Archive for April, 2009

Twice as Nice!

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

Are you always wearing the wrong prescription glasses for whatever you’re doing? Do you constantly put your glasses down and forget where they are?! If you wear separate glasses for far and close vision, then this may be you and you can have a specs solution that makes life easier.

Bifocal glasses are not new technology, but they still do an excellent job if you want a cheap and simple pair of spex that gives you vision at two distances. The top of the lens usually has a distance prescription, for driving and watching television. The lower area of the lens has a visible segment that allows you to see close too.

Bifocal glasses are perfect if you want to read but then glance up at the TV, and if you find Varifocal glasses make you feel dizzy or disorientated then bifocals can be easier to use. The segment area is available in different sizes and shapes, so you should find one that suits you. They are also useful if you successfully wear Varifocals but would like a cheap extra pair, for jobs around the house or to keep in the car.

Separate pairs of distance and reading glasses can wear out quickly as you’re constantly taking them on and off. It’s also annoying to have to keep track of which pair you need at any particular time. We can’t help you to remember why you went upstairs, but with bifocals at least you’ll be able to see when you get there!

Driving Forward

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

I drive for a living, so during the hours I spend on the road I need to make sure I am comfortable and safe. I started to wear prescription glasses to correct my short sightedness when I was twenty, and I’m not legal to drive without them, so I thought I’d pass on some of my eye wear tips to you.

Firstly, keep your eye checks up to date, and only ever wear the correct lenses for driving. My optician sees me every two years, but I always order my prescription glasses from an online optician, as I like to have several current pairs to choose from. I keep at least one spare in the glove box, and check the screws regularly – since a lens fell out once while I was on the M1!

Secondly, choose your eye glass frames carefully. I like thin arms that don’t get in the way when I’m looking to the side – like when I’m joining the motorway. I go for big frames too, for maximum peripheral vision. I’ve got a rimless pair which are good, and a thin titanium frame which is comfy for wearing all day.

I’ve got one dark tinted pair which are perfect for sunny days – when we get them! Prescription sunglasses are as cheap as other glasses nowadays and I couldn’t manage without them. You can have photochromic lenses, which go dark in the sun, but behind some windscreens they don’t change enough.

Obviously my sunglasses are not suitable for night driving, and I always have my other glasses anti-reflection coated to help then. Lots of glasses but all for the same purpose – to keep me safe on the roads.

Make Time for Make Up!

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Are you hiding behind your glasses? Are you using them to enhance your eyes, or disguise them? Maybe a few make up tips will help you to make the most of your eyes, and your eye wear.

Firstly make sure your brows are perfectly groomed, for in framing your features they frame your glasses too. Pluck stray hairs from beneath the brow line, taking care not to over pluck. Professional waxing or threading at a salon may help if you are not confident in doing this yourself. If your brows are too fair or sparse, then fill in carefully with an eyebrow pencil in soft, short strokes.

If you are short sighted, then your prescription lenses will make your eyes look smaller. Mascara will lengthen your lashes and enhance your eyes, and for evenings you could apply false lashes to make your eyes really stand out. An old make up artists trick is to use white eyeliner on the inner lash line to make eyes look bigger.

If you are long sighted then your glasses will make your eyes look bigger – fantastic! If however this makes you feel self conscious, play up your lip colour to draw attention away from the eyes, and use a dark eyeliner to minimise eye size. Always ensure that lip colour compliments your glasses frames – if you have several different pairs of prescription glasses play around with lip colours to see what suits each the best.

The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth!

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

If you want a classic look for your eye wear that’s cool and has fashion staying power, then look no further than the geek frame. An iconic look embraced by everyone from Johnny Depp to Mark Ronson, Lily Allen to Madonna. History, style and fashion, what more could you want?

This look is characterised by chunky, heavy plastic frames in black or tortoiseshell brown, with a shape reminiscent of the old NHS plastic frame. It’s been in fashion for ever, and all eye wear collections feature some version of it. Variations on the theme can be squarer, more rounded, flat or curve topped.

Although high fashion, this type of glasses frame is practical – perfect if you are short sighted as it will cover up thick spectacle lens edges. It is sturdy and strong, and black or brown are always a chic choice for boys and girls alike. Even blondes like Chloe Sevigny have been seen wearing them, hers fade to clear at the lower edge. Katie Holmes, with her dark brunette colouring, favours solid black.

Try to make sure the top rim of the glasses frame sits in line with your brows – choose a curved top rim if your brows are arched, men or girls with straight brows can go for the classic square shape. Zachary Quinto and Josh Hartnett have been seen in shapes that suit their features perfectly.

Losing Contact!

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

After thirty years of contact lenses I have returned to the comfortable, stress free, simple life of glasses. But why? I hear you cry! Aren’t contact lenses easy and cheap nowadays? Don’t they make life easier? Read on – because not for me they didn’t!

I had lenses at the age of fourteen, when my Mum got fed up with broken glasses and weekly trips to the optician due to my energetic efforts on the foot ball field. I was hoping they would give the ball skills and possibly the pulling power of George Best.

Firstly, one blew out of my eye in the gravel car park when we arrived for an away match…….these were hard lenses – as in very hard to find! I played with one eye shut and luckily nobody could tell the difference. The replacement was dislodged while apple bobbing at a Halloween party. Luckily my red streaming eye went well with my Dracula outfit.

For my Uni years I was in soft lenses, where I enjoyed soft focus lectures by wearing them in the wrong eyes and wearing my flat mate’s lenses for two days without realising. Once I put both lenses in the same eye and they stuck together, never to be separated.

The final straw was when I left them in two glasses overnight, on a weekend away when I forgot my lens case. I drank the left one and decided enough was enough. My online optician supplied two groovy pairs of glasses for office and home, and I haven’t managed to loose them yet!

Just Call Me Imelda!

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Now I realise that shopping addiction is nothing new, and I’m definitely not alone, but I need to confess – My name’s Kate and I’m a glasses-aholic! My eye wear wardrobe is as vital to me as Manolos are to Carrie Bradshaw. Glasses always had a fatal attraction for me, and then I discovered my Online Optician and it’s getting worse!!

Look One is my chic and efficient office girl look – every little helps to impress at work! To go with my sharp suits and court shoes I’ve got a sleek gold metal eye glass frame, very simple and classic, or the secretarial look of a black plastic cats eye frame. If I get fed up with those I’ve got a rimless pair in bronze!

For evenings I can do flirtatious or glamorous – black geeky frames if I want to look edgy and cool, or a silver metal frame with jewels on the arms for something more grown up. I also have a fabulous Marc Jacobs frame with cut out bits at the sides, perfect for side long glances!!

For summer hippy days, I’ve got a big retro plastic pink frame with smoky lenses that are clear at the bottom. These are not dark enough for the beach, for which I have a huge tortoiseshell frame with swirly bits on the sides.

Now I’ve just taken up yoga, so I must order a pair for that. Summer’s coming, what would I wear for picnics? Hmmm….must get online and get some serious shopping in!

Jewellery for Your Face

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Would you like a piece of jewellery that makes instant impact whenever anyone meets you? Want to make an accessory purchase free of shoppers remorse?! Then treat yourself to some eye wear and see a whole new world of fashion possibilities!

Glasses frames are more decorative and more intricate than they have ever been before. For women we are seeing plastic eye glass frames embedded with crystals, pearls, laminated designs and patterns. Metal glasses frames are engraved, enamelled, and embellished with semi-precious stones. They may feature cut out work, with delicate filigree patterns for day or evening wear.

For men there are plastic frames with laminated layers of colour and retro details such as visible metal pins and inlaid logos. In metal glasses frames there are smart details such as cut out patterns, printed plastic sides and clever use of colour.

Vogue magazine says that the jewellery of the season is the big earring – why not match them up to your glasses? At online optician prices glasses are as cheap as costume jewellery and give you twice the impact. If you have to wear prescription glasses then why not make the most of them? The windows to your soul deserve the most attractive frame possible.