There are more to sunglasses than most people realize. Each lens color does something different. Every style compliments a different face. Most protect your eyes from the sun, but some are just for show.
How do you select from the thousands of combinations?
The information below will help you narrow down the options and pick the sunglasses that are the best fit for you.
Factor #1: Ultraviolet Protection
The most important role of sunglasses is to protect your eyes. Sunglasses create a physical barrier between your eyes and other objects. They also help stop harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from damaging your eyes.
UV Rays and Their Impact on Your Eyes
UV rays are undetectable radiation waves emitted by the sun. People often assume that the brighter or hotter the sun feels the higher the UV level. This isn’t true, which is part of what makes UV radiation dangerous.
Cataracts, macular degeneration, cornea damage, and light sensitivity are all problems that UV rays can cause in the eyes.
Sunglasses play a pivotal role in protecting your eyes from UV-related damage.
UVA and UVB Protection
The sun emits multiple types of UV rays. UVA and UVB are the only ones that make it through the atmosphere and cause potential problems.
Both types of ultraviolet rays can damage your skin and eyes so it is important to find sunglasses that have both UVA and UVB protection. Sunglasses should also ensure protection for wavelengths up to 400 nanometers. This will often be denoted as UV400 or 100% UV Protection on sunglasses labels.
Importance of UV Protection
UV rays can cause skin cancer, premature aging, blindness, cataracts, and skin and eye burns. Sunglasses are a tool in your UV protection arsenal.
Luckily, cost is not an indicator of protection. The cheapest UV-blocking glasses will provide as much protection as the most expensive pair as long as they guarantee both UVA and UVB protection. Most sunglasses on the market are UV400-rated so you can add them to your outside gear rather easily and cheaply.
Factor #2: To Polarize or Not to Polarize
Polarized lenses provide many benefits. There are some instances where they are more of a hindrance than a help though. You’ll want to understand their benefits and risks and how they fit into your lifestyle before deciding if you want polarized lenses or not.
What Polarized Lenses Do
Polarized lenses add a performance layer to your sunglasses. They are helpful in many situations.
Things polarized lenses do:
- Reduce glare
- Increase contrast
- Brighten colors
- Create more accurate pictures
- Reduce eye strain
If you want to see a bright and beautiful picture or cause your eyes less strain, polarized lenses are a good option for you.
What Polarized Lenses Don’t Do
Polarized lenses provide a lot of benefits, but they don’t add any extra UV protection. Sometimes people believe that polarized lenses are important if you want the most protection, but they aren’t necessary if UV blocking is your main goal.
Depending on what you need sunglasses for, polarized lenses might be more of a hindrance than a help.
They Aren’t Suitable In All Situations
One of the biggest drawbacks of polarized lenses is they make it difficult to see screens. Particularly LCD screens.
This is a non-issue for many people, but if you work outside in an environment where you still need to see an LCD screen, polarized lenses will make your life much more difficult. Pilots are the most common group of people impacted by this.
Skiers and snowboarders also have a hard time with polarized lenses, though it isn’t because of screens. Polarized lenses make it harder to see patches of ice. When we see ice we often notice it because of glare. Polarized lenses minimize glare making them dangerous in situations where you want to see ice to avoid it.
Factor #3: Lens Color
Not all lens colors are created equally. Any color of lens can provide full UV protection, but each color has additional benefits. There is some overlap between what different colors can do, but in general, you should be able to narrow down the choices to one or two clear options before making a final decision.
Brown
Brown lenses are very common. This is partially because they look good with many common sunglasses frame colors, such as tortoise shell.
Brown offers more than style though. This color of lens is particularly good at deflecting glare and filtering blue light.
Brown lenses are also a real-life filter. They brighten colors and images. They make greens look particularly lovely.
Have you ever noticed the blue sky or landscape around you is incredibly beautiful while wearing sunglasses, but just a little less sharp when you take them off? You were probably wearing brown lenses.
Brown lenses are also good at providing accurate depth perception and seeing distances.
All of these things combined make brown lenses good for golf, baseball, travel, or everyday wear.
Grey
Grey lenses are also popular for aesthetic reasons. These lenses look naturally good in black frames. Like brown lenses, they are good for more than their looks.
Grey lenses are the best of all the colors at reducing glare. They are particularly good at reducing glare on bodies of water.
Coupled with glare reduction is their ability to shield bright lights well. While they’re good in bright conditions they still work well in cloudy weather too. This makes them a versatile lens.
Their versatility, brightness-deflection, and glare-reducing ability make them popular choices for fishermen, people who drive a lot, and those who live in bright or overcast areas.
Red or Pink
Any lens on the spectrum of pink to red will have similar benefits. These lenses aren’t as common but are still seen.
Red or pink lenses have really great depth of field and sharpen images. This goes hand in hand with the increased visibility red or pink lenses offer.
Additionally, these lenses naturally filter some blue light.
Red lenses are seen most commonly in sports lenses because they’re good for snow and non-snow sports alike.
Pink lenses can be used in sporting situations or purely to make a fashion statement.
Gold, Yellow, or Orange
Lenses that fall in the gold, yellow, or orange families have a wide variety of potential uses. They’re seen more commonly than other non-brown or grey colors because of their benefits and neutral look.
Gold, yellow, and orange lenses filter some blue light and are good in low or medium-light situations. This is because they make areas seem brighter. The downside is they can distort colors because of this.
Lenses in these color ranges provide great depth perception. They’re useful in situations where you need to judge distance.
These characteristics make them good for indoor use and use with screens. Though they can be used outside as well.
Green
Green lenses are not very common. They have fewer benefits than other colored lenses, but that doesn’t make them useless.
Green lenses filter blue light well and reduce glare. They also increase contrast. For this reason, they are good for golf or tennis.
Purple or Blue
Purple and blue lenses have the same advantages. Like red lenses, they are commonly seen in snow sport goggles because of the benefits they provide.
Key to their usefulness is their ability to enhance colors and work well in fog or mist. Coupled with this is their ability to focus on the outlines of shapes better than other colors. This is what makes them so valuable in low-visibility situations.
Purple and blue lenses also help you see reflective surfaces, such as ice, better than other colors, which is why they are common in winter mountain sports.
Factor #4: Activity
For many people sunglasses are used for casual things such as driving, taking walks, or spending time outside with their family. If you need sunglasses for a more specific activity there are other considerations to take into account.
Sports
Each sport has a different level of activity. As such your needs will vary greatly based on what sport you play. The right sport sunglasses can enhance your performance. The wrong ones can hinder your performance.
Whether you need a specific lens shape, specialty fixtures to keep them on, or increased shatter protection, buying sunglasses made for sports will help.
Work
Some jobs require glasses with specific lenses, frame shapes, or safety ratings. If you need safety goggles or another type of work glasses that are also sunglasses you can make almost any pair of glasses into sunglasses with new lenses.
Depending on your line of work you might also need a different lens color or polarized or non-polarized lenses. Make sure to take everything into account when buying sunglasses for a job.
Travel
Vacations can vary from a relaxing week on the beach to a few days doing intense or dangerous activities. You might need different sunglasses when you travel compared to the ones you normally use. Look at your itinerary and see if you would benefit from sunglasses with a different lens color, a higher impact tolerance, or better coverage.
Factor #5: Frame Style
Sunglasses should block the light from the top, bottom, and both sides. The best sunglasses will have a thicker design so more light is blocked. Thinner frames might be more stylish, but more coverage is safer.
Just because a pair of sunglasses is made doesn’t mean it will adequately block out the sun. When you’re looking for sunglasses look at how much of your eyes and side of the face they cover. Try on multiple pairs and test how much light they let in.
Different sunglasses will block more or less light on different face shapes. Just because a pair works on someone you’re shopping with doesn’t mean they’ll be as safe on your face.
Bonus: How Good They Look
Looking good isn’t vital for UV protection, but it is an added bonus! When you’re looking for sunglasses look for ones you feel good in.
Your opinion matters more than the thoughts of others, but you can take some time to research current fashion trends to see if something popular piques your interest.
Along the same lines, you can figure out what your face shape is and find a pair of sunglasses that is sun safe and complements your face. Some will work better than others, but again, your personal fashion preference matters more than anything else.
What’s Most Important?
As long as you are buying sunglasses that provide 100 percent UV protection and light blocking from all sides you will be covered. You don’t need to worry that a certain lens tint or style will offer more protection.
What you need sunglasses for, your budget, and your style will be the biggest help in figuring out what type of sunglasses will work best for your lifestyle.
Schedule a routine eye exam and try on our sunglasses to find the pair you’ll rock this season.
