Archive for March, 2010

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Set the Tone

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Colour is creeping in everywhere as Spring starts to make it’s presence felt. Just as tiny green buds are appearing on the trees, hints of colour are appearing in our High Street shops and in new optical collections. If you’ve been playing it safe with neutral shades of black, white and tortoiseshell, this may be the time to splash out and find yourself the right colour to life your spirits ready for summer.

When going for colour the right tone for you is all important. Lots of us can wear red, but it has to be the right red for your skin, hair and eye colour. If you’ve got a cool, English rose skin tone, then a blue red will complement your complexion and bring out the Snow White in you! If you have more olive hints to your skin, then your perfect red is more towards the orange end of the spectrum. If you’re not brave enough for full on colour, then try a coloured lining or touch of detail on a neutral frame.

Green is a fab colour that many of us are frightened of trying, but again it’s all about the correct mix of blue/green/yellow within that green, against your colouring. Lime is gorgeous on tanned blondes – but then what doesn’t suit them!! If you’ve got green eyes, match the frame colour to your green, to avoid looking sludgy. Olive or khaki is fab on darker skins, note Michele Obama who adores green in her clothing. Bright greens can be less daunting if mixed with rich chocolate brown!

Blue and grey are neutral, and can bring out the silver fox in you! They will tone down florid faces, and add emphasis to blue eyes. As with green, match the shade to your eye colour to give the most flattering effect. You need dark blue eyes to cope with navy, but softer blues will suit an array of baby blue peepers.

There is a shade of purple and pink to flatter any face, and the mix of blue/red within the tone is again the key to finding the one for you. Blue toned pinks if your cheeks are rosy, hotter red tones if you’re pale and interesting! Just don’t be afraid to experiment. Take careful note of what the frame does to your skin – do you look brighter, younger, fresher with that colour on? Then there’s no reason not to try it is there?!!

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Eyes in Disguise!

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

When we’re talking to customers about choosing new glasses, many ladies (and a few men!) mention the problem of the under eye area. The stresses and strains of everyday life, late nights, smoking, alcohol, can all affect your skin. These factors contribute to dark circles, bags under the eyes, puffy areas and crows feet. Before you go under the Surgeons knife, have a think about what you can do in your choice of frames to help resolve the problem…

Firstly, a few lifestyle changes will benefit the under eye area and help you feel healthier generally. Smoking dulls your skin and can lead to the early onset of Age Related Macular Degeneration, so give up!! Drink more water, get plenty of sleep and work on your five-a-day of fruit and veg, boring but you’ll be more beautiful! Secondly shop around and try out some skin products. Don’t overload the delicate eye area, and never use heavy face creams around the eyes. Use specific products and pat in very gently – your ring finger will be the gentlest. Don’t drag the skin and remove all traces of make up before you go to sleep.

Make up around this area should be light and very well blended. Scrutinise your eyes and make sure eyeliner etc is kept soft and there are no hard edges. A sweep of a highlighter such as the iconic YSL Touche Eclat will reflect light back and camouflage problem areas. Bobbi Brown’s Tinted Eye Brightener is another great product that soothes the skin and will help to lighten dark shadows.

When you choose your new frames, go shallow, so that the under eye area is not within your frames, where it will be enhanced by the lenses! If you are long sighted your lenses will magnify the eyes, so choose a flatter lens. Make sure the bottom rim covers the lower edge of any baggy bits or wrinkles! Rimless or semi-rimless glasses will just add another set of lines and draw attention to shadows. Go for a bold rim in plastic or metal, that will draw attention to the frame and your eyes within it, not the area round the eye.

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Can You Dig It?

Monday, March 29th, 2010

So it’s officially Spring and the sun is finally shining. Time to dust off the gardening gloves and hit the greenhouse, full of vim and vigour for the new growing season. Now before you start madly plating and digging, let’s think about the perfect eyewear to help you see the woods for the tress!

There are three aspects to specs for the garden, physical safety, glare/UV protection and your prescription. So much to think about! So let’s take it easy – safety is fairly straightforward and common sense. Don’t ever garden in glass lenses, pulling up a tough weed or strimming may fling tiny particles up that could shatter your lens. So stick to plastic, with an anti-scratch layer, and wash them before polishing after use. For heavy duty work with a chain saw etc, wear protective goggles over your specs. Many Gardeners end up with nasty scratches across their specs from branches, so preferably wear an old pair rather than your best ones.

If you’re out in the Garden for hours on end, UV can be a problem even on overcast days. Just wearing clear specs gives some protection, but consider investing in a UV coat if your life is spent outdoors. UV can trigger Cataract formation and Age Related Macular Degeneration. If glare bothers you, have a photochromic lens, which change to adapt to the light conditions, useful if you’re out dawn until dusk. If you’re strictly a fair weather gardener then a dark tint may be better, and useful if you snooze off for a well earned siesta!

Prescriptions become difficult once you need help for reading. Bifocals are annoying, as without the middle distance area pruning and separating tiny seedlings is difficult. You also don’t want to mow over your toes! Varifocals are probably the best option, as they allow you to see delicate detail and admire the view. So sort out your eyewear and pray for that Barbeque weather this year!

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Testing Times

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

It has been reported this week that paying for eye tests is becoming a thing of the past as so many opticians do the examination for free. This is a surprising development as the eye exam should involve many separate tests and thorough checking by a qualified professional. It should cover all the guidelines set out by the Government as well as individual investigation if problems are evident. How do you know if you’ve been checked properly?

The optician should take plenty of time to get to know you and your specific history and current symptoms, worries and problems. They need to know about optical problems in your family, medication you are using, and any odd optical effects or pain you are suffering. They also need to check the strength of your present glasses or contact lenses.

Pre-screening tests should cover your field of vision, the internal pressure of the eye, and Retinal Imaging or Ocular Coherance Tomography. All of these tests cover every aspect of your sight and eye health, so check that your optician can do them and has the training to interpret the results. Optical support staff may do the pre-screening tests for you, but your optician should be the one who looks at the results with you.

The optician will then check your sight, and the health of your eyes. They may need to refer you on for further treatment, or suggest a visit to your GP for problems such as high blood pressure. They will also discuss your needs with regard to spectacle or contact lenses.

Some opticians are also trained in specific areas such as sports vision, therapeutic contact lens wear, behavioural optometry and treatment for Dyslexic patients. As in every aspect of life you get what you pay for – so what are getting if the service is free?!! Scour the web and find an optician who will do the job properly, and don’t be afraid to phone ahead for advice.

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The Middle Way

Friday, March 26th, 2010

If you struggle with clear sight for a particular job or hobby, then it may interest you to know that we can calculate the perfect prescription to give you perfect vision. For far distance, that is driving, walking around, TV etc, the strength of your glasses is a set power. For close work it’s a different matter, as the amount of magnification you get is in proportion to your working distance.

If you have a hobby where you work at a set distance, we can alter your spec strength to give you the correct magnification. These are called middle distance lenses. If you do fine embroidery or tie flies in your spare time then you need high magnification but at a close distance. If you make curtains or spend all day at a computer then you need a little less power at a further distance. We’ve made specs for reading music, applying false nails, and quilling – whatever that is!!

So how do you acquire these magical, tailor made specs? All you need to do is measure your working distance – you just need a willing friend and a tape measure! Then ask your optician or online optical store to calculate the power you need, based on your reading prescription. Use the specs only at the working distance you have requested, and make sure you work in good clear light to get the most out of them.

If you’re going stronger than usual you may need a smaller frame, as your lenses will be thicker and heavier than in your normal reading glasses. If you wear them for long periods of time it may be worth investing in flatter, lightweight lenses. If you want them for the computer then add an anti-reflection coating, it will help to reduce the glare from the screen and make your vision more comfortable. Tell us what you want the glasses for and we might be able to make suggestions like these to make life easier.

If these super specs are for work, ask your employer if they are willing to contribute towards the cost. If glasses are for the VDU then your employer is legally obliged to help you, and pay for your eye exam.

So here’s our challenge – tell us what you need specs for and we’ll work out the power and help you with other ideas. Can you come up with anything we haven’t heard before?!!

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Make your Mind up Time!

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Of all the buying decisions we have to make, people often find frames to be one of the most daunting. With clothes or shoes we see them on other people or in magazines, and decide on a particular style. Specs are different – you may be limited by your prescription, they are less widely advertised and it’s rare to see them on fashion pages. It is however an important choice, as they are one of the first things people notice about you. So can we help?

If you’ve worn specs before, think about pros and cons in terms of comfort. Go smaller if they sat on your cheeks, felt heavy, or slipped down all the time and drove you potty! Go bigger if you could see the rims or felt them digging in at your temples. If you don’t like nose pads marking your nose or pinching find a plastic or a solid bridge. If plastic makes your face perspire or mists up easily then choose a metal. If metal discolours on you or marks your skin, look for a plastic or hypoallergenic metal.

If you want to change your look, glasses are an easy way to do it. Want specs to be less obtrusive? Look for a small metal, a rimless or a semi-rimless frame. Feel your glasses are boring? Pick a bold plastic or chunky metal with wide sides.

If you’re new to specs, then chat to friends who wear them, scrutinise fashion magazines, browse optician’s shops and websites. Try on as many as possible and take a friend with you, or choose a website that lets you try before you buy. Don’t rush into making your mind up. Fashion is as big a deal with glasses as it is with clothes and other accessories, so don’t feel it’s frivolous to ask about current trends and spend time thinking about colours and styles to suit your look and lifestyle.

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To Wear or Not to Wear?

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

A common question that we’re asked is one that may seem to have an obvious answer. If I wear my glasses, will it make my eyes weaker? Will I start to rely on them? Some patients are clearly so concerned that they put themselves at risk by leaving their specs off unless they absolutely have to wear them.

So, why do we need glasses and how do they work? Put simply, you are short sighted if your eyeball is too long, and long sighted if it’s too short. Light is focused in front or behind the retina and your sight is blurred. Some visual defects are also down to irregularities in the surface of the Cornea, the clear area we look through at the front of the eye.

So, as the reason for your sight defect is physical, wearing glasses or leaving them off will not change your sight. All that happens is that your brain realises that life is easier with the specs on, and you get used to seeing clearly. This makes you feel reliant on them, but if you left them off for a day or two this effect would be lost.

At best you’ll get a headache if you don’t wear them, which will quickly improve once you put your glasses back on. At worst you could cause an accident by not seeing clearly and failing to react. Never drive without your specs if you’ve been told you need them to reach the driving standard.

Keeping your glasses on your face, where they belong, will keep the frame in good condition, and save any eye strain. They’ll always be there when you need them, and you’re utilising the gift of sight at it’s maximum standard. The good news is that leaving them off will not make your sight worse, so don’t panic if you do feel more comfortable under some circumstances without them on, it is allowed as long as you’re not behind the wheel!

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Styles for Styles

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

As we often say, wearing glasses should be a joy, a shopping opportunity with a legitimate reason to spend money on something delicious. Making your specs a part of your accessory wardrobe is the main step towards this, in terms of colour, shape, and style. If you’re thinking of a new look for Summer, let’s think about hair styles against frame styles.

If you have long hair, take a careful look at your proportions. Deep frames may drag your face down, especially if you’re not in the first flush of youth! Go shallow and not wider than your temples, with a slight uplift at the top rim.

If you have a fringe, your face will be shortened as your forehead is covered, so again, shallow is best. The top rim of the frame needs to sit just below the brow line, and keep your fringe at a length that won’t smudge your specs!

If your hair is curly, then obviously you’ve got a lot going on around your eyes and face! Simple specs might be best for you, to keep the attention on your features, you don’t want to be seen as a riot of curls and crazy specs!  If you have short hair, in an elfin style like Carey Mulligan, then you can go to town on your frames. You can wear lots of feminine detail, framed by your minimalist hair do.

The chin length bob is never out of style, and if cut sharply and with drama then you can echo this with strong, bold plastic specs in a bright colour that accentuates your colouring. If your bob is more wispy and soft, then a slender metal frame might be better so you’re not overpowered.

Make the glasses work with you and you’ll be the envy even of non-spec wearers!

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Spots Before your Eyes….

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

If you’ve never had them, you’ll wonder what all the fuss is about. If you’ve got them, you’ll know they’re very very annoying. If you suddenly get them, talk to your Optician immediately – what on earth am I on about?!! Floaters of course, those pesky black or clear blobs that bob about in our line of sight and drive sufferers crazy. So what are they? Are they harmful? And can you do anything about them?

Floaters can vary from person to person, appear at any age, and are more noticeable on bright days against light backgrounds. They are usually bits of cell debris that float around in the Vitreous humour, a jelly like substance that fills our eyeball and helps to maintain it’s shape. They waft about as our eye moves, and you’ll see them most clearly if you look up at the sky or at a white wall. Some become familiar friends!

Floaters are only a worry if lots appear suddenly. This could be an indicator of a Retinal detachment. The Retina lines the eye and is built of a series of layers of light receptive cells. If you are very short sighted your eyeball will be long from front to back, and the retina is thinly stretched around the inside of the eyeball. If the Retina detaches cells will float around inside the eye. Immediate laser treatment can repair the detachment, so the sudden appearance of floaters may be an indicator of this serious problem, and fast action may save your sight.

Contact your optician at once if you feel your floaters are different or have increased in number. Otherwise, they’re an annoyance that you just have to live with. If they seriously affect your sight or way of life, laser surgery may resolve the problem, but this is not without risk and you should seek advice before going ahead. Just don’t look up at the bright sky!

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A Pain in the Neck!

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

For various reasons people often find it’s a pain to wear specs – they slip, mist up, get in the way when you’re doing certain things – but what if they do cause you an actual pain?

The most common complaint of pain is due to Sinus problems. As any sufferer knows, this can be unbearable, and if you wear specs you may end up dreading having to wear them. Sinus problems can cause severe pain around the eye orbit and the pressure of specs can cause swelling and fluid retention under the eye. Apart from leaving your glasses off, there are a few things you can do to alleviate the discomfort. Firstly, do all you can to treat the Sinus problem, with suitable medication. Some patients find that inhaling steam can help to clear blockages. Wear specs that are as lightweight as possible, and make sure they don’t sit on the face. If your frame is metal, larger nose pads will spread the weight, and make sure they are not too close to the inner eye. If your frame is plastic make sure it fits well all around the bridge and keep the shape shallow. Keeping a couple of different frames to wear in rotation will help to give your face a rest.

Facial Neuralgia can be incredibly debilitating, causing agonising pains around the face and the ears. Anyone who has suffered from Shingles that has affected the face will know how nasty this can be, and a lingering problem that can take months to heal. As with Sinus problems, you need to do everything possible to alleviate pressure and reduce the weight of your specs. If you are in pain behind the ears then you could select a frame that has straight sides, which hug the head. This balances the weight and stops inflammation of tender areas. If Neuralgia arises from dental problems then a frame that rests on the cheeks will aggravate this. Again, go shallow and reduce the weight and the pressure.

Don’t assume that discomfort is something you have to put up with if you wear specs. Talk to your Optician or mail your online optician – they’ll have come across a similar problem before and will be able to suggest a frame that will help you.

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