[Above: Jesseca Liu with full make-up and beauty enhancement lenses (left) and just with the beauty enhancement lenses (right).]

She started to look better since 2005, but no one knew why.

Some may have surmised that TV actress and former MediaCorp artiste Jesseca Liu had gone under the knife.

But no, it wasn't a nose job or Botox.

The cat's finally out of the bag.

With her "secret weapon", Liu claimed that she has been able to step out of the house without make-up and still look radiant.

All was revealed when the Langkawi-born beauty was recently named contact lenses brand Acuvue Define's first local ambassador.

The 33-year-old told The New Paper: "Since I started wearing these lenses, I've had people come up to me and say 'you look more lively' but they had no idea why.

"Others just commented that I looked better. I didn't tell them it was because I had started wearing the lenses, which have given me more confidence.

"I don't intend to ever stop wearing them."

Beauty enhancement lenses, which come in a variety of colours such as black and brown, are supposed to make one's eyes look "naturally" bigger and brighter - thanks to the coloured limbal rings and specks on the lens, which create the illusion of wider irises.

But there are a multitude of brands of such lenses in the market, with some greatly exaggerating the eyes to the tune of a deer in the headlights.

Liu professed her distaste for them, adding: "I have seen girls who wear those lenses which make their eyes look extremely exaggerated. It may make them look good in pictures but in person, it's certainly not ideal.

"I have even seen some with stars on the lenses and it looks really unnatural and cartoonish. For me, I prefer the more 'natural' look."

Beauty enhancement lenses have become all the rage in the last few years, with many Asian female celebrities admitting to donning them to look prettier.

For Liu, it serves as a convenient shield when she's tired after a day's filming, but still wants to look like a million bucks.

Or rather, look like she's just seen a million bucks.

Joked Liu: "I'm not afraid of removing my lenses before bedtime and seeing how I really look like without them. I have really bad eyesight, so I can hardly see a thing anyway.

"One thing is that with the contacts, I can leave the house without make-up and feel good about myself."

Apart from Liu, other female celebrities, such as local blogger Wendy Cheng aka Xiaxue, Taiwanese actresses Cyndi Wang and Angela Zhang, and J-pop queen Ayumi Hamasaki, have bought into the hype.

'Windows to the soul'

If it seems that Liu comes across as a tad obsessed with her eyes, it's because she considers them "truly the windows to the soul".

When she's resting, she would make sure that she stares at the greenery in the distance as she's heard that it does wonders as a perk-me-up for tired peepers.

Liu also said that when she first meets a man, his eyes are what would, well, catch her eye first.

She let on that it wasn't just women who are investing in beauty enhancement lenses, revealing that many male celebrities wear them on the sly.

But who these men are, she wouldn't say.

Could it be Taiwanese actor Kingone Wang, her co-star in Channel 8 drama, Yours Fatefully, which is currently airing on weekdays at 9pm?

Said Liu with a laugh: "No, I cannot say.

"But I can tell you who definitely doesn't wear these contact lenses and has the nicest eyes.

"(MediaCorp actor) Christopher Lee."

This article was first published in The New Paper.