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Tips for Fashionable and Eye-Protecting Sunglasses By Kim Sabshin  |
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These days, it seems as though everyone you see, from teenagers at the mall to A-list celebrities, is sporting a pair of designer sunglasses. Here are some tips to help you find a pair that is right for you and will keep you safe and healthy this summer.
Look for UV protection. Sunglasses are meant to protect your eyes from the sun, so it doesn’t matter how good they look if they don’t serve their purpose. UVA and UVB rays can damage eyes and skin and increase your risk of getting skin cancer. Many pairs of sunglasses, especially cosmetic ones, offer surprisingly little or no protection. Make sure the tag or sticker reads “100% UV protection” before you buy.
Check out the material. Cheaper sunglass lenses are often made of acrylic or some other plastic, and tend to scratch easily. Polycarbonate lenses are a step up and often used in sport sunglasses – the material can withstand relatively more impact than regular plastic, plus it is lightweight and less prone to getting scratches. Glass lenses offer the smallest amount of vision distortion, but tend to be expensive.
Look for lenses with special features. Many lenses have specific coatings that will help ward off scratches. Also, polarized lenses are good for people who spend a lot of time outdoors, especially near water, since they cut down on the amount of glare that enters your eye. Photochromic lenses are designed to darken in color as they are exposed to UV radiation from the sun. Transitions lenses are currently the most common (as well as the first) lenses to use this technology.
Consider the color of the lenses. Lenses in different colors can serve different purposes for the wearer, and if you are involved in certain sports or other activities, certain colors will be more suited to your activity. Gray lenses are good for general use, since they darken without distorting color. Brown or amber lenses will reduce glare and the amount of blue light (similar to UV in the spectrum) that reaches your eyes, but might distort your vision. Colors such as yellow or rose generally offer the most contrast and are good for outdoor summer activities as well as winter sports.
Try before you buy. Obviously, taste is subjective and different frames work better on different faces. More importantly, you should make sure that the lenses don’t distort your vision – this could cause eyestrain as well as a safety hazard while driving. To test for this, look at anything with multiple straight, parallel lines, and move your head from side to side. If the lines appear to bend, there is too much distortion.
Since there are so many different frames and lenses to choose from, the style you choose is not likely to go out of style anytime soon. Whether you swear by designer labels or the recession has made you cost-conscious, your “perfect pair” is out there if you don’t already own it. Just make sure your eyes are protected in the summer sun.
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