Computer Screen Glasses This Summer
Well Spring has finally sprung here in the UK, and with the promise of lockdown restrictions lifting next week, there is a real buzz of excitement in the air.
People have been enjoying the abnormal heatwave this week, and many took to the parks and streets in numbers to get some sun on their face.
Here at Island, we don’t like to play favourites over Summer and Winter, however, if push came to shove, I think we know where we would rather be.
Our company was founded with Summer Island origins, and it is because of this that we wanted to create specs for tech that could be worn inside as well as outside.
Computer Screen Glasses That Can Be Worn Outside
Computer screen glasses have brought relief to millions of people around the globe in the last few years.
With the ramp-up in the number of devices we use in everyday life, our exposure to blue light has also shot up.
Throughout our development of our blue light collection of eyewear, we knew we wanted to keep the Summer-vibe strong in our line up.
That is why we designed special lenses that are able to adapt to sunlight, automatically tinting when they make contact with UV light from the sun.
If you want to learn more about blue light and sunlight, then read on.
What Exactly Is Blue Light?
Computer screen glasses essentially filter out this blue light, meaning our eyes get a break from this high-energy form of visible light.
High-energy blue light is extremely high-intensity light in the dark blue to the turquoise range.
Within the visible spectrum of light, this is usually between 380nm and 550nm, although the intensity of the light tails off around 500nm as it transitions into green light, which has a longer wavelength and is less powerful.
Blue light has the shortest wavelength of any visible light, which means it packs more of a punch, hence why it is a significant contributor to plant growth.
Blue light occurs naturally in the light produced by the sun, however, it contains the full spectrum and the amount of blue light changes during the morning and evening, which is what our bodies are suited to.
Artificial blue light doesn’t have the spectral balance that the sun has, and extended exposure to computer and even fluorescent bulbs can upset our natural rhythm.
What Does Blue Light Do To Humans?
Studies have shown that exposure to blue light at night reduces melatonin levels and disrupts sleep.
Melatonin is a hormone that regulates sleep and circadian rhythms, and it is directly connected to the sun’s movement.
In the evening, our bodies produce small quantities of melatonin to lull us to sleep, and when we are sleeping our bodies continue to produce this special hormone.
The blue light wavelength is believed to interfere with the process of visual attention and the timing of the circadian rhythm of sleep.
Interestingly, blue light occurs right next to UV light on the spectrum, and transitions from deep blues and purples into non-visible light in the form of Ultra Violet light.
What About UV Light?
Generally, people have a pretty good idea of the dangers of too much Ultra Violet light.
The sun beams down UV light on us during the day, and a bit of UV light can actually be beneficial to our bodies.
Most of us are exposed to UV rays every day from the sun, so much of our daily UV exposure comes without even a thought.
However, when the body is exposed to a lot of UV rays over time, the cumulative effect of these rays over time can cause long-term damage.
UV light can upset our skin cells and cause cancer, but it can also affect our eyes in a number of ways.
Bright sunlight and UV light can cause excessive squinting and can lead to retinal damage because of the brightness.
On top of this, sunlight over years can even darken the whites of our eyes and cause the blood vessels in our eyes to swell up, which can lead to further problems.
Glasses That Can Do Both
Scientists have studied certain types of sunglasses lenses over the years, and more recently blue light blocking glasses for computer screens.
Researchers are learning more and more about blue light and its effects on the human eye every day.
Currently, there are no known cures for retinal damage aside from surgery, but researchers have found ways to treat it and prevent or at least slow the progression.
Sunglasses for bright sunlight and computer screen glasses for artificial blue light seem to be the best way to combat this light exposure, but that means you need two pairs of glasses, right?
Not anymore, thanks to recent development, we have been able to combine blue light filtering technology with transition lenses, to create blue light glasses and sunglasses in one package.
The transition lenses adapt to contact with UV light, so they can be worn indoors when working at a computer, and when you go outside they automatically tint to block sunlight.
This combination is the perfect setup for Summer, where we want to be outside enjoying the sun, but also want to remain productive throughout the working day.
Our transition glasses give you the best of both worlds: blue light glasses and sunglasses in one pair of glasses.
Learn more about our transition blue light lenses here, and watch our lenses react to the sun below.
TR90 Frames – New Age Blue Light Glasses
TR90 plastic, or Grilamid TR-90 as it is also known, is a special polymer that was developed by the Swiss EMS company.
The remarkable properties of TR90 are what attracted optical glasses manufacturers to use them for spectacle frames.
Why Use TR90 For Glasses?
TR90 is a great material for glasses due to its valuable characteristics:
- Very flexible – can bend and distort without losing their original shape
- Extremely lightweight – no pressure when wearing them on the face
- Ultra durable – resistant to stains, marks and scratches
On top of this, it can also be made in every colour imaginable with gorgeous patterns.
Modern production methods have brought the cost of producing TR90 glasses down in recent years, making them very cost-effective as well.
Lightweight Glasses Frames
The remarkable weight nature of TR90 is perhaps the most attractive quality of this material.
This allows the user to wear these glasses all day without feeling any pressure on the bridge of their nose or behind their ears.
Our TR90 blue light collection has been designed to feather-light, so the wearer will hardly notice them even after a full day of being worn.
Super Flexible Glasses
The flexibility of TR90 makes them the perfect material for eyeglasses.
TR90 has a unique characteristic in that it can be bent and distorted, and it will always return to its original shape.
This memory effect of TR90 means that the glasses will mould themselves to different face shapes without losing their structure.
TR90 Durability
TR90 is very difficult to break and will survive drops and impacts much more readily than other materials like acetate.
They are one of the more favoured materials for glasses for kids, since they can survive most of the abuse that kids throw at them.
Its rubbery texture means that they will bounce and bend rather than shattering on impact if dropped.
Our TR90 Blue Light Glasses
First up, our classes TR90 frame, the Cava.
With 3 colourways and subtle styling, these are the perfect blue light glasses if you work at a computer or spend a lot of time scrolling.
The Cava has a medium sized frame with a medium sized face built around an extremely lightweight chassis.
Our second frame is the Skye frame, a sophisticated fusion of a TR90 face with stainless steel legs.
These lightweight frames wrap around the face perfectly and sit comfortably on the wearer without being obtrusive.
Glasses Sizes Explained – Blue Light Archives
Want to choose the perfect fit for your blue light glasses?
Lots of people struggle with glasses sizes, but it’s easier than you think to choose the best size.
This guide will you help find the right pair of glasses to fit your face, so you can choose spectacles that you won’t even notice you are wearing.
Choosing The Right Size Of Glasses
Choosing the correct size of glasses can be a bit of a minefield. There are a lot of dimensions and measurements that come with sizing frames, and while these are important numbers to know, they can be a bit confusing.
Let’s walk through an example using our Texa frame. Our Texa frame sports a classic medium-sized frame with round lenses and a keyhole cut nose grip.
Here are the dimensions of the Texa frame in a visual format:
FRAME – 132mm
HEIGHT – 50mm
LENS – 43mm
BRIDGE – 12mm
TEMPLE – 140mm
Glasses Frame Size Measurements
Lots of people want to know what the best glasses frame size is for them, and there are really only 3 important measurements that you should be concerned with:
- The FRAME – the length of the face of the frame
- The BRIDGE – the distance between the nose grips
- The TEMPLE – the length of the arm of the glasses
You can use a ruler and a mirror to get a pretty good idea of whether or not a pair of glasses will fit.
Measuring Your Glasses Bridge Size
Simply face a mirror and hold a ruler up to the bridge of your nose. This is generally the point of your nose that is in line with the bottom of your eyes.
For most people, the bridge of the nose will measure around 10 cm, but the range is usually somewhere between 8-25cm.
Measuring Your Frame Length
Your frame length is essentially the width of your head not including the ears, so it is a little trickier to measure.
The best way is to put two pencils behind your ears and measure the distance between the two tips of the pencils – just make sure the pencils are parallel with each other.
Most adults will fall into a range of around 130-150cm, and children will generally sit at around 115-130cm.
Measuring Your Temple Length
The temple distance is tricky to measure, since glasses sit at a point outside of your facial measurements.
The best way is to hold one end of a piece of string behind your ear at the earlobe, and the other end at the edge of your eyebrow.
This will give you an approximate measurement for your temple, and the majority of people will need a temple length of 140cm.
Simplified Glasses Sizes
We provide complete measurements for all our blue light glasses frames on our product pages, but sometimes people just want a simplified explanation.
To achieve this, we sorted our glasses into 3 easy categories:
- Fits Smaller Faces – frames that have a length of 130cm or less – great for adults with smaller heads as well as kids and teens
- Fits Most Faces – frames that have a length of around 130-140cm – the most common size of glasses that fits well on the majority of adults
- Fits Larger Faces – frames that exceed 140cm in length – larger frames for bigger head sizes
Summary
For most people, our handy 3 piece guide will do them just fine for sizing their glasses.
People generally know roughly which category they fit into, whether it’s smaller faces, most faces or larger faces.
If you already have a pair of specs or sunglasses that fit well, you can break out the measuring tape and use our measurements of the product page to compare which glasses would be best for you.
As always, we are always on hand to answer any questions and help you find the best size of glasses for you.
Screen Glasses UK Workers Need
With many of us still working from home spending hours hunched over a laptop, it is no wonder than office workers are starting to notice the effects of screen exposure. We take a look at some of the ways people working from home (WFH) can keep their eyes and minds in top shape.
Blue Light Glasses UK Screen-Gazers Need
The humble computer screen has been around for 50 years, going from a niche device to a worldwide phenomenon. There are now over 2 billion computers in the world today, being used for all sorts of purposes, like phones, tablets, laptops and more. The prevalence of screens has risen quickly, but our adaptation to these devices has been slow, leading to eye fatigue, headaches and sleepless nights because of screens. Thankfully there are now blue light glasses UK people need in order to keep their eyes protected from blue light and help them get a better nights sleep.
Island Eyewear Blue Light Collection
We designed our blue light glasses from the ground up, using top materials for the best look and performance. Our screen glasses can reduce the effects felt from staring at a screen all day, whether it is your phone, laptop or even TV screen. You don't even need to work in front of a computer to rack up a good amount of screen time, since most people spend a lot of time in front of their smartphones. If your WFH or even just scrolling on social media a decent amount, our blue light collection is worth a look.
What Do Blue Light Glasses Do?
Blue light glasses use a yellow tint filter built into the lens to filter out the blue light waves and stop them from reaching your eyes. If worn daily when you are in front of a computer screen, they have been shown to reduce headaches and eye fatigue in just a few days. Not only that, if you are on your devices at night, wearing blue light glasses can help regulate your melatonin levels, which are disrupted when we expose ourselves to blue light at night. Wearing blue light blocking glasses is becoming very commonplace in offices and with creative types who need to use a screen, and the effects are being felt by a huge range of people.
Screen Glasses Quick Info
If you want the quick facts about screen glasses, we've put together a few key points to take note of:
- Screen exposure of more than 2 hours a day is considered excessive, but many people get up to 5 times this amount
- Blue light exposure at night has been proven to reduce melatonin production, which is known as the sleep hormone produced by the body
- Blocking your exposure to blue light in the evenings has been proven to help people fall asleep faster with a higher quality sleep
- Eye fatigue can also occur when people work in front of computer devices
- Screen glasses can reduce eye fatigue and keep your eyes feeling fresher
Check out our full range of blue light glasses here make sure to subscribe at the bottom for more news and updates from Island HQ.
What Are The Best Blue Light Glasses For Me?
We often get asked by our customers, “what are the best blue light glasses for me,” so we wanted to give some advice on which ones to go for.
In this quick read, we will discuss the differences in the materials we use, as well as the types of lenses we have.
Finding The Best Blue Light Glasses For Me
In order to know what the best blue light glasses are for you, you need to know a few things about how our glasses are made.
This all starts with the frame material and design.
Choosing A Blue Light Frame
We use 3 materials to make the frames for our glasses:
Mazzucchelli Bio Acetate
Swiss TR90 Plastic
Metals
Choosing the right frame depends on a few things. In general, TR90 frames are lighter and more flexible than acetate and metal frames.
On the other hand, acetate frames are extremely tough and hard-wearing, more so than the TR90 frames.
For the last consideration, metal frames tend to be more rugged and long-lasting, and are popular for their looks.
Consider which frame’s characteristics you are looking for and choose a frame that suits your lifestyle.
Blue Light Filtering Lenses
Once you know what frame you want, then you can decide which lens you want.
We have a few different kinds of lenses on offer:
Blue light filter lens – no correction
Blue light filter lens – prescription lens
Blue light transition lens – photochromatic blue light lens
Polarised sun lens – UV polarised lens
The right lens for you will depend on your lifestyle and what you wish to use the glasses for.
Our uncorrected blue light lenses will filter blue light and are designed for non-prescription users.
Our corrected blue light lenses will filter blue light and come in your chosen prescription.
Our blue light transition lenses will adapt to the sun and filter out blue light and sunlight.
With our polarised sun lenses, you get the best polarised optical lenses.
Our Take
We chose our frames and lenses because we wanted a high-quality pair of specs that would last.
We made sure we got our hands-on the best raw materials we could find to ensure our glasses were up there with the best.
If you want a chunky, retro-style look that is well made, choose an acetate frame.
If you want modern and lightweight, see our TR90 range.
And for lenses, if you are going outdoors a lot then consider getting transition lenses with your acetate frames.
Mazzucchelli Acetate Glasses - 170 Years of Innovation
Mazzucchelli Acetate dates all the way back to 1849, with a family business that has passed its knowledge of quality and style down through the generations.
To this day Mazzucchelli Acetate remains a highly sought after material, being used for high quality and sustainable plastic products that demand the best materials.
Here at Island Eyewear, we knew we wanted to use this incredible acetate for the construction of our glasses.
This is the story of Mazzucchelli.
Mazzucchelli Acetate For Blue Light Glasses
Mazzucchelli Acetate has a long history of being used in some of the best designer sunglasses and eyeglasses in the world.
We wanted to bring this luxury material to the Island Eyewear collection with our blue light glasses, but didn’t want to compromise on affordability.
We worked with Mazzucchelli to bring vibrant colours and shades that wouldn’t break the bank, bringing the best acetate in the world to screen users everywhere.
Mazzucchelli frames perfectly paired with blue light lenses to make screen glasses that look great and feel even better.
Creative Expression
The process of making Mazzucchelli’s world-renowned acetate is quite interesting indeed.
Cellulose acetate as it is more commonly know is in fact made from processed tree pulp.
First, the cellulose acetate is spun and mixed with special pigments to create acetate granules.
Unlike most other commercial plastics, cellulose acetate cannot be processed as a thermoplastic material until it is blended with other suitable plasticisers.
Once these granules have been processed they can then be fused together with the other granules to create the incredible patterns and textures that Mazzucchelli is famous for.
Acetate Glasses Construction
Once we have the Mazzucchelli Acetate slate in our hands, the fun part begins.
Creating glasses from acetate is a subtractive process, meaning that we start with a rectangular slate then trim away the excess to leave the perfect pair of specs.
This is all done by hand for the best possible finish and quality.
The end result is a frame that is not only incredibly strong, but also completely unique.
This is due to the fact that each slate of acetate will never be the same as another, so every pair of glasses we make is completely individual.
Transition Lenses
Ever heard of Transition Lenses?
Well, now they have been revamped for the 21st century.
We have created our own custom transition blue light lenses that protect you from both blue light and sunlight.
These clever lenses mean that you get 2 pairs of specs in 1, and let you take your blue blockers into the great outdoors.
Add them to your pair of Mazzucchelli frames from the product page and get the best of both worlds.
Blue Light Glasses - The Story So Far
The awareness of blue light and its effects has only received mainstream attention in more recent years, but blue light has been on the medical radar for a while.
This letter in the Harvard Health Publication in 2012 was already eluding to the possible dangers of too much blue light exposure, even at a time when smartphones were not as prevalent.
Now in 2020, three times as many people are using smartphones, and the average person is spending around 3 hours a day on their mobile device alone.
Factor in the additional time spent watching TV, browsing the web and working on laptops, and you could be looking at over 5 hours exposure to blue light waves.
Is Blue Light Bad?
But blue light can’t be that bad, because it comes naturally from the sun, right?
Well first of all, the light from the sun disappears at night, unless you live in Norway, and this night and day effect is directly linked to the body’s melatonin production.
Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland as the daylight hours begin to dwindle, and it flows into the blood stream and lulls you into an ideal sleeping state.
The Effects of Blue Light Exposure
Several studies have shown that exposure to blue light in the evening when the sun goes down supresses melatonin production by up to 50%.
The studies also found that the melatonin production was extended over a much longer duration, meaning that the melatonin levels in the blood stream did not build up naturally.
This then means that people would take longer to fall asleep and the quality of their sleep is affected.
Our Relationship with Devices
Let’s face it, technology allows us to do incredible things in our live, but we are now practically married to them.
If you are a serious smartphone user, your average screen time could be in excess of 4.5 hours a day, and the majority of this time is usually in the evening.
Smart phones are a firm part of our lives, and we like it that way, but our melatonin system doesn’t.
Manufacturers and developers have recognised the problem, and most phones now have dark mode and screen filters that limit the amount of visible blue light.
How Do Screen Glasses Work?
Screen glasses protect your eyes by filtering out the high energy blue light waves from your devices.
They have a specially treated optical lens that stops the blue light from reaching your eye.
They are especially effective when worn in the evening, since most people go on their device at this time and upset their melatonin production.
Blue Blockers for Work
If you work in front of a screen all day, your blue light exposure is at the top end of the scale, at around 8 hours.
Even during the day, this extended exposure can affect your mood and hormone regulation.
Dry, tired eyes at the end of the working day is a common complaint amongst office workers, but blue light glasses can relieve these symptoms.
Screen glasses let you work for longer at your best when you are at work, and the exposure to the device is not as tiring.
The most important thing is to take regular breaks throughout the day away from your computer, and the same goes for your smartphone.
Moving Forward
These devices are the tools we use to improve our lives and make a difference to the work, but we have only been using them widely for 20 years, and in that time, they have started taking their toll on our sleep and wellbeing.
Filtering out these pesky blue waves can help us improve our lives even further, getting the most out of our devices and protecting our eyes while we’re at it.