How to Choose Eye Glasses

Your eyeglasses are an integral part of your style, especially if you have a permanent prescription that must be worn constantly. The wrong pair can make your face look disproportionate or washed out, but the right pair can make you look fashionable and well put together. Choose eyeglasses that flatter the shape and color of your face, along with your own personal sense of style.

If you have to wear glasses what are some of the things you should consider when choosing your next eye glasses frames?

Consider Your Face Shape

Some frame shapes can make the curves and angles of your face look disproportionate, depending on how your face is shaped. When shopping for new frames, start by trying on shapes that are more likely to flatter your face.

1.      Look for oval or round frames if you have a square, angular face..

2.      Consider frames that are square, rectangular, or geometric, since these add sharp angles to the soft curves of your face.

3.      Look for tall frames if you have a narrow, oblong face.

4.      Try angular frames that sharpen your facial features if you have a round face.

5.      Shop for oval frames that maintain the balance of your face if you have a diamond shaped face.  

6.      Balance out a heart shaped face with bottom-heavy frames that create the appearance of width on your lower face.

7.      Look for semi-rimless frames and top-heavy styles if you have a triangle shaped face.

Consider Your Personality

1.      Create a professional, business-oriented look by selecting conservative shapes like ovals and rectangles.

2.      Add to the professional look by sticking with traditional colors. For men, consider silver, gunmetal, brown or black frames. For women, consider brown, gold tones, silver, burgundy, black, or espresso frames.

3.      Show off your creativity or youthful style with funky designs and visual detail. Consider thicker, larger plastic frames in geometric shapes or frames with laser detail patterns along the side of the frames.

4.      Consider a less traditional color, like blue or green, for a fresh, youthful appearance. Also consider multi-colored laminates.

5.      Use your eyeglasses to show that you are young at heart, if not in age, by selecting frame shapes that subtly uplift the face. Men should go with upswept rectangles, while women can consider soft cat-eyes.

Consider Color

Determine your coloring and choose an appropriate color of frame based on that. For the purpose of eyeglasses, everyone is either classified as cool (blue-based) or warm (yellow-based).

1.       Examine your skin tone. Individuals with pink or blue undertones have “cool” toned skin, while individuals with yellow or peach undertones have “warm” toned skin. Olive skin falls between warm and cool, since it is a mix of both yellow and blue undertones.

2.       Consider your eye color. Determining the warmth or coolness of your eye color can get tricky, since the spectrum of possible eye colors covers such a wide range. 

·         If you have blue eyes, determine how close they are to pale blue-gray. Most blue eyes are considered cool, but the closer they are to gray, the warmer they get. Another option is to go with a peach or orange color which will make your eye color pop.

·         If you have brown eyes, determine how close they are to black. Most brown eyes are considered warm, but extremely dark browns often qualify as cool toned.

·         If you have green eyes, determine whether your eyes are blue-green or yellow-green. Blue-green shades are cool toned, while yellow-green shades are warm.

3.       Look at your hair color. Cool tones include strawberry blond, platinum, blue-black, white, auburn, salt-and-pepper, and ash brown. Warm tones include golden blond, brownish black, brown-gold, carrot, or dusty gray.

4.       Average your three tones together to determine your overall coloring. If you have more warm tones, then you likely have warm coloring. If you have more cold tones, you likely have cool coloring.

5.       Search for frame colors that coordinate well with your natural coloring.

·         Think gold, copper, camel, khaki, peach, orange, coral, off-white, fire-engine red, and blond tortoise if you have warm coloring.

·         Lean toward silver, black, rose-brown, blue-gray, plum, magenta, pink, jade, blue, and dark tortoise if you have cool coloring.

General Considerations

Before you go shopping for a new pair of eyeglasses, there are a few basics you should take into consideration.

1.       Get an eye exam. Before you invest in a pair of eyeglasses, you must have an accurate prescription for your lenses.

2.       Shop at inexpensive stores that either specialize in eyeglasses or that have an eyeglasses section if you need emergency lenses because an old pair broke or got lost.

3.       Consider going to an optometrist or boutique if investing in a quality pair. These options usually cost a little more, but the quality of service and product may be worth the price.

Always check yourself in the mirror before selecting a pair of eyeglasses. What you see might be blurry, but you will still get a better idea of how a pair looks with your face than you would if you bought it without trying the frames on.

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At 20/20 Eyeglass Superstore you will find a frame for every face and a price for every budget. You can schedule an eye exam online here, or call 407-767-5600.