I have worn glasses since I was seven years old. I quickly convinced my mom to let me wear contacts and haven’t looked back. I like the convenience of contacts. They don’t get dirty during the day, I can buy and wear cheap sunglasses, and I don’t have to worry about scratching or bending them.
Recently though, I have been more concerned about my eye health. I have been wearing blue light blocking glasses when possible, and taking my contacts out earlier in the night to let my eyes breathe.
The main two reasons I have stuck with contacts all these years are I can’t see to put makeup on without them (it’s bad), and my eyes are very light sensitive, so I need sunglasses especially to drive. The thought of buying contacts, glasses, and prescription sunglasses doesn’t seem like a good idea. So, for as long as I can remember I have worn contacts every day, keeping glasses for evening and backup and buying cheap sunglasses.
Now that I almost never drive, and don’t really need sunglasses because the buildings block the sun I have been thinking about wearing my glasses more often. The only problem is I have had them forever. The prescription is current, but I bought the lenses in either 2012 or 2013. They are old. so, I went online and searched for cheaper alternatives for glasses.
Two options kept popping up. Warby Parker and Eye Buy Direct. I asked my eye doctor at my last exam if he had an opinion about either and he said Warby Parker would be a better fit for me. I have a tendency to fall asleep in my glasses at night and they need to be adjusted often. Warby Parker has store locations you can pop in to and get it done for free. They will also fit your glasses when they arrive. They have the option of an at-home try-on, so I decided to try it out.
For the at-home try-on, you choose five frames from their app or website. I took a quiz first to help decide on a shape. The frames were delivered within a week and I had five days to try them on and decide what one, if any I was going to keep. I chose 2 pairs of sunglasses and 3 glasses frames to try on.
The first pair is a very dark brown pair of sunglasses, almost black.
I like these, but I just kept a new pair of sunglasses from my Trunk Club, so I don’t really need a second pair.
The second pair is a lighter framed pair of sunglasses with a little pink in the frame.
I actually really like these and added them to my favorites list in the app. If I am in the market for another pair of sunglasses, these will be it.
On to the regular glasses, I chose this pair because I thought the blue would bring out the blue in my eyes.
They ended up being too big for my face. This happens a lot with glasses, so I expected it with at least one or two pairs.
I chose this pair because they are very similar in color to the glasses I currently wear, but a different shape.
I like them. The size and shape are exactly what I was hoping for, but they are a little darker than I wanted this time around.
The final pair is the same shape, but a lighter tortoise color.
And I love them. I feel like they compliment my hair and skin color better because they aren’t so harsh against my light coloring.
For reference, here are the glasses I have been wearing for seven or eight years.
The ordering process through Warby Parker was so easy. I did it all on the app. I chose the lens I wanted, uploaded a photo of my current prescription and sent the five trial pair back. I signed up for text updates so they don’t get lost in my email, and this morning they tet me with instructions to take a photo to help them measure the distance between my eyes. It was very easy and well explained.
I can’t tell you how nice it was to try on glasses in my own home. My eyes weren’t tired from being poked at for an exam. I could try them on with a couple of different outfits to make sure I liked them, and Aaron was there to give his opinion.
I am using insurance benefits for my new glasses, but if I didn’t they would have only been $135. I have to have my lenses shaved down because my eyes are so bad, so this is a great price. I have spent multiple hundreds of dollars on glasses in the past, that is why I kept them so long.
If you are in the market for new sunglasses or regular glasses, I highly recommend Warby Parker. I will update everyone once I actually get my glasses on the quality and ship time, but so far I’m very impressed.