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Top Tips When You Want to Learn How to Buy Sunglasses

Sunglasses are often misunderstood. While they are definitely a way to express your personal style or fashion sense, the way that they look (or make you look) should be a secondary matter. What’s most important? When you want to learn how to buy sunglasses for your needs, you want to think of them first as protection for your vision and then as a fashion statement.

In this article, we are going to walk you through the process of how to buy sunglasses first as eye protection and then as fashion.

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How to Buy Sunglasses with UV Protection

One of the first things to know is that whether or not you feel bothered by the bright sunlight outdoors, your eyes most certainly react to it. Additionally, sunlight arrives with something known as UV rays in tow. These are ultraviolet rays, which are something you cannot see, but which contains a tremendous amount of energy and even, potentially, destructive forces.

UV rays are broken into three wavelengths known as UVA, UVB and UVC. The two that matter when you want to know how to buy sunglasses are UVA and UVB; the UVC rays don’t make it past our atmosphere.

UVA rays are longer and can penetrate through glass. It is why you feel heat and can get a sunburn even if you sit by a window. It is the UVA rays that can even cause some kinds of skin cancer as well as the cellular damage known as “photo aging”. UVB rays, however, are not able to penetrate beyond a pane of glass but are far more dangerous to your eyes and health. This is because these rays cause sunburn and are the most commonly linked to cancer.

UVB rays, unlike other UV rays, vary throughout the year and are often at their worst during the summer season thanks to the tilt of the Earth and the angle at which the rays hit the surface. However, they are able to do damage to your eyes and skin all year long, and this is why you will always want sunglasses that offer UVB protection, but comprehensive UV protection is the best.

Eye experts say that you also want the glasses to have 100% protection against both UVA and UVB or to have 100% protection from what is known as UV 400, which covers both kinds of rays and ensures protection against a 400 nanometer measurement of radiation.

Are dark shades enough to protect the eyes? Actually, when you want to know how to buy sunglasses with lots of protection, you want to be very careful about shade or lens color. The darker the lenses on the sunglasses, the more your pupils will open (dilate). This can allow those invisible UV rays to get into the eye, even though you are looking out at the world through a dark lens. This can lead to damage known as macular degeneration. So, if you like dark lenses remember that you want those glasses to have the greatest UV protection.

How to Buy Sunglasses with Other Lens Features

What about the other features such as polarized lenses, mirrored lenses, colors and more? Let’s consider those items one by one as they are important:

• Polarized – This is a way of reducing glare when outdoors (during winter or summer months), but it is not UV protection. Yes, they can really offset the blinding reflection of sunlight on snow, water, or the brightest summer day, but they are not giving protection. They can also make cell phone use difficult because of their glare-eliminating properties. Test them out before buying them.
• Colored Lenses – Most sunglasses have lenses in a grey or greyish hue, and it is for a good reason: Grey does not distort other colors. If you want lenses that do not affect the appearance of the world around you too much, grey is the color. Just be sure about full UV protection. Red may enhance contrast but will distort colors, while brown or green improve depth perception and cut on glare while also sharpening clarity and contrast. Yellow or orange lenses improve depth perception and contrast (which is why sports glasses, such as shooting glasses, are often in these hues). If you want to know how to buy sunglasses with colored lenses, one of the best tips is to either look outdoors while wearing them or actually step outside to see how they make the world appear.
• Mirrored – This is simply a coating applied to the outside of the lenses and is meant to reduce glare and also darken the view, so don’t usually have colored lenses. They don’t offer protection from UV rays, though.
• Gradient – Shaded from top to bottom, or the reverse, or even towards the middle, they are meant to reduce glare from above or below. They are nice for driving or for being outdoors in the winter or on the water (if the darkest area is at the bottom of the lenses).
• Responsive or Photochromic – These are the sunglasses that darken when you head out into bright light and which clear when in low light. They take only seconds to make the change and can be found in tinted or non-tinted styles. They are good if you are looking to save money on prescription glasses, but many feel they don’t adjust quickly enough for rapidly changing light conditions.

Other features on lenses include properties like impact resistance and non-prescription lenses that have been polished and ground for optimal clarity. These are not essential when you want to learn how to buy sunglasses ideally suited for you, but if you have concerns about safety and quality, they are additional issues to consider.

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How to Buy Sunglasses for Optimally Safe Driving

While we are on the issue of safety, there is one huge factor to consider when discovering how to buy sunglasses right for you, and that is to learn which sunglasses are best for driving. Most expert advise the following:

• Skip green, pink or blue tinted lenses because they can make red lights difficult to distinguish, upping your chances for an accident
• Go with polarization as this ensures the amount of glare is the lowest possible, and ensures no blinding flashes of light or reflections will impair your driving
• Stick to brown or grey lenses as their neutral hues will not alter the colors around you to any great degree
• Be wary of gradients and always test out the lenses before driving to be sure that they do not overly darken any area of the scenery and that any polarization does not interfere with safe reading of dashboard or other displays
• Understand the best fit for your face (which we look at shortly)

As all of this makes quite clear, good-looking sunglasses must take a secondary role to protective glasses. That also means the right fit, which is an issue that includes more than wearing glasses that remain firmly in place.

How to Buy Sunglasses That Fit Best

There are several things to ask yourself when wondering how to buy sunglasses suited to your needs. For example:

• Do I need the glasses to be made of specific materials?
• Will I be doing a specific activity when wearing these glasses?
• How much coverage (i.e. lens size) should I consider?
• What shape works best with the shape of my face?

As you can see, the fashionable features of sunglasses still remain at the bottom of the list. Yes, it is ideal when sunglasses look “cool” and work with your fashion sense, but the most significant factors must those we’ve already discussed as well as those points just above.

So, what is the answer to the question of how to buy sunglasses made of the “right” material? Really, it starts with asking yourself just what you’ll be doing with those glasses? If you will be doing an actual sport, such as shooting, bicycling, and so on. You want glasses that are made with shatterproof lenses, but you also want frames made of materials well-suited to your purpose.

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The Most Common Are:

• Metal – One of the more commonly used materials, they resist wear and breakage, are quite adjustable and found in many styles. They are not good for sports or performance wear but ideal for everyday use.
• Nylon – The most durable for sport glasses and performance frames, they don’t give way to fluctuations in temperature and are always very flexible, ensuring both safety and comfort in even colder conditions. They are light in weight and a good alternative to metal
• Polycarbonate (plastic) – This is the toughest form of plastic and ideal for safety and sport glasses. They can be rigid and may transfer cold to the bridge of the nose easily.
• Titanium – The frames made with this ultra-durable metal are some of the costliest you will find and are impervious to scratching, bending and easy breaks
• Acetate – A good quality plastic, they are more flexible, lighter and stronger than traditional plastics and are often a bit pricier than standard frames
• Plastic – Acrylic and polyurethane frames are the least expensive and for those who want fashionable frames at a low price. Don’t count on lots of high performance or even lots of comfort as these have very little give

One thing to keep in mind when you are eager to learn how to buy sunglasses ideal for your needs is to also remember that certain materials wear more comfortably. As an example, metal frames may be comfortable in the warm weather, but quite cold on the nose and face in the winter months, as well as some plastics.

This doesn’t mean you cannot purchase specific materials but does require you to be attentive to how they fit your face.

How to Buy Sunglasses for Your Face

Choosing sunglasses is not the same as choosing reading glasses because you always want more coverage with the sunglass lenses. This protects the eye to a much greater degree as well as the delicate skin around the eye. While you don’t have to wear jumbo sunglasses to enjoy a good amount of protection, it is best to get as much lens coverage as you can.

Then, as you narrow down your options, give attention to:

• Eye – This is the distance from the outside edge of one lens to the inside edge
• Bridge of the nose – This refers to the distance between the lenses
• Temples – This is the length of the “arm” running from the hinge to behind your ear

Doing a quick measure of your face from the center of one eye to the other (also known as cheekbone to cheekbone), the width of your forehead, and the distance from the back of the ear to the bridge of the nose can help you determine if glasses are going to actually fit your face. Naturally, trying them on is the best way to purchase glasses. If you intend to wear them for hours on end, be sure there is some sort of extra or built in padding at the bridge of the nose.

If you want to follow the advice of most eye experts, forgo all of the measuring and fussing in terms of the overall size of the lenses and opt for “wrap around” lenses, or as close as you can get to that. This protects your eyes as completely as possible, blocking even peripheral UV rays and light.

Yes, you always want your sunglasses to look good and fashionable, but never sacrifice eye health and safety. Opt for high UVA and UVB protection, try to find wrap around protection or oversized lenses, and choose materials based on just what you’ll do when wearing the sunglasses.

If you want to know how to buy sunglasses right for you, keep in mind that investing in multiple styles may not be a bad idea. A pair for driving, another for hitting the beach, and still more for going out with friends on a sunny day may be the very best way to buy sunglasses!

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More Great Resources on How to Buy Sunglasses:

How To Choose The Best Sunglasses For Your Face Shape

How to Pick Good Sunglasses

Recommended Types of Sunglasses