Often when picking new frames, people can tend to get hung up on the color and style of the frame. Even though the frame colour and style is very important, one aspect that is often overlooked when picking new sunglasses is the colour of the sunglass lenses. In my opinion, the colour of the lens that you will be looking through is equally if not more important then the frame colour itself. This is because the colour of the sunglass lenses determines exactly how you see your world. Many people don’t know that there are both advantages and disadvantages looking through different coloured lenses, especially when performing different tasks and activities. Hopefully this blog article can educate you in helping choose the perfect lens colour in your next new pair of sunglasses.
Grey Sunglass Lenses
The most common and popular colour option for sunglass lenses is a grey tint. A grey lens tint lets the least amount of visible light through the lens, making it the darkest tint option. Because of this feature, a grey lens tint is a great colour choice for people who are very light sensitive or for people who wear their sunglasses in very bright, sunny conditions. Looking through grey lens also allows viewing of colours to their truest shade, when compared to what they actually are while being viewed by the naked eye. Cosmetically, a grey tint is also a great option as it is a neutral colour that looks good when inserted into frames of many different colours and looks good while being worn with many different wardrobes.
Brown & Rose Sunglass Lenses
Brown and Rose coloured lens tints are also very popular colour options. Unlike a grey lens, a brown or rose shade tint lets through more visible light. Some people find that looking through these colours a little more cheery opposed to a grey because brown and rose make colours appear more vibrant and brighter. It is because of this “cheery” perception while looking through this lens, that the quote “looking at the world through rose coloured glasses” came about! Looking through these colours also helps to increase contrast. Because of the increase in colour contrast, these lens colour options are particularly useful on over cast days, as they make it so colours don’t appear to be so flat.
High Contrast Lens Tints
High contrast lens colours are any colour of lens option that greatly increases contrast. Often colours such as green, yellow, and orange are considered high contrast lens colours. These specific colours are often chosen to help enhance performance while doing certain activities. For example, golfers may choose a high contrast green shade for playing golf, as this lens colour option provides an increase in contrast allowing better viewing of contours in a golf green. A shooter / marksman may enjoy looking through a high contrast yellow lens as it allows for better viewing of targets. A baseball player may prefer to look through an orange lens as it makes the baseball appear more visible. These examples are just a couple of activities where people can benefit from looking through a high contrast lens.
Fashion Lens Tint Colour
Although grey and brown lenses are the most common shades to pick from, lens colour tints are available in almost every colour of the rainbow. Sometimes a specific lens colour is paired with a frame, not because it has any specific visual advantage, but because the lens looks nice cosmetically within that frame. Purple, blue and pink lenses may often be referred to as fashion tint lens colours.
Picking the Perfect Tint For You!
With all the different colour options of sunglass lenses, a person should consider that even though some tints are better for certain light conditions and activities, it is best to go with the colour of tint that you prefer to view the world through. Make sure when selecting a new pair of sunglasses that you try on frames with different tint options to see what tint your eyes feel most comfortable looking through. Also, just as you may have different shoes for different activities, it is not uncommon to have different sunglasses with different lens tints for different situations. As I have learned from personal experience, you can NEVER have too many sunglasses!
Article Written By: Trina Vanaalst