Sunglasses come in many brands, models, sizes, shapes and prices. Exactly what are the important factors to consider before getting one for yourselves, many have no clue about. This article strives to provide some basic guidelines for your reference.
Consideration 1 – Picking Sunglasses for Protection
The primary objective for wearing sunglasses is to protect our eyes from excessive exposure to UV radiation, hence, this consideration being the primary consideration. Excessive exposure to UV radiation emitted by the sun can have adverse impact on our eyes resulting in a variety of problems such as cataracts, burns, cancer and etc. To protect our eyes from all these risks, it is advisable to look for pairs that block at least 99% of UVB rays and at least 95% of UVA rays. In the market, there are many sunglasses labelled as “cosmetic”. It is important that we remain prudent to check on information on UV protection rather than buying on impulse and landed up with a pair of aesthetic sunglasses without any protection function.
Consideration 2 – Deciding on the Style of your Sunglasses
Sunglasses come in various shapes and sizes. The most popular 6 types of style being the Mirrorshades, Aviators, Wayfarers/Spicolis, Teashades, Wraparounds and oversized. You may want to get your optician to provide you with more information prior to deciding on one that suits you most. Understanding the purpose and feature(s) of each style will help you in your selection process. Make sure the sunglasses fit you properly. Consideration factors such as weight distribution between ears and nose; if it gets into the way of your hair; if the frame or lenses are in contact with your eyelashes are crucial to providing comfort.
Consideration 3 – Choose the appropriate Colour of your lenses
The colour of your lens is important as it affects how you detect contrast and differentiate colours. Some colors enhance contrast, which can be useful; however, this is often at the expense of color distinction, which can cause problems (when you’re driving, for example, and need to be able to clearly differentiate the colors of a traffic light). Some sunglasses even come with interchangeable lenses so you can change the color easily, depending on what you’re doing. The following provides some useful information for your reference :
- Gray lenses reduce light intensity without affecting contrast or distorting colors.
- Brown lenses partially enhance contrast by blocking some blue light. Good for snow sports.Also generally good for hunting in bright light, against open backgrounds.
- Amber/yellow lenses significantly enhance contrast because they block most or all blue light, and that makes them popular among hunters who benefit from that contrast when looking at targets against the sky. They’re bad, however, for any activity that requires color recognition (like driving!).Good for snow sports.
- Red/orange lenses are good for snow sports but only on overcast days.If you’re a hunter, orange lenses are good for clay targets against open backgrounds.
- Violet lenses are good for hunters who need to see clay targets on a green background.
- Copper sunglasses will mute the sky and grass against a golf ball.
- Blue and green sunglasses enhance contrast with a yellow tennis ball.
Consideration 4 – Select suitable lens materials
Scratched up sunglasses are useless sunglasses. You may want to consider choosing lenses made from NXT polyurethane which are impact-resistant, flexible, lightweight, and have great optical clarity. The only trade-off is they’re expensive. In selecting lens materials, the following are some useful information for reference :
- Glass is heavier, expensive, and will “spider” if broken.
- Polycarbonate is not as scratch-resistant and provides less optical clarity than NXT polyurethane or glass, but it’s more affordable.
- Acrylic is also affordable, but it’s the least durable and optically clear.
Consideration 5 – Review your budget
Though some may not have good budget to select a better pair of sunglasses, you may want to consider those with the protection features to begin with. Alternatively, you can select 3 different price ranges and make a review to determine if it is worth for you to increase a little bit of your budget to match the one that set your heart throbbing after putting the above 4 factors in consideration. After all, it is going to be an investment for the next 1 or 2 years. Imagine you are going to wear it everyday and not feeling in alignment with what you put on can be quite annoying. Feeling good with what you wear is equally important as far as other factors are concerned, so decide wisely.