Sunglasses are for some necessity and others a fashion statement. There are one for any occasion and every individual.
Sunglasses first got introduced as an aid for people who had eye problems and couldn’t stand bright light and sunlight. After some time, they became a thing of fashion and they were worn by those that either wanted to hide their dark circles or the hectic night they had before.
Nowadays we cannot think of a summer outfit that doesn’t sport some kind of sunglasses paired with accordingly. As we already mentioned there are shapes and size for everyone and every face size and shape. It almost became a science thing where the manufacturers try to make one for every face shape to boost their sales. Read more if you want to see a selection of the best brands out there.
But back to those that wear these because they have to. We are in a bit of delusion when it comes to glasses and we tend to spare money in places where we shouldn’t. getting some things cheaper than they are is a good thing but some things shouldn’t be spared because it could end up with a significant cost – in this case, a health one.
This article will tell you all about cheap sunglasses and how bad are they for your eyes.
1. Price and quality
The first thing that we must address since it is what this article revolves around is the price range. The cheaper the sunglasses you get the worse your eyesight will be damaged over time. You have to understand one thing – in this matter, price dictates the quality and your protection.
Cheaper glasses will most likely be made out of plastic materials and made to look like metal or aluminium parts and the “glass” itself won’t be glass but cheap plastic. The way to know this is to remember any previous cheap glasses. If you had ones like those and they had any “metal or aluminium” bits you probably remember those got chafed very soon and revealed another layer beneath that at the end turned out to be a bit rigid plastic. I know I got fooled like that once.
The other thing is the “glass” itself. If you ever started sweating around your eyes or the place that the glass should cover then it is sure proof that you got plastic glass instead of an actual one. If you had real glass glasses that have light-absorbing particles then you shouldn’t sweat beneath them. Plastic tends to heat up and the fine film that was supposed to imitate the light-absorbing particles isn’t doing its job properly or at all.
These cheap ones aren’t doing you any good and after some time they won’t even look good so it is a double for you and your budget. The best thing is to gather some cash and invest in somewhat pricier glasses that will serve you good for years. Don’t go too crazy with your budget because the most expensive ones don’t necessarily mean the best ones out there. Consult with your oculist and look up every brand a bit with a focus on reviews, you should then have a real picture of what you want.
2. Tints
Besides, the light-absorbing particles glasses can also have tints applied to them and they can block over 95% of sunlight. With cheap glasses, you will get only cheaply and the poor-quality film stuck to something that will resemble a glass surface, but it’s not. In this way instead of helping your eyes, you will make things worse and you probably won’t realize it in time. Sunglasses from top brands out there are made with quality and passion and they sometimes consist of layer upon layer of film or light-reflecting particles that are working for you and to your benefit.
3. UV
UV protection is something we should all consider when buying a pair of sunglasses. UV light is really bad in big amounts and it can work against our body and our health. Some of us are more resilient to UV light while others are less. This is where skin protection in a form of creams and sunglasses for our eyes jump in. Note that most of the cheap brands of glasses or the knockoffs of the popular brands out there advertise UV protection because it is so important. Original sunglasses have 100% UV protection and it is easily checked out but the cheap ones only advertise it and pretty much none of them has any UV protection. To be clear you have to have UV protection because without it you will damage your eyes easily. Darker tints on cheaper glasses make your pupils dilate which allows more harmful UV rays inside of the back of your eyes and cause damage.
4. You pay the protection
Now we talked a lot about protection but you have to realize it comes in a different form. Glasses that you buy at a local store or gas station can offer the same things as the ones you get with a prescription or from a famous brand or retailer. Most of the mid to high price range glasses offer polarization which is a filter that filters out the reflective light. Another thing that we already mentioned is the anti-reflective coating and it is there to reflect all the glare from the outside that is very present in the cheaper glasses. Then there are mirror coatings that are there to decrease the amount of light that enters your eye, and last but not least is the full spectrum UVC protection we mentioned above. This is something no cheap glasses can offer you because all of these accost money. You may even end up with a pricier brand of glasses with a somewhat flimsy or plasticky frame but what you paid for is the glass and its protection for your eyes.
The last thing we want to repeat, even though we might bore you a bit, don’t cheap out on things you shouldn’t. Some things will end up costing you more eventually if you cheap on them today. This is the most prominent when health is considered. This is why it is important to get higher-quality glasses and take care of your eyesight and health today instead of tomorrow.
