If you would have asked that question a few years ago, you might have got a different answer from someone. Today, as it stands, you will technically need a prescription in order to buy black contacts, whether locally or online.
The laws have been changed by the FDA in recent times due to colored contacts being sold incorrectly, or at a low quality which caused damage and injury to people’s eyes. Contact lenses are sensitive medical equipment and deserve to be treated as so. Just like you need a prescription to take certain kinds of medications that are certain level of strength, the same now goes for medical devices that go into your eyes.
If the wrong contact size or quality is inserted into someones eyes, and something bad happens, that can last a lifetime and ultimately it’s just not worth the risk, especially for something as simple as changing your eye color. Before, you could find colored black contact lenses at the corner store, flea market or other similar places. Now, you must get a prescription from a local eye care specialist, or your doctor in order to buy them.
This doesn’t stop everyone from buying them illegally or incorrectly, but it does cut down on it a lot. The good news is that it’s cheap and easy to get a basic prescription, especially if you are getting Plano contacts, which won’t actually change your vision. If you want to get black contacts, and you don’t actually need real contacts or glasses in everyday life, you won’t need any correction levels on them so it is a snap.
If you do want to get black contacts and you need vision strength contacts, then you will need to prove that you need that level, and order them online or present them upfront so you can buy them. The only time this can cause an issues is if you are in a time crunch for Halloween or a special event, so just make sure you give yourself enough time.