Saw It On Social: Blue-Light Glasses

May 9, 2019

It started with a twitch in my eyelid.  Then, both eyelids.  And before long, the annoying spasms that once began at 3:00PM, started after lunch and didn’t end.

The culprit: Eye strain.  The cause: Too much screen time.

Years ago, my optometrist (Dr. Rezvani, at iDoc in Penn Quarter) asked me how many hours per day I looked at a computer.  9-hours at my job, give or take meetings.  4-hours of blogging, plus whatever Netflix show I was binging, put me firmly at 12-14 hours a day of steady screen time.  She repeatedly asked if I was kidding.

Fast forward eight years, and my steady diet of screen time continues.  But my youth does not.

Working the legislative session, workdays often started before 7:00AM and ended after I’d finished a post or two, usually around 10:30PM.  A few weeks of that, and the eyelid spasms (medically known as Blepharospasm) that once happened occasionally in the afternoons now filled my days.  So I ordered another pair of the blue-light glasses that Facebook convinced me to buy a few months before (I’d packed the first pair up when we moved, never to be seen again.).

There are so many brands of the on-trend blue-light glasses.  Some cost less than $10.  Some cost over $100.  Others have slightly condescending names like “lady boss” or “girl power lenses.”  I just needed a pair that worked.

Thee two brands that rose to the top of my research are the two I’m going to promote in this post.  Neither of them are likely to pop up on social media.  Because most of the socially promoted companies have either bad customer reviews or glasses that I considered poor quality.

The first brand is called The Book Club.  They make several pair of modern, minimalist glasses in the $30-$50 price range.  The glasses are well made, and flattering on most face shapes.

The pair in the photo are called 12 Hungry Bens (available here, and here).  I love the cellophane frames for a minimal look.  I also like their black Grime in Banishment pair.  I just bought a friend the Art of Snore glasses in a slight beige color for her birthday.

Also, if you’re looking for an inexpensive graduation gift or a gift for an intern, these would be a good option.  They’re practical, useful and stylish.

The second brand comes from Amazon and is called Prive Riveaux.  I bought the tortoise version of their Alchemist glasses for my first pair, and while I love them, they’re a little big for my face.   But if you have strong features or you just love the oversized glasses look, these are for you.  They run $30.

Other pairs I liked include the Aristotle, a simple tortoise frame that looks good on almost everyone, and these Maimonides glasses, a cellophane frame similar to the Bens pair above.

The Aristotle pair as well as some of the other Prive Riveaux frames feel a little flimsy when you first handle them.  But I’ve sat on a pair and they didn’t break or bend.  Over time, I grew to like the lightness of the frames (I sometimes get a headache from heavy glasses.), but if you want a more substantial pair try The Book Club first.

***

Blue-light or screen glasses are kind of a trendy thing right now.  But I found them to be extraordinarily helpful for cutting down on eye strain.  Because as my 85-year-old Nana is so fond of telling us, “Squinters get wrinkles.”

{photo is from Camille Styles’ blog (she’s awesome); and this post contains affiliate links that may generate commission for the author}

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  1. Anna says:

    I bought an inexpensive pair on Amazon, and I’m so disappointed (not one of the brands you mention). They actually make my eyes hurt. The anti-glare coating on my regular glasses seems to work much better (yay $30 glasses from Zenni Optical!). I’ve resorted to wearing my regular glasses for most of the day and putting in my contacts before going to they gym.

  2. strin012 says:

    Is anyone aware of stores that sell these? I strongly prefer to try on glasses in person and dislike the ship-and-return dance of online shopping (yes, I know it’s 2019).

    • Michelle says:

      Target has two pairs that you can ship to the store and then try on there and return immediately. They might carry them in store in other areas but not mine (I’m in Northern Virginia).

  3. I have the prive riveaux one’s that you mention (actually currently wearing them) and they are really big, but I kind of like the look.

  4. anna c says:

    I bought a pair on Amazon that I used for work until recently, but then I actually had to get glasses for full-time use just a few weeks ago. They weren’t bad, but I don’t know if they actually helped. When I picked out my frames, I had the blue light filters added because I spend SO much time on the computer at work. So far they seem to be helping (although I wish my eyes would adapt to the magnification faster).

  5. Lauren says:

    I’ve also enjoyed the Izipizi brand’s choices & both pairs I’ve purchased from them.

  6. Lilliet says:

    Also, for eye strain,just get flux dot com, is super helpful if you have the permissions on your computer/device to install it. F.lux allows you to program your computer’s light range for the time of day. There are a few standard schedules and then you can adjust as you need. It was a big eye-saver when I worked at a large law firm and now that I’m in the government it helps because the ambient lighting is weird and caused a lot of strain when my screen was set to normal.

    • Belle says:

      I used Flux for a while. The issue is if you do anything that requires being able to see the full spectrum of colors, it’s not super helpful.

      • Lilliet says:

        Ha! As a desk jockey that works mostly in Word, it’s been good to me. But yes, if you need the full spectrum of colors, or correct color calibration for your work, it’s not a good solution.

        • CaitliN says:

          Hi there! F.lux has settings that enable you to turn off for certain programs. For example, it’s disabled for Photoshop, but enabled for Word. I also often keep it on for web browsing since the vast majority of my browsing isn’t super color-sensitive.

  7. Meghan Bothe says:

    Do you wear them over your contact lenses or do you buy these low dollar frames and then have your prescription put in the lenses?

  8. Carlie says:

    I have “The Thoreau” glasses by Prive Revaux from Amazon and I love them! I got them after you posted about them about 6 months ago and they have made such a difference. I used to get headaches and the dreaded eye twitch around 3 pm, but no longer! They look very chic. Highly recommend.

  9. Michaela says:

    I’ve never tried the glasses but want to. I have found that making it a habit to look at something in the medium distance for 30 seconds regularly helps — I’ve heard some of the strain can be from our eyes not being made to focus only on the immediate foreground for so long (screen or otherwise). If I’m using a timer to knock out takes, at the end of each cycle I try to look elsewhere.

  10. Leslie says:

    I have a pair from The Book Club in The Art of Snore style, and they have changed my life! I made the mistake of not getting blue-light filtered lenses with my last pair of glasses, but these definitely do the trick for my day to day screen time. (Plus, they are super cute and I have gotten endless compliments on them!)

  11. SJ says:

    I bought the Prive Riveaux pair on your rec a few months ago but ended up returning them – after a couple weeks wearing them it seemed harder to see the screen with them on. I have to stare pretty hard at files with code in them though, maybe if I was just typing Word docs I would t have noticed?

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