I know I'm a bit late to the party with this post 'cause summer is already winding down, but the things I'll be talking about here can be used to pick new sunglasses year after year.
Many of us ladies think of sunglasses as just another fashion accessory, and we're partially right, but there's much more to consider when choosing the right sunglasses than just fashion trends. So, I'm fixin' here to tell you that there are 3 things more important than fashion when you go shopping for that new pair of shades.
First, let's talk about shapes and sizes. This is where you've got to think about your facial features before you just slap on any ol' pair of shades. Here are a few basic rules:
- Face width. Wide faces look best in wider sunglasses and narrower faces look better in narrower frames. If you put on a pair that's too wide for your face, you risk looking like a big bug or an alien. Just like the gal in the picture below.
- Face length. If your face is longer than it's wide, you wouldn't want to wear short frames. They'd make your face look even longer than it already is. Choose elongated frames instead.
- Facial features. If the structure of your face has mostly rounded shapes or if your weight makes your face look very round, you'd want to wear sunglasses with square or angular frames. On the other hand, if you have a strong, angular jaw or mostly straight and angular facial features, you'd want to soften them with rounded frames.
Here's how this works in practice. Ladies with rounded facial features look good in cat eye, retro square, and sometimes even oversized sunglasses (be careful of that bug effect though), while the ladies with square faces look great in round frames and the ever-popular Aviators.
Next, you've got to take into account the purpose your sunglasses will be serving, or better yet, your lifestyle. Are you going to be wearing them every day? Will you be riding horses, playing sports, or doing some other high-impact activity in them? Will you be spending time close to the water or snow while wearing them?
There are three different types of sunglasses based on different lifestyle needs:
- Casual sunglasses. These do a great job of shading your eyes from sun while driving, walking, or watering your animals, but they're not designed to handle highly active lifestyle.
- Sport sunglasses. Running, hiking, biking, horseback riding all call for a pair of shades with great fit that are lightweight and won't slip off your nose the moment you hit a bump in the trail. These glasses usually have grippy nose pads and temple ends that help them stay put even when you're sweating.
- Glacier glasses. If you're working or playing at high altitudes, especially when there's snow around, this is the type of shades you want. They're designed to protect your eyes from intense light at high altitudes and sunlight reflecting off the snow. They usually have wrap-around extensions to prevent the light from entering at the sides.
Also, while we're talking about lifestyle, you might want to think about some special lenses depending on where and how you're planning to use your sunglasses. There are three different types of special lenses that may be useful to you:
- Polarized lenses. They reduce glare quite a bit and are very useful if you'd be spending a lot of time near water or are very sensitive to glare. On the other hand, they're not very good when driving because they can react with tints in windshields, creating blind spots and making it difficult to read LCD displays. You might want to get mirrored or flash coated lenses instead of polarized ones for this purpose.
- Photochromic lenses. These lenses get darker in bright light and lighten as the outside light gets dimmer. Their downfall is that it takes longer in cold weather for them to change the depth of their tint, plus they don't work for driving because UVB rays needed to make them get darker don't penetrate car windshields.
- Interchangeable lenses. Some sunglasses come with removable lenses in different colors. This allows you to adjust your eye protection to your activities and outdoor conditions. You might want to consider this type of lenses if you need reliable single pair of sunglasses for different situations.
Now, don't go all latest trend wild with the color of your lenses. There are some colors that work great for most activities, but others are good only for very specific purposes. Generally, dark colors such as brown, gray, and green are great for everyday use and most outdoor activities. On the other hand, if you're working in low light conditions or do a lot of skiing, snowboarding, mountain climbing and such, lighter lens colors such as yellow, gold, amber, and rose might be just what you need. They help with depth perception, improve contrast in flat-light conditions, improve visibility of objects, and make your surroundings appear brighter.
So, now that you know what all it takes to choose a great pair of sunglasses, you may feel a complete information overload. Lemme help you with that and show you another accessory that'd go great with those new shades and is much easier to pick than a great pair of glasses: turquoise jewelry! A girl can never have too much turquoise. Check out some fun styles from Buckaroo Bling below.
