her a second pair, but they don't have the depth I like in resin eyes.

 

I like glass eyes the most, but more than the type its made of, I really like unique fantasy eyes? While my doll should have more "natural" eyes for his story, I keep ordering him fantasy, pupil-less or strange looking eyes because I think they're cute

 

Depends on the doll. All of my resins use 'realistic' eyes, meaning they have a circular pupil and iris, but the colors are often unnatural because that is more fun.
My DDs and other vinyl dolls use anime styled eyes.

 

Anime eyes as most of my dolls are that style. I even use them in my anthros. I’m not picky as to material, so resin, glass, or acrylic are fine. I try to only buy eyes that are $20 or less. I do have some Soom urethane eyes, and like them, but they aren’t being used. For my few realistic style bjds, I like small iris realistic looking eyes. Again, not picky as to material. I have quite a few unused glass eyes and keep them as they are so pretty!