What are Blue Light Glasses, and Why are They Trending Right Now?

When browsing your social feeds in recent months, you may have noticed more of your friends (and a few celebrities) suddenly showing off their new glasses and touting how it’s helping them when looking at their phones or laptop all day.

This isn’t a reference to having bad vision (you should always get your eyes tested annually, even if you think you have 20:20 vision), but an allusion to a new type of glasses which have become incredibly popular in 2020.

Blue light glasses are a non-subscription, simple solution to something we’re all currently falling foul of; blue light exposure. Here’s a little background on what it is, and why everyone is suddenly going crazy for these glasses.

What is blue light?

As you read this, you’re looking at blue light. It is a short wavelength of light that is visible to the human eye. It’s just at the bottom of the range of light we can see, right above ultraviolet.

Weirdly enough, it’s a form of light that we need to go about our daily business. We naturally get blue light exposure from the sunlight in the day time, and it’s essentially one way that sunlight is sending signals to our eyes and brain that it is daytime, we should be alert, and there’s no need to be tired.

So where’s the problem with that?

The sun goes down, and that’s our blue light exposure done for the day, right? Wrong!

We’ve all stumbled into a problem with blue light without even noticing it. We indirectly get blue light artificially every day from our devices. Whether you’re sitting up late to work at your computer, are Zooming with family every evening, or have a bad habit of taking our phone to bed, we’re letting in more blue light.

Why would this be a bad thing?

While it’s not as obvious as sitting in a fully lit room in the middle of the night, greater exposure to blue light is going to send all the wrong signals to your brain. If you’re like me and tend to browse through your phone in bed, you’ll often feel more strain on the eyes when you really should already be asleep.

Blue light sources are continually telling the body that we should be awake when we really shouldn’t.

That’s where blue light glasses come in

Remember when you were younger and would see a big dusty looking screen over a desktop computer? Well, imagine doing that now with every phone, tablet, and TV in your house. It would just look weird as a way to block blue light.

That’s why blue light glasses are a suitable solution to limiting blue light exposure. A decent pair will soften blue light when staring at a screen and may reduce that strained feeling eyes can have. It’s important to remember that such exposure is something that happens throughout the day, so if you’re commonly finding you have tired eyes while sitting in front of a computer screen and working all day, a pair might help.

Want more information on blue light glasses?

This handy blue light infographic from Kanturo has everything you need to know about protecting yourself from blue light, and why a pair might be right for you.

Are you getting ready for summer?

Read this recent post from the blog on what Polarized Sunglasses to Wear This Summer. Don’t forget, you can always keep up to date with the latest trends and styles by visiting our men’s fashion or women’s fashion sections.