Sunglass Outlet Blog

Spy Sunglasses – History
Spy Sunglasses goal is to consistently push the limits of design and technology in eyewear, and now we are bringing this same philosophy to softgoods. This new commitment is highlighted in the Spy Sunglasses featured seasonal collections. The RAD collection for summer and the ROCK collection for fall.

Spy Sunglasses is based in north county San Diego, just minutes from perfect surf, legendary skate parks, and a short drive to the mountains. Taking advantage of our location, Spy Sunglasses employees regularly surf, skate, wakeboard, motocross, mountain bike, and snowboard. We are the ultimate free-spirited company, mixing assorted eclectic organic and technological elements of design with action sports and pop culture.

Spy Sunglasses invests heavily in research and development and regularly develops technical product with action sports’ best athletes: surfers Keith and Chris Malloy, Keala Kennelly, snowboarders Mark Frank Montoya and Todd Richards, skateboarders Rob Dyrdek and Danny Way. Spy Sunglasses also has motocross legends Kevin Windham and Jeremy McGrath, BMX riders Jamie Bestwick and Cory Nastazio, Wakeboarders Parks Bonifay and Danny Harf, and MTB athletes Sam Hill and Chris Kovarik.

The Spy Sunglasses strategic commitment to technology is unparalleled. Breakthrough optical engineering advancements such as ARC™ Prismatic Polycarbonate lenses, Trident™ Polarized lenses, and the patented Scoop™ frame design clearly set us apart from the competition.

Unlike many other sunglass brands who shoot out their frames hundreds at a time on conveyor belts in China, Spy Sunglasses styles are designed in California, genuinely hand-crafted in Italy, and undergo an elaborate manufacturing and quality control process. Every color fade on Spy Sunglasses is hand-painted by an Italian artisan. In addition, every logo on an optical product is hand-painted or hand set as well.

Anon optics develops optics for those who challenge tradition.

Whether you’re at the beach, on the mountain, in the car, or at the club, anon optics has something too meet your standards. And anon definitely knows that you have high standards. The fusion of fashion and the action sports lifestyle is a direct reflection of anon sunglasses and optics. Combining these elements, anon sunglasses helps keep you lookin’ fresh and leaving the others in the dust.

The vision of anon optics is simple: it’s a lifestyle for those who seek to escape the status quo. The sleek, urban, and modern attitude of anon sunglasses and snow goggles exude best-in-class design and craftsmanship. The key to quality and style is in the details – edgy designs, sculpted accents, vivid colors, and unique material applications blended into handcrafted organic styles is what separates anon optics from the competition. With a wide array of anon sunglasses and anon goggles, it’s no wonder why anon is on top.

Anon sunglasses helps you push the envelope. Backed by professional athletes from various sports ranging from surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding, anon optics continues to make sunglasses and snowboard goggles the best for the best.

Although the face shape is essential you do not want to overlook the shape of the nose. Large Nose-Large oversized frames are best suited to help balance out the face.  A smaller frame will emphasize the nose. Long Nose-Frames with higher arms will draw attention toward the temples and away from the nose. Adding a double bridge will also help a nose appear shorter. Small Nose-A higher bridge in addition to a  lighter color frame will appear to lengthen a shorter nose.

The Correct Frame There are a variety of  different face shapes, and it is important to choose a frame that will properly fit your face. We can base this off of five basic shapes: square, round, triangular, oblong, or oval.

Square Face
Best fitted for a square face, frames with slight curves. To deemphasize the jawline, you would want a pair that sits higher on the face.

Round Face
Selecting a straight or angular lined frames will help soften the roundness of the face. Darker color frames such as black or tortoise also reduce the fullness of the face.

Heart shaped Face
For those with a narrow mouth and chin leading to a broader forehead. You would be best suited with a thin frame. Vertical lines will also help balance the lower portion of the face.  Ideally your frame should not sit too high on the face. Larger frames, bold colors and square shapes are best avoided.

long Face
Similar to square faces, in a long face the chin and cheek are the same width. However, the length of the face is greater than the width. For this face shape your frames should cover the center of the face. This will minimize the the length.

Oval Face
This face shape gives you the most freedom in choosing Frames. For the oval face, most important is keeping the frames in proportion to the face.

Optical Glass
Optical Glass Lenses are the best scratch-resistant lens material made. These are  ground and polished to the proper dimension of the lens to make a clear  distortion-free lens.

Polycarbonate
Polycarbonate plastic lenses are very tough and durable. This is the most shatter-resistant material. This material is also used for aircraft windshields. It is lighter then glass and 50 times more impact resistant.

Polarized Lenses
Polarized Lenses block all vertical light. This is the light that reflects off flat surfaces such as snow, water, glass and pavement  This reflected light is more intense than normal sunlight. Polarized lenses are most suitable for water sports, cycling or driving.

Photochromic or Photochromatic Lenses
Photochrornic or Photochromatic Lenses are light sensitive lenses that change shades from light to dark, as conditions change. Some photochromic lenses will adjust to temperature as well.

Lens Colors
Lens color plays an important part in the performance of your sunglasses.  A  different color lens will have different characteristics. The following is a basic description of those characteristics.

Grey
This is the most popular color for all purpose use. All colors remain true and distortion free.  To maintain a normal depth perception, light is flattened.  UV and IR are well absorbed.

Green

Similar to grey lenses, colors remain true and UV and IR are absorbed.

Brown
These lenses are most effective for filtering scattered blue light. Excellent for low light conditions such as hazy or foggy.  Depth perception and contrast in variable light conditions are enhanced. These lenses are most popular for skiing, boating, driving and general use.

Yellow
With yellow  lenses you sacrafice color distortion for enhanced depth perception. These Provide 100% UV protection but do need a special coatings to absorb IR. Yellow lenses generally are a popular fashion color.

Rose
Similar to brown these filter scattered blue light and improve color contrast. These are considred by many to be the most soothing and comfortable for all day use.

The Right Lenses
The proper sunglass lens should block nearly all UV light and greatly reduce harmful infrared rays. They will also eliminate glare and bring the visible light down resulting in all day comfort on the eyes.

Light Transmission
The amount of light that goes through the lenses and reaches our eyes is light transmission.  The optimal light transmission range for sunglasses is 10% to 30%. So a lens with a light transmission of 20% would allow 20% of light to pass while blocking the 80%.

How the sunglasses will be used is most important.  On average most people do not need lenses rated less than 10%. A very dark lens may keep out more light but as conditions change, say driving in and out of dark shaded areas, visibility can be dropped to zero.

UV Transmission
For outdoor, direct sunlight activties it is always good to block at least 95% of UV light. Lower UV blockage is acceptable while driving as windshields will absorb some harmful light.

Optical Quality
The optical quality means the lens is distortion free. Non-Optical lenses create eye-straining distortions as opposed to optical lenses, the lines reflected in these lenses will follow in straight lines and through the even contours of the lens.

Different Types of Light

Visible Light
Simply put visible light is wavelengths that the eye perceives as color. When the eye perceives too much visible light It will cause irritation. This irritation can reduce your perception by as much as half.  This will also prevent your eyes’ ability to adjust to the dark and interfere with your depth perception.

Blue Light
Blue light is dispersed through the air by dust particles, which is why the sky appears blue. Blue light causes glare and as more and more research suggests too much light can cause degenerative eye problems.   If blue light was eliminated, we would lose the ability to distinguish colors.  A quality sunglasses will block the correct amount of blue light and  sharpen contrast without distorting all other color perception.  A neutral gray lenses will give you the least distortion of color.

Ultraviolet Light
Of all light, UV is the most dangerous kind.  UV light will “sunburn” the eyelids and damage the cornea and membranes in the eyelids. Ultraviolet rays do get absorbed in the atmosphere, however some do get through and even greater amounts at higher altitudes.

Three kinds of ultraviolet light.
UV-C is below the eyes visible spectrum and is absorbed by the atmosphere. It also arises from the sunlight’s reflection off snow at higher altitudes.
UV-A is at the low end of the visible spectrum. These are absorbed through  our eye’s lens.  Prolonged exposure to UV-A can lead to the formation of cataracts and other degenerative eye disease.
UV-B is what causes sunburned skin. These rays are absorbed in the outer surface of the eye.  This light has the most effect on the eyes leading to “snow blindness,” a burning of the eye’s outer tissues.

Infrared Rays
Infrared Rays are heat rays. Prolonged exposure to sunlight, such as a day at the beach without infrared protection can lead to a burning or stinging sensation in your eyes.  This will also cause serious eye fatigue.

For those that wear contact lenses, if your eyes are not protected properly and fail to stop infrared light,  contacts will actually absorb them causing them to warm up.