Barlenses are morphological features present in barred galaxies with morphological types between S0 and Sb. Recently, they have been suggested to be the more face-on counterparts of the boxy/peanut bulges generally observed in edge-on galaxies. In this work we test this idea by looking at the orientations and colors of barlenses, and by comparing them with those of the bars and disks in the same galaxies. We find that barlenses have colors which are similar to those of bars, and also similar to those of elliptical galaxies.