Dad and Grads!

Its that time of year again to celebrate DAD AND GRADS


Father's Day Coupon: "DAD2010"
Above is the code for $15 off all eyewear $99 and above


Graduation Coupon: "GRAD2010"
Above is the code for $20 off all eyewear $119 and above

Where to Find Good Sunglasses?

Where can you find a pair of sunglasses to fit your eyewear needs? Sunglasses are absolutely everywhere! It is hard to walk into a retail store and not see a display of sunglasses. In fact, listing off the places that don't sell them might be faster. Hardware stores, emergency rooms and most car dealerships do not sell sunglasses. Now to move on to the establishments that do.

Logically, one of the best places to buy sunglasses would be a retailer specifying in them. Any mall or outlet strip center is bound to have at least one store targeting eyewear. These stores will offer a wide variety of frames, lenses, sizes and styles to suit your needs. Sunglasses at these stores can be pricey, anywhere from twenty-five to three hundred dollars. However, you often get what you pay for.

Specialized sunglass retailers will know a lot about their product and help pick out the right ones for you. Many of their glasses will offer higher percentage of UVA and UVB protection than less expensive brands. If you don't mind paying the extra money, these sunglasses will be a purchase that will last. In addition, most of these retailers include a case, cleaning cloth and other accessories along with your purchase.

Upscale designers such as Armani and Christian Dior cater to the truly fortunate crowd. Their sunglasses can be seen in fashion magazines and on red carpets all over the globe. If it's high fashion you seek, these designers and many others are truly the way to go. Most of their products can be found in department stores. However, in more upscale neighborhoods, designers may have their own storefront.

If you're not a movie star or hotel heiress, you may want to take a more low-key approach when shopping for sunglasses. Many malls have kiosks that sell designer-looking styles at a much more realistic price. There is really no shame in wearing knock-offs, even if your friends tease you for it. You can casually remind them that your sunglasses look exactly like theirs. Then let them know that, unlike them, you'll be making your car payment this month.

If you are a normal human being, you probably have a tendency to lose things. That is where the truly inexpensive sunglasses come in handy. These less expensive shades can be found at any retail chain superstore. You can also find them at your local grocery store or pharmacy. Less expensive shades may not offer the same great protection as the expensive ones, but they will usually help to filter out the UVA and UVB rays.

When shopping for sunglasses, no matter where you look, there is one important thing to remember. Choose sunglasses that fit. They should fit your face, your style, and your budget. Before you spend a week's paycheck on a pair of sunglasses, you might want to consider their use. If it is a trendy style that is bound to go out in five minutes, head to the kiosk for some knock-offs. If you are planning to wear them somewhere they'll be easily lost, like the lake or camping, opt for the much less expensive. The last thing you want to be doing is playing diving-for-sunglasses while everyone is having fun.

If you do drop some serious cash on a pair of sunglasses, learn to take care of them. Carry a case for them to be in when not being worn. Clean them only with a specialized lens cloth. Finally, keep up with them! Sunglasses do no good if you can't find them.

How Do Sunglasses Work?

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!

Sunglasses in the Movie Wanted

Once again Angelina Jolie is busting caps and taking numbers in the new movie Wanted. This is perhaps her 7th role in which she is constantly shooting a gun, and I’ve heard it is just as “good” as the rest of them. Without spoiling the film, Wanted revolves around the stories of several underground hitmen, who have exceptional abilities with a gun, involving throwing “curve balls” with bullets. The main plot line involves involving and training “the one” who has the greatest skills of all of them, just as long as they can convince him of this. Heard of this plot before?

Angelina Jolie is of course the star of the movie Wanted. Sunglasses do not abound in this one, but there is one pair (pictured above) that I’ve been asked about. It is by Oliver Peoples and is called Strummer. I’ve seen pictures of Angelina with this on before, so I assume it is her own. If you want to pick this pair up you are going to need to part with about $350.

The Worlds Most Expensive Sunglasses?

In fashion many things can get taken to excess, and sometimes it seems like prices are made up by giving a monkey a calculator and asking him to, “think freely”. The range in prices for sunglasses, like so many other accessories, is incredible, and the range in quality is just the same. You would think that somewhere along the line, someone will draw the line in pricing. A few of the most expensive brands charge the prices they do because they can, and others do because being the most expensive gives you exclusivity.

This exclusivity is reached in what I imagine is currently the most expensive pair of sunglasses, made by Luxuriator. The model is called Style 23, and is currently retailing for $65,000 US. It includes 18K yellow gold, ivory buffalo horn temples (are those legal?) and 132 hand cut diamonds with a total carat weight of 3.45. Wow. Don’t suppose they will send me a pair for research.

What could you get for $65,000 these days? A few things come to mind: A house (in Thailand maybe), a really nice car, a cryogenic freezing package (short term), or about 540 pairs of Ray-Ban wayfarers.

Prada Sunglasses Style for 2009 – PR09LS

World renowned fashion leader Prada has always been know for pushing the boundaries of style while staying within a set of sure limits and maintaining a classic look. They come back again and again every year with something fresh, and 2009 will be no different. I’ve looked over their new styles available and have settled on the PR09LS as a stand out. Feast your eyes:

The simple lines and curves on it separate it from the rest of the new Prada sunglass styles, however there are a few more promising models. From the looks of it, big sunglasses will again be popular in 2009. Prada has been promoting this model on their website with some interesting animation and it has already been picked up by a lot of online sites.

If you want a fashionable pair of sunglasses that is still a safe bet, I would get this model. PR09LS retails for about $245. With a little searching you maybe be able to find it cheaper.

Sunglasses in the Movie Ironman

Robert Downey Jr. as Ironman is simply the best cast role in 2008 up to this point. In terms of attitude, style and cachet, there couldn’t have been a better choice. His delivery of the character is going to be remembered for a long time and somewhere, in a small dark corner, I can hear Superman quietly sobbing. The character was brought out to an even greater degree by his slick suits and stylish sunglasses. My favorite pair in the movie was the one in the first few scenes in Afghanistan, where he stole the show and set the stage. I looked around and found out that he is wearing Ray Ban RB 3320, and if it doesn’t bother you to buy sunglasses online, there are several websites offering them.

I have to be honest that I was not excited to see this movie, but it was a lot of fun and I’m sure the second and third installments will be just as good. Did anyone notice the director’s role in the film?

Sunglasses in the Movie Hancock

Sometime probably about three years ago, a bunch of marketing wizards in suits decided that it would be original to remake the “modern” superhero into a toque-wearing alcoholic homeless guy, and Hancock is the spawn of this idea. It will hit theatres in the next few weeks (despite the premiere being put back) and there is some hype around it. I must say that I feel like I know the whole plot of the movie after having seen the trailer and I’ll break it down like this: Will Smith saves the day, again. Or how about four steps: Will Smith is an idiot, goes through some kind of life challenging experience, becomes a better superperson and thensaves the day.

The glasses featured in the poster that is plastered all over this globe are Dior Mist Black. Odd that a homeless guy would choose to wear Dior sunglasses, or that a superhero would even need them. Forgive my cynicism, but I’m usually not a fan of action movies and I’m not buying into this. Are a lot of people planning on see this? If you have, what do you think?