Sunglass Lens Color Guide: How to Choose the Right One (2023)

FAQs

Sunglass Lens Color Guide: How to Choose the Right One? ›

Dark colors (brown/gray/green) are ideal for everyday use and most outdoor activities. Darker shades are intended primarily to cut through the glare and reduce eyestrain in moderate-to-bright conditions. Gray and green lenses won't distort colors, while brown lenses may cause minor distortion.

Warm skin tones are characterized by tanned skin, brown or black eyes, and green rather than blue veins. With a warm skin tone, try red, brown, beige, orange, golden or yellow frames. These colours flatter your skin. Choose fiery colours or a juicy brown for your lenses.

Benefits of various color lenses in sunglasses

Some sunglasses tints enhance colors you see, making them appear more vivid. Other tint colors help distort colors, reduce glare, block light and even improve visual acuity.

Yes, color does matter when it comes to tinted sunglasses. In addition to elevating your style, lens color plays a big role in your overall eye health and performance in certain activities. That means that finding the perfect colored lens depends on you and your needs.

Gray or smoke-colored lenses are the most popular choices. That's not surprising, since they provide a clear image on both sunny and cloudy days, and provide great overall protection against glare. Additionally, gray lenses allow true color recognition so you'll see colors in their truest form.

If you want a good all-around pair of sunglasses or can only take one pair on a trip, then brown lenses are a good choice. They are not as good as gray lenses when it comes to blocking sunlight, but they do an excellent job while increasing contrast, clarity, and depth perception by filtering out blue light.

The Best Lens Color for Overcast Days

That color is anything in neighborhood of the yellow family – very light brown to amber to yellow to orange to orange-red. The reason is because overcast days create a lot of “blue light,” light from the bluish stage of the light spectrum.

Gray lenses are one of the most common for a standard pair of sunwear. This color reduces the glare of light when reflecting off of surfaces like water or pavement. In addition to cutting glare, gray lenses easily shield bright light, making them an excellent option for sunny or cloudy days.

Blue tinted lenses for light sensitivity and seizures

It is believed that blue colored lenses are especially effective in preventing this abnormal brain response. Blue-tinted lenses have are also considered to be useful for people who suffer from light-triggered headaches and migraines.

Opaque coloured tints are the best choice if you have dark eyes. For a natural-looking change, try a lighter honey brown or hazel coloured lens. But if you really want to stand out from the crowd, opt for contact lenses in vivid colours, such as blue, green or violet.

Are darker sunglasses better? ›

When examining different types of lenses and sunglass styles, neither lens color nor price plays a factor in safety from the sun's harmful UV rays. It isn't the shade or darkness of the lens that indicates the level of eye protection; it's the coatings.

– Blue is going to perform better in extremely bright light. Does your day or activity consist of varying lighting conditions? – Green is going to perform better in lower light, but will leave wearers squinting in extremely bright situations.

What's the Best Polarized Lens Color for Driving? This often comes down to personal preference, but the best lens color options for driving are usually gray or amber. Gray is generally better for bright, hazy, sunny conditions. Amber is often better for cloudy, overcast days and rain.

Brown sunglasses look best on women with medium or dark hair. They also bring out some nice tones in women with red or auburn hair. Black shades, on the other hand, are perfect for fair-haired, fair-complexioned ladies.

Darkness: Go with 75 per cent, considered a medium darkness, says optician Telenko. Most days aren't brilliant, and you won't need to whip them off the second you are indoors. For sensitive eyes, try the darker glasses that keep out 85 per cent of light. A darker tint shouldn't cost more.

Ray-Ban offers a variety of lens colors, including brown, grey, green, and blue. Brown lenses are great for everyday use and offer good contrast. Grey lenses are perfect for outdoor use and provide excellent glare reduction. Green lenses are ideal for sports and other activities where you need enhanced contrast.

For Light Skin Tone

Sunglasses in neutral or dark hues like brown and gold will look awesome on someone with a warm and light skin tone. You may also like to stick with darker hues but don't always choose black. Dark blue or rich pink colors appeal to warm undertones.

If you are looking for better contrast to increase visual acuity for things like golfing and fishing, then transition brown is the color for you. If you are looking for the absolute darkest transition lens possible, you should veer towards transition gray.

Driving can cause a strain on your eyes especially at night because of the lights of oncoming traffic. So what is considered the best lens color for night driving…well, there are 2 options; either a clear lens with an AR (anti-reflective) coating or a yellow lens with an AR coating.

a yellow lens is still a tint and as such will limit some light entering the lenses so they cannot possibly be as good as a clear lens in dark, night time conditions with no ambient light. yellow is a very high contrast colour which means it sharpens up the field of vision – good if your eyes are tired.

Which color is best for sunglasses? ›

Dark colors (brown/gray/green) are ideal for everyday use and most outdoor activities. Darker shades are intended primarily to cut through the glare and reduce eyestrain in moderate-to-bright conditions. Gray and green lenses won't distort colors, while brown lenses may cause minor distortion.

Gray polarized lenses give you UV protection and anti-glare. These lenses are especially useful for people who are into water sports, as they significantly reduce glare off of water surfaces.

GREEN SUNGLASS LENSES

It does not distort colour perception and offers good contrast vision. With that in mind, green lenses are great for reducing visual fatigue. This tint is recommended for golf, tennis, and other outdoor activities.

For general use, grey green or brown tinted lenses are popular for true colour perception, whilst blue or yellow tints are better suited to specific purposes and/or light conditions. Grey tinted sun lenses are the most common colour amongst sunglasses.

There are several different undertones. To know yours, simply look at the colour of your veins. If the veins visible on through your skin appear green, your undertone is warm and will lean towards yellow. If your veins appear blue, you likely have a cold, pink undertone.

Blue light has been shown to be related to symptoms like eye strain, blurry vision, headaches, dry eye, and sleep disturbances with overexposure. Tinted eyeglasses, often called blue light glasses or blue blockers, are designed to lessen the effects of blue light.

To keep your eyes looking natural, go for brown or hazel colored lens.

As of now, the commonly accepted theory is that eye colour has no real effect on vision quality. It's significant to note that while people with lighter eyes may have increased light sensitivity, those with dark eyes should still make it a point to wear sunglasses whenever they set foot outside.

Understanding Human Field of View

We often hear that a 50mm lens on a full frame camera is the closest to the human field of view. We call the 50mm a standard lens because the focal length is equal to the diagonal size of its sensor. Our eyes' focal length is approximately 22mm.

Check how dark they look

One way is to hold them up in front of your face, looking at them from an angle and then testing how dark they look. If you can see everything behind them clearly, then they're not UV protected. Another way is to ask someone wearing glasses whether or not they're blocking all of their UV rays.

What are the best sunglasses that aren't too dark? ›

Double gradient lenses are a great choice if you want sunglasses that aren't too dark but shield your eyes from bright overhead sunlight and light reflecting off sand, water and other reflective surfaces at your feet. Photochromic lenses adjust their level of darkness based on the amount of UV light they're exposed to.

Those with gray lenses reduce brightness without distorting color and are ideal for driving. Those with brown or amber lenses have the ability to reduce blue light and glare. Gradient lenses are similar to your car's windshield.

Cons of Blue Light Glasses

The blue cut lenses alter the colour of everything you see in the yellow hue. Another blue cut lenses disadvantage is that they are unable to protect skin that also contains melanopsin, a photoreceptor that tells your body whether it is day or night.

Blue Light lens coatings

Cons: Many coatings don't filter a meaningful range of the Blue Light that actually comes off electronic devices. Plus, the lenses are highly reflective (which can be distracting to you and others), and they often have a blue tint, which can be unsightly.

Polarized Lenses

Polarised lenses are a good choice for drivers because they dramatically reduce glare from headlights and light reflecting off of wet surfaces on the road. This makes for a much more comfortable driving experience by reducing the strain on your eyes and providing UV protection.

If it's cloudy or rainy, gray polarized lenses can help enhance contrast and reduce glare from wet roads. If it's bright and sunny, gray lenses help keep your eyes comfortable from the glare. They also display accurate colors outside, so you'll have true color perception while wearing gray shades.

Polarized lenses may not be the ideal choice in every situation. For instance, devices that use LCD displays emit polarized light. If your car uses LCD displays for basic controls, you should avoid polarized sunglasses while you drive.

If you spend a lot of time on the road, on the golf course, on the water or in the mountains, polarized lenses are a good investment. They reduce harmful (and annoying) glare on reflective surfaces like pavement and water, making objects appear clearer—like a golf ball, highway lines or a trail deep in the woods.

While most people reach for their dark lenses because of the bright glare of the sun, other people wear their shades for more reasons than simply sun protection. Sometimes, these reasons cross the threshold into the home, workplace, shopping mall, sports arena and the doctor's office.

If you have medium skin with cool undertones, you'll have pink and blue undertones on your forearm. Tropical colors like blues and greens work well, but you can also get away with dark reds and browns. If you have darker skin with warm yellow undertones, consider metal frames, darker browns, cognacs, and ambers.

What are black sunglasses for? ›

Understated and chic, black sunglasses are also a multipurpose accessory. Classic styles protect your eyes while effortlessly adding a sleek finish to any outfit. Thick-framed square lenses make a statement. And polarized aviators block out harsh UV rays with a cool bent.

Although gray and green lenses have their own benefits, and colorful lenses are fun, copper and amber tints increase contrast, making them the best options for driving. If you're looking for a crisp, clear view, we suggest finding a pair of shades with amber or copper lenses – and extra points if they're polarized.

What are category 4 sunglasses? These are the darkest sun lenses. Because they absorb so much visible light, they're illegal to wear for driving. Generally, these lenses are only suitable for extreme exposure scenarios such as high-altitude mountaineering.

Category 4 sunglasses are ideal for snowboarding or skiing activities, as they let in less than 8% of UV light. However, this category is not recommended for use while driving as the lens is too dark to see clearly. Only sunglasses with a filter category of 0-3 are considered safe for driving.

We found that green is the most popular lens colour, with brown coming in a close second, despite it being one of the most common eye colours. Although blue and hazel are seen as the most attractive eye colours for men and women they are surprisingly the least popular.

Brown sunglasses look best on women with medium or dark hair. They also bring out some nice tones in women with red or auburn hair. Black shades, on the other hand, are perfect for fair-haired, fair-complexioned ladies. The contrast makes blond tresses stunning.

Green – Green lenses are best for general purposes. They create an even color perception, brighten shadows, and offer good contrast. Grey – Another option for basic use, grey lenses reduce strain to your eyes, offer excellent color perception, and minimize glare.

When broken down by gender, men ranked gray, blue, and green eyes as the most attractive, while women said they were most attracted to green, hazel, and gray eyes. Despite brown eyes ranking at the bottom of our perceived attraction scale, approximately 79% of the world's population sports melanin-rich brown eyes.

Dark colors (brown/gray/green) are ideal for everyday use and most outdoor activities. Darker shades are intended primarily to cut through the glare and reduce eyestrain in moderate-to-bright conditions. Gray and green lenses won't distort colors, while brown lenses may cause minor distortion.

Sunglasses with green lenses provide better contrast than gray lenses and transmit color accuracy better than brown lenses and are ideal for both sunny and low-light environments. Perfect for water or field sports, cycling or skiing, green lenses protect and comfort your eyes on foggy, cloudy, or bright, sunny days.

Are darker or lighter sunglasses better? ›

When examining different types of lenses and sunglass styles, neither lens color nor price plays a factor in safety from the sun's harmful UV rays. It isn't the shade or darkness of the lens that indicates the level of eye protection; it's the coatings.

Darkness: Go with 75 per cent, considered a medium darkness, says optician Telenko. Most days aren't brilliant, and you won't need to whip them off the second you are indoors. For sensitive eyes, try the darker glasses that keep out 85 per cent of light. A darker tint shouldn't cost more.