How to pick sunglasses?

Sunglasses protect your eyes, shield them from harmful UV rays and flying debris, and reduce eye strains. If you can find the correct pair of sunglasses according to your requirements, you will be comfortable wearing them whether you are driving or climbing mountains.

You can even get prescription sunglasses for your comfort. Every sunglass offers REI block 100% from UV lights. 

Different Types of Sunglasses 

There are a variety of sunglasses according to your requirements, like prescription sunglasses for men and prescription sunglasses for women. Let us look through the different kinds of sunglasses. 

Casual sunglasses 

These are the best for everyday use and normal recreational activities. Casual sunglasses will help in your everyday life to protect your eyes while you are driving or walking in the town. However, casual sunglasses aren’t meant to handle the high intensity of sports action.

Sports sunglasses

These are specially designed to protect your eyes in sports like running, biking, hiking, and more. These are lightweight and are made to fit perfectly in your high-paced adventures. The lens material and high-end frames are highly impact-resistant and much more flexible than casual glasses. These can also be bought as prescription sunglasses women and men.

To fit perfectly, some sports sunglasses have the feature of grippy temple ends nose pads, ensuring that the sunglasses don't fall off while you are sweating in the middle of your sports activity. Some sports sunglasses also have interchangeable lenses so the user can adjust according to the different light conditions.

Glacier glasses

You will mostly see glacier glasses at places with snow or high altitudes. These are specifically designed to protect the eyes from the intense light reflected from the snow. They feature a wrap-around design extension so that lights do not enter from the sides of the sunglasses.

Different lenses for sunglasses

Now that you know the various types of sunglasses, let's learn about the different kinds of lenses that you can add to your sunglasses. These lenses can also be modified into prescription sunglasses for women and men.

Polarized lenses

The polarized lenses are made to decrease glare sustainably. Glare is the reflection of sunlight that is dangerous for the eyes. Polarization is excellent if you do a lot of water sports or your eyes are especially sensitive to glare. Those with prescriptions can wear prescription sunglasses women and men.

Photochromic lenses

These lenses are meant to adapt to changing light intensity and situations automatically. These lenses get darker on bright lights and get lighter when conditions get darker. 

A pair of caveats: The photochromic process will take longer to work in cold conditions. It won't work at all while driving the car as the UVB rays do not penetrate through the windshield. 

Interchangeable lenses

Some sunglasses styles provide the feature of interchangeable or removable lenses of various colors. This multiple-lens system allows you to tailor your eye protection according to activities and situations. Consider this if you want a reliable performance in different variety of conditions. This can also be turned into prescription sunglasses. 

Visible light transmission 

VLT is the amount of light coming through the lens that reaches your eyes. It is measured in percentage. VLT depends on the color and thickness of the lens, the coating they have on them, and the material they are built of. 

Sunglasses lens tints

The lens color plays an essential role in how much light will go through it and reach your eyes and how clearly you see contrasts and other colors. 

Dark color lens 

These are perfect for everyday use and most outdoor activities. The darker shades are meant to primarily cut via the glare and deduct eye strain in moderate to bright light conditions. If you don't want distorting lenses, choose green and grey, and if you choose brown lenses, you will notice some distortion. 

Light colors

These colors are rose, gold, yellow, amber, and vermillion. These can be used in moderate to low light conditions. These are often a great option for snowboarding, skiing, and other such snow activities. These offer excellent depth perception, enhance contrasts in flat light situations, upgrade the visibility of objects, and make the users' surroundings look bright. 

Coating of sunglasses lens

The more layers of lens coating, the higher the price. The lens coating can be a hydrophobic coat to repel water, an anti-fog coat for huge energy activities and humid weather, and an anti-scratch coat to increase its durability. 

Mirrored or flash coating

This indicates a reflective film applied onto the outside surface of the lens in sunglasses. These are meant to decrease glare by reflecting most of the light that hits on the lens surface. The mirrored coating tends to make objects look darker than they actually are, so the lighter tints are usually used to compensate for it. 

Lens material of sunglasses 

The material utilized in the sunglasses lens affects the durability, clarity, cost, and weight. 

Glass:

It provides superior optical clarity and high scratch resistance. But it is heavier compared to other materials and is expensive. When impacted, the glass will spider rather than shatter or chip. 

Polyurethane:

It provides excellent optical clarity and is impact resistant. This is also expensive but is flexible and lightweight too.

Polycarbonate:

This has excellent impact resistance, and the optical clarity is also outstanding. This is affordable, low bulky, and lightweight but is a little less scratch resistant.

Acrylic:

This is an affordable alternative to polycarbonate and will be great for occasional or casual use of sunglasses. It is comparatively less durable, has a bit of distortion, and is optically clearer than polycarbonate or glass. 

Frame material of sunglasses 

Choosing the right frame is also an essential part of choosing the right sunglasses as it contributes to your sunglasses' comfort, safety, and durability.

Metal

Metal frames are easy to adjust according to the user's face and are less obstructive to the field of vision. It’s less durable but still more expensive than other types and can't be considered for high-impact activities. 

Nylon

Nylon is lightweight, more durable, and inexpensive compared to metal. Few nylon frames tend to have high impact resistance. These frames can’t be adjusted until and unless they have an internal adjustable wire. 

Acetate

These are often referred to as handmade. These are popular on the high style glasses because of the high color variant. But these are less flexible and not meant for high-activity sports. 

Castor-based polymer

This is a lightweight, non-petroleum-based durable material. It is derived from castor plants. 

Bottom line

Get the right pair of sunglasses from Glasses Canada for your eyes is essential as they will ensure that your eyes are protected from dust and UV rays. Follow the abovementioned points to get yourself the right pair of sunglasses. Choose the sunglasses according to the place where you will be using them, or you can simply opt for the adjustable lens sunglasses. If you have a prescription, then you can have prescription sunglasses too.