UV protection comes from a coating applied to the lenses, which is often invisible.
Choosing Sunglasses Tints
Tints filter light in different ways.
Some are better at blocking light.
Verywell / Gary Ferster
Others enhance colors while others distort them.
Tints can enhance your vision in some cases.
You might like the look of one color over or another.
But the attractive one may not be the best fit for your lifestyle.
Gray
Gray is a popular neutral tint.
But they can distort colors.
Choose yellow shades for:
You may want different lens colors for the same activity in different conditions.
Green
Green tints filter someblue lightand reduce glare.
They also offer high contrast and visual sharpness.
Green lenses can be soothing and green light can help improve headache symptoms.
Green also tends to reduce eyestrain in bright light.
They also increase contrast and depth perception without adversely affecting your ability to see detail and shape.
They’re especially useful against green and blue backgrounds, like grass and sky.
Manufacturers claim melanin-coated lenses protect your eyes from aging related to sun exposure.
Rose/Red
Rosy tints increase contrast by blocking blue light.
They have a reputation for soothing the eyes, and they may be more comfortable for longer wear times.
A red tint may also help improve contrast and support depth perception.
The blue tint can also help with color perception.
One study found that people wearing blue-tinted lenses did not perform as well in sports activities.
This may be because this color can reduce contrast sensitivity and increase color distortion.
Blue-tinted glasses are believed to have a soothing effect on the eyes.
Whether they are effective for preventing eye strain during long computer sessions is unclear.
Eye strain can be avoided by taking a 20-second or longer “screen break” every 20 minutes.
These features can help reduce reflections and eye fatigue.
How Dark Should Tinted Sunglasses Be?
Tint is defined as the percentage of light the lens blocks.
Commercially available sunglasses have tint intensities that range from light to dark.
A high tint percentage isn’t necessarily better at protecting your eyes from the sun.
Wearing sunglasses is also a good way to reduce eye strain while driving.
Can I Tint My Sunglasses?
Yes, you’re able to tint your sunglasses by customizing the lenses to suit specific needs.
Just ensure the lenses also offer UV protection, as tint alone doesnt block harmful rays.
Wearing sunglasses can give you a false sense of eye protection.
For starters, dark-tinted lenses without appropriate UV filters can cause more eye damage than not wearing shades.
Additionally, look for lenses that have a UV coating on both the front and back of the lenses.
Research shows this can reduce overall UV exposure to 7%.
Eye care specialists may have a UV light meter that can test the lenses' UV-blocking abilities.
Contact them to see if they do.
Blue tints may also reduce glare, depending on the lighting conditions.
When selecting sunglasses, prioritize lenses that provide 100% UV protection to shield your eyes from harmful rays.
Opt for larger lenses to minimize unfiltered UV light entering around the edges.
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