Choosing the Right Glasses for You: Four Key Factors to Consider Beyond the Standard Prescription

Getting a new pair of glasses is an exciting experience. Having gone through the process of diagnosing your vision issue, you can now look forward to alleviating a long list of symptoms and generally improving your lifestyle. 

Choosing the right pair is about more than just getting the lenses right, though, and given that this is going to be an expensive purchase, you want to be certain you’ve made the right decision. Here are four key factors to consider when figuring out which frames and features to pick. 

1. Choosing Your Preferred Style

There are many, many different styles of glasses to choose from. So many, in fact, that you should always be able to find something that matches perfectly with your personality. 

For a bold impression, you might want to choose thicker frames with exotically fashioned lenses, such as those formed into various different polygonal shapes. If you’re looking for something more professional, circular frames with a metal trim always work great. Or perhaps, you’d like something in between, in which case, Ray-Ban glasses tend to make for a nice compromise. 

Take your time trying on different pairs to find what suits you best, and consider where you’ll be wearing them and what you’ll be wearing them with. 

2. Consider Your Face Shape

Having decided upon the general style you’re going to go for, it’s time to narrow down your options for something that works with your particular face shape. 

You want frames that will contrast, rather than follow, your face shape; if you have a squarer face, you might want an oval or octagonal lens frame, for example. When trying on different pairs, the assistant should be able to help you – they do this day in, day out, and have a lot of experience examining faces to find the best fit. 

3. Special Features

These days, there are several different extra features you can choose for your glasses. For example, there’s the option to have blue light blocking filters applied to the lenses, which will help your sleep if you’re working late at night on a computer or watching TV. There are also photochromic lenses, which naturally darken when exposed to the sun’s rays. 

There are many other features to consider beyond these, so make sure your optician explains everything in full. 

4. On Budget

And finally, there’s your budget. You’ll want to go through the above process of picking pairs a few times, each time selecting a pair you like at different price points to find the perfect deal. Try to fall somewhere in the middle, where quality and price are balanced, and you should find the ideal pair for you. If a pair you like seems too expensive, consider dropping some of the added special features. 

Hopefully, you now feel ready to choose your new pair of glasses with confidence. Don’t feel pressured to rush your decision: take your time, keep the above aspects in mind, and you’ll come out with a pair you love!