Your Sunglasses Zone

You’ve been told your entire life that sunglasses are important.  You know that they protect your eyes, block out the sun’s ray and prolong good vision.  But have you ever wondered how these miracle shades do all of that?  Of course not, but you should learn.  Sunglasses basically do four things for you, aside from completing a killer outfit.  It is important to know what these things are and how they are done to ensure your sunglasses are doing their job.

As you probably already know, sunglasses provide protection from ultraviolet rays in sunlight.  UV rays can cause serious damage to the corneas, and a good pair will shield 100% of these rays.  A protective coating on the outside of sunglasses acts as a kind of filter.  While it allows light through, it helps to filter out the radioactive light waves that can lead to so many dangers to your eyes.

Possibly the most prevalent purpose sunglasses serve is to provide protection from intense light. Intense sunlight can cause you to squint, a natural reaction to too much light entering the eyes.  If squinting does not provide enough protection, damage to the cornea can occur next.  This is especially common when outside in the snow without your sunglasses.  The white of the snow reflects and magnifies the intensity of the light.

The tinting of your sunglasses will help determine the amount of light your eyes will be exposed to.  As there are different types of light, all the colors of the rainbow, different shades of lenses will protect in their own ways.  Gray and almost black tinted lenses will offer the greatest amount of protection from intense lights while avoiding distortion of most colors that you see.

Another quality sunglasses carry is something we are all most likely thankful for.  They can provide protection from glare.  Water and other shiny looking surfaces can produce a glare.  These glares can block out other objects, like a car turning out of a parking lot just ahead of you.  Good sunglasses can completely eliminate this kind of glare using polarization.

Light waves vibrate just like sound waves do.  When a group of light waves come together but are traveling in different directions, a glare occurs.  When you are blinded by a glare off of the water or another vehicle’s windshield, what you are seeing is a traffic jam of light waves.  Polarization filters built into sunglasses are made up of molecules that realign the light waves with each other and eliminate the glare.

As noted before, Sunglasses can eliminate specific frequencies of light. Certain light frequencies can cause blurred vision, while other frequencies enhance contrast between colors. Choosing the right color for your sunglasses lets them work better in specific situations.

Yellow, gold, amber and brown tinted sunglasses are especially good for blocking out blue light.  Blue light is the color of light in the spectrum that scatters and causes blurred perception.  While the yellow shades can make the rest of the world look a different color, you will see most clearly and detailed through them.

Green tinted sunglasses are better for filtering some blue light and reducing the occurrence of glares. They also offer the highest contrast and greatest visual sharpness of any other colored lens.  For this reason, green sunglasses are very popular.  Rose colored shades and purple tints offer the best contrast of objects against a green or blue background and make great sunglasses for hunting or water skiing.

Now that you know how sunglasses work you can be a responsible consumer.  Know what to look for when choosing your sunglasses.  It is not a bad idea to have more than one pair around for different reasons.  This is especially true if you spend a lot of time outdoors on a variety of activities.  Be responsible about your eyes and learn to protect your vision while it’s still yours to protect!

It seems like every time you see a movie or TV show where police officers are involved, they seem to be wearing large sunglasses with mirrors on the outside.  What are these shades and how did they come to be what they are today?  The truth is that Mirrorshades, as the sunglasses are called, are often associated with law enforcement and government officials for a valid reason.

Mirrorshades are sunglasses with a reflective optical coating on the outside of the lenses to make them appear like small mirrors.  The mirror coating can decrease anywhere from 10%-60% of the light that passes through and makes contact with your eyes.  Mirrorshades are great sunglasses for anyone that spends much of their time outdoors, possibly even on a motorcycle or in a car for eight or more hours per day.

However, Mirrorshades serve a greater purpose than simply shielding the eye.  These sunglasses prevent another person from making eye contact with the wearer.  The mirrors are created so that an onlooker will only meet his own reflection when attempting to gaze into the eyes behind a pair of Mirrorshades.

It is for this reason that Mirrorshades have become popular sunglasses for officers of law enforcement and military.  Their popularity with police officers in the United States has earned them the nickname "cop shades".  Much like an interrogation room, a suspect is unnerved by looking into a window and being unable to see who or what is looking back at him.  It is also for this reason that Mirrorshades are often favored by competitive poker players.

Mirrorshades are available in several different designs.  The sunglasses most frequently worn by police and military are Aviators.  This style received its name around the 1940’s and 1950’s when they were popular sunglasses for military pilots.  In the 1930’s, Ray Ban created this design and sold it to the United States Military.  The military issued the sunglasses to their pilots to protect them while they flew.  From there a fixture among sunglass styles was created.

Another particularly popular style of Mirrorshades is called the Wraparound.  This style of sunglasses consists of either one or two smooth, semi-circular lenses that cover the eyes and resemble the shape of protective goggles.  Wraparound sunglasses are quite popular in the world of extreme sports.  They are often particularly associated with snow sports, such as skiing and snowboarding.

The Mirrorshades are created with a coating on the outside of the lenses of the sunglasses.  The coating can range from a very simple form made up of a single layer of very thin film all the way to a thicker, more reflective form.  The thinner layer of film can be very likely to scratch with minimal pressure, and is sensitive to salt water.  These sunglasses should be treated with the utmost care.

The more modern reflective coatings on Mirrorshades usually have several layers making them more durable and less likely to become scratched.  While these sunglasses may be more expensive, you often get what you pay for when purchasing sunglasses.  Choose wisely and educate yourself on sunglasses before deciding which ones to buy.  Mirrorshades will prove beneficial to your eyes and your style.

Any time of year, sunglasses should be a part of your daily heath-consciousness routine.  Sunglasses are not just for summers on the beach anymore or just for looking cool and mysterious.  Designer sunglasses are no longer just for wealthy movie stars.  Sunglasses are crucial in protecting your eyes from the permanent damaging effects of Ultra Violet radiation.