How to choose your sunglasses?

Sunglasses, simple fashion accessories or glare protection? No ! Sunglasses are designed to filter UV rays that are harmful to your eyes. If you don't protect yourself properly, you could burn your eyelids or cornea, hurt your eyes, or damage your eyesight. The harmful effects of UV rays are pernicious because they are not necessarily felt and can be measured over the long term.

By choosing the wrong glasses, you are doing worse than good

Watch out for fakes. The material used can pass UV rays, even if the lenses are tinted. Tinted lenses that don't filter UV rays don't protect your eyes at all. On the contrary ! When it is sunny, the pupil is more dilated than in daylight because of the darkening caused by tinted glasses. UV rays then directly reach the retina. Therefore, it is worse for your health to wear bad glasses than not to wear them at all in a sunny environment. To ensure the quality of your prescription glasses, it is best to go to an optician.

Choosing the best UV protection

The UV standard of the European Community divides sunglasses into 5 categories, ranging from classes 0 to 4 according to the percentage of rays filtered (class 4 including ski goggles for intense sunlight, with more than 90% filtration ).

Make sure that the color class and intensity of your glasses are appropriate for the level of sunlight, your activity and the environment. For example, class 4 glasses let less light through and are therefore more dangerous for driving. Also consider that the goggles can be adapted to certain conditions, for example sunglasses for skiing.

If it has UV-400 on the glasses, you are making sure that your sunglasses will block out harmful rays. Indeed, the mention UV400 guarantees that 100% of ultraviolet rays are filtered (UVA, UVB and UVC).

Choose the right lens color

The color of the lenses depends on the situation and on a possible refractive error. Nearsighted people are advised to choose brown glasses and green glasses for farsighted people. As for gray, it is suitable for everyone because it respects color vision. The yellow gives it a good perception of depths and accentuates the contrasts.

Gray lenses: faithful reproduction of colors, recommended for driving.

Brown lenses: warm and improve contrasts (they are more suitable for myopic people). Good protection in all circumstances.

Green colored lenses: better protect against glare.

Yellow or orange lenses: improve visibility of contrasts in foggy or low light conditions.
Blue or purple lenses: provide protection when the sun is moderate.
Pink or red lenses: indicated only in low light.
Choosing the right lens treatment

You can have your glasses surface treated:

Anti-reflection treatment: ideal for driving because it reduces the reflection of rays towards the eyes. It is usually performed only on the inner side. There is no point in doing this on the outside since the purpose of sunglasses is to reduce the entry of light.

Mirror treatment: particularly suitable for the mountains because it reduces reverberation and glare.

Anti-scratch treatment: indicated for sports or travel because it is resistant to friction and of course to scratches.

Now you already have the knowledge and are ready to buy your sunglasses!