Wednesday April 11, 2018

The A-listers’ camouflage of choice, sunglasses are the ideal all-season accessory through which to channel effortless style. World class designers from Tom Ford to Pierre Cardin jump at the opportunity to launch eye-catching ranges of sunglasses fit for the beach or red carpet in equal measure, whilst leading sports brands issue yearly collections of active shades inspired by cutting-edge technology.

Sunglasses are cool, and it’s all too easy to forget their true purpose – to give your eyes UV protection from the sun’s harmful rays.

The sun is constantly radiating powerful UVA and UVB rays that can burn your skin and severely damage your eyes. Overexposure can cause cataracts and corneal sunburn, exacerbate vision-threatening conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma and pterygium growths, and in extreme cases result in blindness.

If you’d prefer not to abstain from outdoor activity during the day, wearing polarised sunglasses is the most effective way to equip your eyes with adequate UV protection.

How Do Sunglasses Protect You?

A pair of high quality shades features a protective coating on its lenses which filters out specific frequencies of radioactive light waves whilst allowing other light waves to pass through.  This gives you maximum visual clarity whilst also offering 100% UV protection.

Sunglasses also filter out intense light to prevent the natural impulse to squint to protect your vision.  Our range of top quality sunglasses block 100% of all UVA and UVB rays, protecting your family’s vision, and we always recommend opting for polarised sunglasses.

In addition to blocking UV, polarised sunglasses also eliminate the glare that bounces off reflective materials such as tarmac, water or snow. The polarised filter works by channelling sunlight through millions of tiny lines on the lenses’ surface, realigning the light waves and dramatically reducing glare’s impact.

This makes polarised sunglasses the safest choice for drivers, boat enthusiasts or keen skiers who are at particular risk from distraction caused by the sudden flare up of bright light.

But not all sunglasses are created equal, so don’t be fooled into thinking that any pair of glasses with tinted lenses can save your eyes from the sun.  In fact, many cheap high street sunglasses don’t come with adequate UV protection.  They might even put your eyes at greater risk as their graded lenses trick your pupils into dilating and letting in more harmful rays.

A high quality pair of shades will both protect your eyes and provide you with the very best visual acuity, with dark black, brown and grey lenses offering the most effective shield whilst maintaining accurate colour profiles.

We all love to bask in the sunshine, but it’s important to ask the question ‘how do sunglasses protect you?’ and to be aware of the damage that can be caused by exposing your eyes to the sun’s harmful UV rays.  Now you know how do sunglasses work, you’ll understand why wearing high quality shades regularly is the only effective way of giving your family’s vision 100% UV protection.

So if you’re looking to invest in a pair ahead of the summer why not visit the GPC Opticians in Stevenage to try on our designer collection from the likes of Tom Ford, Ray Ban, Dior,  and more…

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