Summer’s finally here! While it’s the season of beaches, barbecues, parties and fun, it’s also the season to take care of not only your skin, but also your eyes.
Every time the sun scorches through the day, applying some sunblock on the skin is almost automatic. No one wants those uneven tan lines, right? If you love your skin so dearly, you should probably treat your eyes with the same affection. Because the eyes are just as important. Yes, they need that TLC, too, not only during summer but also every time the sun’s out!
Keep in mind that wearing a baseball cap or a sun visor, or just putting your hands over your forehead as cover, are not enough to protect you from the harsh rays of the sun. We’re not eye experts, but we’ve learned enough from our mistakes in the past. That’s why we can confidently tell you that sunglasses are must-haves, no matter the season.
Not convinced yet? In this piece we whittled all the benefits of wearing a pair of sunnies down to a top five. Read on, and hopefully, you’ll score your first pair of sunnies at the end of this article!
Keeps Your Eyes in Tip-Top Shape
We may stay kids at heart, but physically, you know we are not getting any younger. And with age comes the deterioration of the light-sensitive tissue in our eyes. In science, they call it macular degeneration. For us regular dudes, it’s simply the blurring of eyesight that can potentially lead to loss of vision.
Another threat to human eyesight is the development of cataracts, which is the clouding of the lens of the eye. Everyone will eventually experience this, but one may slow down the process by simply wearing sunglasses.
You may also develop skin cancer on the eyelids, especially those who have a history of skin cancers. To prevent this, eye protection is always advised.
While rewarding your eyes with sunglasses is of importance, it doesn’t mean that you should use just any shades that you can score in thrift stores and online sales. It’s crucial to know whether the shades you’re buying have both Ultraviolet A and Ultraviolet B protection.
UVA is the culprit behind skin aging, on the other hand, UVB is responsible for skin burning and/or skin cancer. Eye conditions due to both UV rays are preventable when you have the right tools. So if you’re buying your new sunnies, make sure they’re equipped with broad-spectrum UV protection.
Bolle Cary Polarised Matte Black Bronze Emerald Mirror (12221)
Take polarised lenses into consideration, too! Polarised sunglasses cut down the glare from light bouncing off shiny cars and glass windows of shops and buildings when you’re walking or driving outside.
Protection from Outside Elements
While sunlight can be really damaging to your eyes, don’t blame it all on the sun. Outside elements like sand, dust, snow and dirt can also put additional risks to your eyes.
Snow, for example, is reflective in nature and can reflect 80% of the UV rays from the sun. This occurrence can potentially lead to snow blindness when your eyes are bare outside. When you’re skiing, climbing, or simply walking outdoors, the reflected light can burn the cornea. But it’s preventable just by wearing sunglasses.
Sand and dust, on the other hand, may be tiny particles but they also pose big health risks. Getting sand or dust in your eyes, especially when it’s windy, may irritate them or worse, damage them permanently.
All of these, however, can be prevented from happening if you’ll only wear sunglasses. To keep the dust and sand from irritating your eyes, opt for sizes of frames that are proportionate to the size of your face. This is to make sure that the shades can fully cover your eyes and protect them from the elements.
Helps Your Eyes to Recover Faster
If you’ve undergone eye surgeries like LASIK, your doctor might recommend you wear a pair of sunglasses immediately. This is to protect your eyes while they are healing and as you adjust to your new and improved vision.
While undergoing surgery to correct your eyes is not only necessary, post-procedure care is just as important. In fact, disobeying your surgeon by not wearing sunglasses can lead to complications and will compromise the process.
So if you’ve recently undergone treatments like eyelid repair, cataract surgery, or any other procedures that involve the eyes, it’s better if you ask your doctors for their expert recommendation regarding protective sunglasses.
Enjoy the Outdoors More
Since the invention of sunglasses, designers and manufacturers have constantly elevated the technology that can be found in each pair. Whether it’s the new material that exhibits lightweight and durable qualities, or the small yet brilliant features like rubber inserts, adjustable nose pads and latches, these breakthroughs improve our sunnies experience.
But what excites us the most is the color enhancing technology that almost all brands of sunglasses take pride in.
Oakley Double Edge Polarised Matte Black Prizm Deep H20 (9380-13)
From the Prizm™ found in Oakleys, to Phantom+ of Bolle sunglasses and Smith’s ChromaPop™, these lens technologies will allow you to see whatever environment in vibrant colors and in full contrast. This lens improvement can also make every tiny detail pop to give you a more accurate view of your surroundings.
For the active and the athletic, this technology is crucial. But for casual joggers or promenaders like us, it’s almost magic! And it might convince us to go out more and appreciate cityscapes and nature.
Good thing brands made these types of eyewear tech available not only in sports sunglasses but also in most of the everyday shades in their shelves. So if you’re an outdoorsman, score these sunglasses for a whole new experience!
Enhances Your Style
One of the criteria that makes a pair of sunglasses good in our books, is if they can steal the scene, whether it’s a sports eyewear or everyday sunnies.
There are numerous eyewear fashion trends that we’ve witnessed since time immemorial. From the timeless appeal of the aviators and clubmasters, to the feministic cat-eye frames, oversized sunnies, and wrap-arounds, our hunger for style never ceased.
While there are no definite standards of what a stylish sunglass must be, we all can agree to a general rule – And that’s choosing the perfect sunglasses based on your face shape. For example, if you have a squarish face, round frames will look best on you. On the other hand, if you have a round face, then you might want to choose square or rectangular sunglasses. Read our guide for shopping for sunglasses by face shape.
Colors and prints on frames and the tints of the lenses can also impact your style. If you want to truly stand out, you should go for bright colors and elaborate prints. But if you want to stay low-ley and still make a good impression, colors like gunmetal and silver in either matte or glossy finish can do the trick.
Let’s Wrap it Up
Certainly, wearing sunglasses can give you a lot of protection for your eyes. Not only from the unforgiving rays of the sun, but also from the outdoor elements like dust and dirt.
Even though an authentic sunglass with either polarized lenses and broad-spectrum UV protection may cut a little deep in your pocket, we still suggest that you score a pair. You’d rather spend $200 or more on sunglasses, than exhaust all your income for treatments and medication for preventable eye conditions caused by constant exposure to the sun and elements.
Besides guarding your eyes from outdoor elements or protecting them from the UV light, sunglasses were also made to turn heads. When selecting a pair, it’s also important to consider the build and style. Does it wear comfortably? Does it make you feel good? Does it match your character?
You have to ponder on these things. Afterall, you’ll be rocking a pair of sunnies a lot from now on. And you would want to look and feel good every single time.
If you feel you’re ready to finally get your new pair of sunglasses, just shop around Great Southern Sunnies! We boast a huge collection from different designer brands such as Ray-Bans, Serengeti, Dragon and more, so you’ll never run out of options. We’re confident you’ll like them so get your Afterpay ready and shop around!