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People often ask me which cases and storage pieces I use. It isn't a secret that I have a lot of sunglasses, and I rarely go anywhere without at least one pair. I have cases from over 20 brands, as well as some cheaper options from Amazon. Here is a list of what I use and what I think are the best sunglasses cases, storage, and travel cases. In this post: Cases Storage Travel Cases There are a few things to know for picking out a case. The size of the sunglasses. The case can't be too small and too large can also be an issue if the sunglasses move too much or it is harder to fit in bags/convienient place in the car. What kind of protection is necessary. If you are just keeping them in the car, you may not need a heavy-duty case, but if there's going to be a lot of action and the case could get stepped on, even many "hard" cases may not be enough. Personally, I use the Revo Hardcase and the Costa Del Mar hard zipper case the most. I like the size of the Revo case and the ease of use. And it is very hard. For anything that I don't worry about getting in too much of a tumble, this is a good case. If it did fall down stairs, it might pop open, though. Maui Jim used to make a clamshell case that I have a few of, and I use those as well, especially since they can fit large sunglasses, but they are out of production. So for anything that requires more protection, I use the Costa case . It is hard, has a zipper, and is the best size and shape to fit large sunglasses without smaller pairs being too loose. A good practice is to stuff a microfiber cloth on top of the sunglasses to give them a bit more cushion in the case, adding more protection and keeping the sunglasses more secure. There are similar cases on Amazon as well. SteelFever sells a three-pack of hard zippered cases that are similar in functionality to the Costa case but not as hard. Fintie has a smaller version of the same case. Most of the cases like these that are sold on Amazon are inexpensive and are fine; there won't be major differences between them. If you need something that can survive being stomped on, you can get the Oakley Carbon Sunglass Case . It isn't zippered, but the spring in it is pretty strong, and it is unlikely to pop open. Oakley also has a hard zippered case , but it is slightly more pricey than the other options, though it is larger. I think zippered cases are the way to go. You don't have to worry about your sunglasses getting out of the case in the event of a fall; you only need to worry about them being crushed, and these cases are generally good enough to withstand most impacts. Don't go for fancy leather cases, trifold cases, or flip-open cases. I have a lot of them; they come with sunglasses from brands like Maui Jim, Randolph, Serengeti, and American Optical. They are not sufficiently protective of falls and impacts, and if you pay a good amount of money for premium sunglasses, don't let them get damaged because of the case. The point of having them is for how good they look on you and how good they make the world look. As far as I am concerned, when they are not on me, they could be in a vault. Storage For home storage, I have a lot of variety. I highly recommend having a proper storage unit and place. Having sunglasses just in cases and not in a consistent place is a recipe for losing them and being a headache when you want to find a particular pair. When I first got more than a few pairs, I got the CO-Z Sunglasses Organizer with 12 Slots . It doesn't take up much room on top of a dresser. One downside is that you cannot have anything on top of or in front of it for it to be easily useful. Once my collection outgrew this, and I started getting sunglasses for my wife (who at the time did not understand why she had more than 6 pairs), I gave that case to my wife and upgraded to the AUTOARK Leather 24 Piece Eyeglasses Storage . It is essentially the same case, just with 8 slots vs 6 per level, and one more level. The shelves come out completely and are useful when I want to show someone a couple of pairs in another room. I have two of these. These cases are good for display and everyday uses, but not for the best use of space. If you need something more compact or something that can stack, these won't be that great. Once my collection grew even more, I started getting the ProSource 18 Slot Sunglasses Organizer . I have 4 of these and stack them on each other, on a single shelf. They aren't as accessible but are easy to use and transport to other rooms for display. They did smell a bit for a few hours after opening, but that went away quickly. Travel Not many people travel with as many sunglasses as I do. If you are only taking one or two, you can get away with just using a good hardcase like I explained above. But if you have more than 2 with you, there are several good options. The case I use the most is the CO-Z Foldable Travel Sunglasses Organizer . It folds up to the size of a small (American) football and can hold 5 sunglasses in it. The slots are a good size for most sunglasses, but often don't fit big wrap frames. They can hold my Maui Jim Kanaio Coast but not the Costa Del Mar Reefton . If you need a flatter case, ProCase makes a Hard Shell Travel Sunglasses Organizer with 4-6 slots. And those are the main cases, storage units, and travel cases I have used.

When it comes to sport sunglasses, Oakley is front and center. Their Prizm lenses are designed for everyday or sports, and have many details that are important to know before you make your purchase. In This Article Lens Material and Construction Lens Coatings or Lack Thereof Lens Durability and Fragility Prizm Lens Technology - Where Oakley Shines Conclusion- Oakley Prizm Lens Specs and Details Lens Material and Construction All Oakley lenses are made of Plutonite, which is Oakley's proprietary polycarbonate lens. The lenses are extremely impact-resistant. I've seen sales reps take a hammer to a lens and try to shatter it to no effect. The lenses meet or exceed ANSI Z87.1 standards for high-velocity and high-mass impact resistance. While many Oakley lenses inherently meet these criteria, not all models undergo official certification unless they're part of Oakley's Industrial or Standard Issue (SI) line. Keep in mind, even if the lenses themselves are impact-resistant, to be certified as ANSI Z87.1, both the lenses and the frame must be tested together. Lenses alone, outside of their frame, are not typically certified independently for workplace safety. All Oakley lenses block 100% of UVA, UVB, and UVC rays. Polycarbonate is one of the worst lens materials for optical clarity and chromatic aberration. This means that objects and colors further in the distance will appear less clear and colors less sharp. But this is relative to glass or nylon or other materials. It does not mean Oakley lenses feel blurry or dull, just that some may notice a small difference in this respect vs other lens materials. To me, Oakley lenses do not have any clarity issues but I feel like they are missing some of the "magic" that glass lenses have. Oakley has lens technology that is called High Definition Optics and XYZ Optics. These are related to each other and have to do with the lens curve not causing distortion. Standard lenses can distort vision, especially at the edges, causing images to appear warped or shifted, especially when the lens is more curved, which is common for sport frames. When light passes through a lens, it can bend (refract), leading to visual inaccuracies. HDO eliminates blurriness and magnification errors common in less advanced lenses, giving wearers sharper vision. XYZ Optics is a specific component of the HDO system designed to maintain clarity and accuracy across the entire lens, especially at the periphery. Most lenses have optical clarity in the center but distort vision as you look toward the edges. XYZ Optics addresses this problem by optimizing lens geometry, providing wide-angle clarity. The technology also helps maintain consistent light transmission across the lens surface, reducing glare and enhancing overall clarity. Oakley claims this technology sets them apart from other lens manufacturers, and did some videos with SportRX about it. As quoted in this excellent article by Outside Online, an "Oakley rep claimed that, due to Oakley’s 1989 discovery of and patent on XYZ lens tapering of curved lenses in vertical, horizontal, and thickness directions (X, Y, and Z directions), simultaneously, other brands cannot duplicate this non-bending of light beams. He further claimed that there would be a greater strain on and damage to the eyes behind non-Oakley glasses since they would be doing extra work to resolve a distant object into a single image." However, the author of that article interviews other lens makers who confirm there is nothing too special about these technologies, that the patents have expired, and that all competitive brands use similar methods in their own products. What's most laughable about it is that it is something you can experience and see for yourself. Put a pair of Oakleys next to some glass lenses from brands like Maui Jim , Serengeti , Costa Del Mar , or Vuarnet and there is no question Oakley is a step behind these brands in terms of clarity. Lens Coatings or Lack Thereof Oakley does not put many coatings on their non-prescription lenses. The main coating that is applied to most of their lenses is called Iridium, a metal coating on the lens that reflects light to give a unique look. Oakley describes its Iridium lenses as having a "12-micron jacket" to emphasize the thin yet precise application of their specialized coating. A micron is one millionth of a meter. A 12-micron layer is extremely thin—equivalent to about 0.00047 inches. The Iridium coating is applied with extreme accuracy using a process called vacuum deposition. This method ensures a smooth, even layer of metallic oxides across the lens. There is no indication that Oakley puts an anti-reflective coating on their lenses and definitely no hydrophobic (anti-water), Oleophobic (oil-resistant), or scratch-resistant coatings which are standard for premium lenses from other brands at the same price point. Some sales reps, including from SportRX, have told me there is AR coating included, but I believe they are mistaken. The side glare and reflections on non-wrap frames are annoying, but it is not an issue on wrap frames where there is no light getting in from the sides. It is disappointing that Oakley does not have a full suite of coatings included on their lenses. I cannot think of a valid reason other than cost-saving for not including them. While Oakley excels in areas like impact resistance and optical clarity (for a poly lens), skipping coatings is likely a cost-saving measure that risks putting them behind competitors like Maui Jim, Costa, and Revo in terms of overall lens quality for discerning users. Where Oakley does add a full coating suite is on their prescription lenses. Here they add OAKLEY STEALTH™ PRO, which has AR, anti-scratch, hydrophobic, oleophobic, and even anti-static coatings. I can confirm my prescription Prizm Ruby lenses have an AR coating. I guess once people are putting down serious money Oakley feels forced to step up their offering. Lens Durability and Fragility There are several issues to be concerned about for Oakley lenses in terms of durability, but by far the two biggest are scratch resistance and delamination. Polycarbonate, though excellent for impact resistance, is already a very scratch-prone material because of how soft and flexible it is. But Oakley's Iridium mirrors take the scratch issue to the next level. They even say it themselves here on their product care page, but I will post a screenshot in case that link gets removed. Having to treat your sports lenses with "special care to avoid scratching" is very disappointing. They should be as scratch-resistant as possible and include the best hard coatings on top like brands like Revo have. The lenses really do scratch at the smallest of impacts. I baby my lenses and it is just unavoidable. The second issue is delamination. If you get any oil or grease like sun lotion on the lenses for too long, the mirror coating and even the lens itself can start to bubble and peel off. This is also true of having the lenses out in high heat like keeping them in a parked car. This is not unique to Oakley, is more common for polycarbonate lenses, but it is still something to keep in mind. Both of these issues mean how you clean your lenses and how often are super important. If there is any grease on the lenses, do not put them away. Clean them. If there is any debris on the lenses like dust, sand from the beach, or any fibers, do not rub the lenses, even with a microfiber cloth. First, wash them off and put some mild dish soap or a non-abrasive lens cleaner on them. Otherwise, your lenses can look like this: Avoid extreme temperatures, dirt, and grease, and remember to maintain your lenses. Prizm Lens Technology - Where Oakley Shines Now we get to the part of why so many people still buy Oakley lenses despite the issues raised above (aside from their formidable marketing). It is also the reason why I, as the owner of over 100 premium lenses from over 18 different brands, will still wear Oakley's fairly often: Prizm Lens Technology. Oakley's Prizm Ruby lens was my first color-enhancing lens and was my gateway into the world of premium sunglass lenses. Oakley's Prizm lens technology is one of its most innovative features, designed to enhance color, contrast, and clarity. Unlike traditional lenses that may merely darken your view, Prizm lenses work to fine-tune the color spectrum by selectively filtering light wavelengths. This provides a sharper, more vibrant view, tailored to specific activities or environments. The magic of Prizm lies in its ability to enhance colors that the human eye is naturally more sensitive to while muting others. This targeted filtration is especially beneficial in environments where small visual details can make a significant difference—like spotting a golf ball against the grass or identifying changes in the terrain while mountain biking. Oakley accomplishes this by using dyes injected into the actual lens, not any coatings or dyes applied after the lens construction. And it really works, though some lenses are better than others. Some users find the heightened color contrasts unnatural or distracting, and some people can't enough. Oakley splits up their Prizm lenses into "Prizm Everyday" and "Prizm Sport" categories, with the "Everyday" lenses being a mix of grey or brown-based lenses with different mirror coatings, and the "Sport" lenses mostly being rose-based with some brown as well. Here at Sunglass Science, we will go through all the Oakley Prizm lenses one by one to explain how Oakley has tuned each specific lens for its environment. Conclusion - Oakley Prizm Lens Specs and Details For everyday sunglasses, the lack of premium coatings can be a drawback for such a high price point, and the fragility of the lens is concerning. But for sports, the impact resistance combined with the Prizm tech keeps me coming back to Oakley again and again. I have also never paid full price for a pair of Oakley's, which I don't think I could bring myself to do, instead usually get them on sale on Amazon, which has lower prices anyway (though be careful with the seller, as Oakley is one of the most counterfeited brands out there). We have not discussed frames, but I think the Oakley Flak 2.0 XL is the best sport frame ever made and Oakley has struggled to come up with new designs to outshine their bestseller for over 10 years. It's because of that combination of frame plus Prizm that I usually choose Oakley for sports when I otherwise do not wear them. Use code SCIENCE10 for $10 off your purchase.

Oakley's Prizm Shallow Water Polarized lenses are crafted to elevate your vision in freshwater environments. Designed for anglers and outdoor enthusiasts, these lenses enhance contrast and clarity, making it easier to spot fish and underwater details in shaded or sunlit waters. Check out the Prizm Shallow Water lens on Oakley  or at SportRx  ( use code SCIENCE10 for $10 off your purchase). If you want to know more about how brown lenses work, click here . In This Review Lens Specs How does the lens look? What does the view look like? Sunny Condition Cloudy Conditions Optimal and Suboptimal Viewing Conditions Sports Comparison to the same brand lenses - Oakley Comparison to the Brown Lenses of Different Brands Conclusion: Oakley Prizm Shallow Water Polarized Lens Review - Should you buy it? Lens Specs Oakley Prizm Shallow Water Polarized Technology Prizm Lens Color Officially rose, but it's brown Mirror Color Green VLT 15% ABBE 30 Coatings Mirror coating Material Plutonite (polycarbonate) Weight Light Scratch Resistance Low Prescription Available No Sunglass Science Lens Tier 4 For a comprehensive guide on Oakley Prizm lenses, including specifications, lens coatings, impact resistance, scratch resistance, and care tips, read this detailed breakdown . This guide also highlights important considerations such as the limited coatings and lower scratch resistance of Prizm lenses. The Oakley Prizm Shallow Water lens is exclusively available in polarized, and it's one of only two lenses in Oakley's Sport collection that feature polarization, alongside the Prizm Deep Water lens. Polarization is crucial in water environments to reduce glare, and enhance clarity and visibility. Although polarization can sometimes interfere with depth perception in fast-paced sports, as explained here , the benefits of polarized lenses in water-based activities far outweigh these concerns. Is it eligible for prescription? No. I do not know the reason why. There is a great alternative for prescription wearers, which we discuss in the lens comparison section below. For all other Oakley Prescription needs, check out   SportRx ,   the best place to get Oakley . How does the lens look? The front has a solid deep green mirror. The tint is brown, but the green mirror adds a bit of purple highlights, though that is hard to see. Oakley lists this lens as rose-based, like all other Prizm Sport lenses, but it is clearly not. There is no anti-reflective coating on the lens. What does the view look like? Adding warmth to sunglass lenses enhances the vibrancy and richness of your surroundings by reducing high-energy blue light, which often dulls other colors. Brown lenses are particularly effective at filtering blue light, outperforming green or red lenses to create a warmer and more colorful view. This increased warmth sharpens visual clarity while potentially boosting alertness, energy levels, and overall mood. The Prizm Shallow Water Polarized does a good job of this. It has a warm view and is well-balanced, not leaning too red or yellow. It has a very standard brown tint, and the Prizm technology does not work as well here as with other lenses, even brown tints like Prizm Ruby. Most Prizm lenses have a distinct color boost that makes the world a bit highlighted, especially the Sport line. The SWP does not. It may lack a "wow" factor other lenses do, but it does what it is designed to do, boost colors and add clarity in freshwater environments. Sunny Conditions These photos are what Oakley and other sources have used to show the view. Keep in mind that photos will never look as good as the real view  looking through the sunglasses with your own eyes. Interested in experiencing the Prizm Shallow Water lens for yourself? Check out the lens on Oakley or   SportRx . This photo is mostly accurate, but the water will have less glare because of the polarization. The tint is correct. Here is the same picture broken out: No Lens With Lens No Lens With Lens This is also fairly accurate, though the sky will be redder. Here is my simulation of how the lens looks: No Lens Oakley Prizm Shallow Water The SWP does a good job of boosting colors, adding warmth, without any distracting distortion. The middle-of-the-road VLT keeps the view relatively bright, which is fine for everyone except light-sensitive people. Compared to a grey lens, which can feel a lot colder and duller in comparison: Grey Lens None of these pictures shows why a brown polarized lens is ideal in shallow water. Here is a rendering of why that is true: No Lens Oakley Prizm Shallow Water Grey Polarized Lens Cloudy Conditions The Oakley Prizm Shallow Water lens performs well in overcast, hazy, and mixed-light conditions, offering solid color enhancement. Its warm tones improve visibility without overwhelming your vision, making it a good choice for these settings. With a standard 15% VLT (Visible Light Transmission) percentage, the Prizm Shallow Water lens isn’t overly dark, providing decent comfort and clarity in low-light conditions. No Lens Oakley Prizm Shallow Water Grey Lens Optimal and Suboptimal Viewing Conditions As a really solid brown lens with a balanced 15% VLT, the Shallow Water lens works well in most conditions and will work great for its intended use of freshwater activities. Oakley got this lens tint correct. The brown tint is better than a rose tint for the stated purpose of inshore sports. I don't know why they called it a rose lens but brown is the right choice. It will also be a good choice to drive with, being polarized and brown. They work well in overcast as well, adding warmth and color to lifeless days. They can be a bit darker though, so they work better on brighter overcast days. In full sun it may feel too "hot" after prolonged use but it will still be comfortable. A grey or green may be more comfortable for long durations, but the SWP works well and this lens is fairly versatile. I find the SWP to be underwhelming in the winter. It makes everything look dirty when there is no green to boost. Very red environments like desert conditions are also too "hot" looking to be comfortable with this lens. Sports The Oakley Prizm Shallow Water Polarized (SWP) lens is designed to perform effectively in both sunny and overcast conditions, making it a versatile choice for sports and outdoor activities. Its enhanced color and contrast, combined with an energetic tint, improve visual acuity, comfort, and depth perception. Renowned for their sports eyewear, Oakley lenses are also virtually unbreakable. Avoid this lens entirely if polarized lenses would not work for your sport . Interested in experiencing the Prizm Shallow Water lens for yourself? Comparison to the same brand - Oakley Oakley Prizm Deep Water Polarized The Prizm Deep Water Polarized is a rose-based lens, designed for offshore use in very bright conditions. It is the only other Prizm Sport lens that is polarized. Unlike other "deep water" lenses that are grey-based, the DWP lens has a lot of color enhancement, a reddening effect, and a warming effect, making them great for water sports use but not as comfortable as a grey lens. The Shallow Water lens will not feel as dark as the Deep Water but will have more contrast. The Shallow Water will be more versatile. See here for the full Prizm Deep Water review. Oakley Tungsten Polarized Also a Prizm lens with a bronze base, the Prizm Tungsten is a bit more saturated and redder than the Prizm Shallow Water. It has an almost video game feel with the greens and reds nearly glowing neon and blues darkened a lot. Tungsten is a more Prizmy lens and has a bit of an otherworldly feel, whereas Prizm Shallow Water feels more natural. They will work similarly in most environments but the Tungsten will be slightly darker in full sun and not as pleasant in overcast conditions. See here for the full Prizm Tungsten review. Oakley Prizm Ruby Polarized Prizm Ruby has a bronze base but the red mirror reflects away red light and pushes the bronze lens to lean more green. This makes the lens more neutral and has an amazing, natural color-enhancing effect. The Ruby isn't as dark as the SWP, but its color enhancement is better and the lens is probably better in nearly all circumstances than the Prizm Shallow Water, including inshore activities. Ruby does come in polarized and better yet, it comes in prescription, which Shallow Water does not. I would take the Ruby over the Shallow Water unless a green mirror vs a red mirror is an important difference. See here for the full Prizm Ruby review. Comparison to the Brown  Lenses of Different Brands Costa Del Mar 580 Green Mirror Costa’s darkest brown lens is specifically designed for full-sun conditions, offering a redder tint than the Prizm Shallow Water lens with a darker, more saturated feel. Available in durable glass, it features all essential coatings and an encapsulated mirror for enhanced scratch resistance, areas where it excels over the SWP. This lens provides superior comfort in bright sunlight compared to SWP but may feel overly dark for regular overcast or low-light conditions. See here for the full Costa 580 Green Mirror  review. Maui Jim HCL Bronze The Maui Jim HCL (high contrast lens) Bronze lens is a top-tier brown lens, renowned for its exceptional performance across all conditions. Available in both SuperThin Glass and non-glass materials, it offers superior durability and clarity. Unlike the SWP, the HCL Bronze lens includes all essential coatings, providing enhanced protection and performance. Featuring Maui Jim’s PolarizedPlus2 technology, this lens delivers vibrant, natural color enhancement, making every detail pop. With a yellow-brown tint compared to SWP’s redder-brown, it offers outstanding versatility, excelling in both full sun and overcast conditions. The HCL Bronze lens is one of the most versatile and high-performing options available today. See here for the full Maui Jim HCL Bronze  review. Smith Chromapop Brown Polarized Smith’s lens delivers impressive performance, rivaling the versatility of the Maui Jim HCL Bronze. It excels in both full sun and, to a lesser degree, overcast conditions, making it a reliable choice for a variety of environments. With a slightly redder tint than the HCL Bronze, this lens provides a more saturated view, ideal for those who prefer richer, more vivid color enhancement. It has a sharper feel than the SWP and comes with all coatings. Conclusion - Oakley Prizm Shallow Water Polarized Lens Review -  Should you buy it? The Oakley Prizm Shallow Water Polarized lens is a solid option for those seeking enhanced vision in freshwater environments. With its balanced brown tint and reliable polarization, it provides a warm, vibrant view that helps anglers and outdoor enthusiasts spot underwater details with ease. While it may lack the standout "wow" factor of other Prizm lenses, it delivers on its intended purpose with comfort and clarity. To avoid the issue of lack of AR coating, go for a wrap frame that does not let the sun in from the sides or top. The good color enhancement somewhat makes up for the lack of coatings and weak scratch resistance, but the Prizm Shallow Water Polarized is still a high Tier 4 lens, with the Prizm Ruby a better Tier 3 alternative.

I'm not the biggest fan of Oakley sunglasses in general. I think brands like Serengeti, Maui Jim, and Randolph take their lenses and overall quality more seriously and offer better products for the price. I own nearly every Oakley lens and I find that I generally never reach for them when it comes to everyday wear or driving, preferring other brands. But I almost always wear Oakley for (non-water) sports, and nothing really comes close. Here is why: Oakley is the only brand that produces lenses with the understanding that the best sports lenses are rose-based, non-polarized, color-enhancing, and impact-resistant. Let me explain why. (Full disclosure: I have not been paid anything for this post, and have no relationship with Oakley). In This Article How Oakley's Clever Marketing Changed Perceptions of Rose Lenses Prizm Tech Takes the View to the Next Level Polarization is Not Ideal for Sports Polycarbonate is Better for Sports than Glass or Plastic Oakley's Usual Downsides and Why They Matter Less for Sports Conclusion - How Oakley Beat Everyone at Sport Lenses How Oakley's Clever Marketing Changed Perceptions of Rose Lenses Think about this for a minute. Oakley has lenses for baseball (Prizm Field) and golf (Prizm Golf and Dark Golf), and they say these lenses work for tennis, cricket, and pickleball. But what is the difference between what is needed for baseball, tennis, or golf? Not much really. They require tracking a ball over similarly colored areas. However, the marketing genius of making sport-specific lenses with subtle differences convinced people that these lenses are the best possible for their sport. This trust in experts and marketing influenced wearers to keep the lenses on long enough for their eyes to adjust. And that is how Oakley got people to wear rose lenses. And that is the biggest key. Rose lenses are functionally the best for sports in almost every situation. But when people first put them on and do not let their eyes adjust, rose lenses can be offputting. You need to keep them on for at least two minutes. I explain that more here . Before I show why rose lenses are better in photos, consider why this is the case. Let's use tennis as an example. The most important visual enhancement we need is to see the tennis ball better. The ball is green/yellow. If we were to wear a green lens, all greens in our vision would be brighter, and even the non-green items would have the parts of the green spectrum that they partially reflect brightened. That would make it harder to see the green ball, as it won't stand out as much. If everything is green, it is harder to identify a green item. If we used a rose lens instead, which is the opposite of green, it would make everything redder, and the green ball would stand out sharply against its surroundings. I explain why this is the case in this post , but for now, let's see how this works: No Lenses In bright sunlight, the colors are washed out, and the haze of light interferes. It is hard to even see the ball. Rose Lenses With rose lenses, the green ball stands out as the background gets redder. It is not necessarily the most beautiful view but the ball is clearer than with any other lens color. Even brown lenses, which also have high contrast and a boost of red, do not have the equivalent effect. Because they also boost green, the contrast for sports will be good, but not as good. This is how it would look: Brown Lenses Brown is a step down from Rose in terms of functionality, but it is still useful. It has the best mix of functionality and aesthetics, and I would never tell someone it is a bad sport lens, but rose is still better. The next best lens option, grey, is a much larger step-down. The annoying light is removed and the ball is visible, but it doesn't stand out that much. Grey Lenses In last place is a green lens, which is normally useful in bright sun to reduce glare and provide a soothing view, but in this case, they reduce useful contrast. It is harder to spot the ball than even a grey lens. It is better than nothing, but the worst of the lens colors for sports. That is why Oakley does not make any lenses with green-based tints at all, even for their Prizm Everyday line. So consider not using your green Ray-Ban lenses for ball sports. Green lenses Golf and Baseball, with a white ball against a green background, are the same. White is all colors being reflected equally to our eyes, so the only thing that matters is adding contrast as much as possible, and adding as much red as possible does that best (as long as the red isn't strong enough to distort the colors too much). This is how it works: No Lens Rose Lens The ball is much easier to pick out, and the grass is redder, but still very much green, and natural enough. For baseball, it is the same. I included brown and green lenses here to show how good, but still not perfect, brown lenses are, and how subpar green lenses are. No Lens Rose Lenses Brown Lenses Green Lenses Rose lenses are the best for sports but Oakley took their lenses up another degree. Let's talk about Prizm lenses. Prizm Tech Takes the Lenses to the Next Level Prizm isn't such a groundbreaking technology. It aims to do what all other color-enhancing lenses do, which is to fine-tune the light spectrum to boost useful light and reduce distracting light. That is done, in Oakley's case, by using dyes in the lens to remove annoying blue light, and yellow light, and finding the right peak in the red light spectrum to sharpen images. Here is an example of how they do this, with the Prizm Trail lens. The view is fresher, more colorful, and more useful. Oakley does this for all their sports lenses (except for Prizm Shallow Water) with the aforementioned rose lenses, which do the majority of the heavy lifting in terms of color enhancement. The same tech on a green or grey lens would not be as good as no Prizm on a standard rose lens. Here we have no lenses, a grey lens, a rose lens without Prizm, and a rose Prizm lens. You can see the Prizm lens hones in on colors and adds clarity, contrast and fine-tuning to the view. No Lens Grey Lens Rose Lens Prizm Lens Prizm is what separates Oakley from cheap polycarbonate rose lenses you may find. Many people hate on Oakley for various reasons, but it's generally accepted that they did a great job with Prizm tech, at least from a functional standpoint. Polarization is Not Ideal for Sports Up until now, you may be wondering why Oakley stands out for color-enhancing rose lenses when brands like Maui Jim, Serengeti, and Revo all make those lenses are arguably do a better job with lens quality and optics. The answer is simple: All their rose lenses are polarized. This is the case for Costa Del Mar, Kaenon, and Bajio as well. Polarization uses a filter in the lens to remove reflected glare off surfaces. Polarization is great , and everyone should own at least one pair of polarized lenses. But for fast-paced ball sports, and even other sports like cycling, they are not ideal. There are a few reasons for this. The first reason is that polarization can affect depth perception. It will not make depth perception a problem for everyday use like walking and driving, but even a small 2% impact on our ability to perceive distance is the difference between a hit and a strike in baseball. Depth perception relies on the brain's ability to combine visual cues from both eyes (binocular vision) and interpret environmental details like shadows, textures, and light intensity. Polarized lenses can subtly interfere with these processes, which can be problematic in activities requiring precise judgment of distance and speed. Reflections from surfaces like grass, water, or a shiny court provide essential information about distance and object placement. Polarized lenses eliminate much of this reflected light. While this improves clarity by reducing glare, it also removes subtle visual details that our brains use to calculate depth. For example: A tennis ball reflecting sunlight on a glossy court might lose its "shine," making it harder to judge its exact position or spin. A baseball against a bright sky might lose critical highlights that provide spatial cues. There is no way for me to show this in photos because it is mostly a function of cognitive ability. Secondly, polarization changes how light interacts with textured surfaces, such as grass or artificial turf. This alteration can make these surfaces appear flatter or less detailed, which can impact how we perceive the trajectory or bounce of a ball. Depth perception often depends on recognizing subtle texture gradients, which can become muted or "matte" with polarized lenses. A third issue is how head tilting affects polarized lenses during sports. Polarized lenses are designed to filter out horizontally reflected light, such as glare from water, roads, or grass, by aligning their polarization filter vertically. However, when the head tilts, the orientation of this filter changes relative to the source of light and reflective surfaces. This can introduce visual inconsistencies and become a problem in fast-moving sports. Here’s why: When your head tilts, the angle of the polarized filter no longer matches its optimal orientation for blocking glare. This misalignment can cause: Uneven glare reduction: Certain areas of the visual field might regain glare, while others remain filtered, creating a distracting imbalance. Light distortions: Reflections that were previously suppressed might partially reappear or flicker, disrupting visual focus. This can happen on a tennis ball or baseball. In sports like skiing or cycling, where athletes often tilt their heads to follow the terrain or check their surroundings, these effects can cause momentary distractions. In sports, players often rely on subtle reflections or light cues (like the shadow or shine on a ball) to gauge its trajectory and speed. Polarized lenses can mute these visual hints, making tracking less intuitive. Is using polarized lenses the end of the world? No. I've used polarized lenses for tennis and baseball and it has been fine. But it isn't ideal and, ultimately, with the possible exception of cycling polarized lenses have no real benefit for sports, because most sports environments do not have excessive reflective glare like you would encounter near water or snow. Polycarbonate is Better for Sports than Glass or Plastic I love glass lenses and I wear them most of the time. They have "magic" to them that other materials do not, and the clarity and color-rendering is second to none. But when it comes to sports, lens material plays a crucial role in performance and safety, and polycarbonate stands out as the ideal choice. Unlike glass, which is heavier (but not heavy) and prone to shattering, or standard plastic, which lacks durability, polycarbonate lenses offer a combination of strength, lightness, and optical clarity tailored for active lifestyles. This unique balance makes them particularly well-suited for high-impact sports where athletes need reliable eye protection without compromising comfort or visibility. Oakley uses a material they call "Plutonite", which is a reenforced and improved version of polycarbonate. The lightweight nature of polycarbonate is a game-changer for athletes. Glass lenses, while offering excellent optical clarity, can be cumbersome and may cause discomfort during prolonged wear unless the fit is absolutely perfect. For sports like cycling, running, or basketball, where every ounce of weight matters, polycarbonate lenses allow athletes to focus entirely on their performance, free from the distraction of heavy eyewear. Durability is another area where polycarbonate excels. Glass may shatter under high impact, posing a serious safety risk, while standard plastic can scratch or crack more easily. Polycarbonate, however, is highly impact-resistant, making it the go-to material for sports eyewear. It is very soft and can scratch easily, but its impact resistance outweighs that consideration for sports. Many brands also include scratch-resistant coatings to ensure long-lasting performance, which Oakley only does on their prescription lenses. Oakley's Usual Downsides and Why They Matter Less for Sports Oakley has some drawbacks with their standard Prizm lenses that stop me from using them as everyday sunglasses in favor of brands that avoid these issues. The issues are: No anti-reflective coatings No hydrophobic (water-repellant), oleophobic (oil-repellant), or scratch-resistant coatings Iridium (mirror) coatings that scratch so easily Oakley themselves warns customers to be careful. Normally these issues bother me, but for sports, they are less of an issue. Let me explain. Anti-reflective coating is very useful for removing annoying glare caused by light coming in from the sides or top where there are gaps between the frame and the face. Most sunglasses have a bit of a gap because though they are more curved than eyeglasses, they are still relatively flat for aesthetic reasons. Wrap frames don't look very fashionable. But for sports, I wear wrap frames (usually the  Flak 2.0 XL , the best sports frame ever made), and very little light comes in through gaps. For the lack of other coatings, though it would be great to have them, I find I am more alert and aware to prevent any impacts to the face than I am when I am not playing sports. I also would not wear any frames at all in a contact sport. So there is little drawback to not having other coatings. This is also the case with the delicate mirrors. The sports I play with sunglasses, tennis, golf, baseball, and cycling, should not involve any impacts to the face (baseball being the biggest risk here) and I am able to baby my sunglasses as much as possible. And if there was going to be an impact to the face, I would want there to be a pair of Oakley lenses protecting me with their advanced impact protection. Conclusion - How Oakley Beat Everyone at Sport Lenses In conclusion, Oakley has cemented its position as the leader in sports eyewear by addressing the specific needs of athletes with precision. Their rose-based, non-polarized Prizm lenses provide unparalleled clarity and contrast for tracking fast-moving objects, while the use of polycarbonate ensures lightweight durability and safety. While other brands excel in everyday wear and driving optics, Oakley's focus on functionality for sports is unmatched. Their clever marketing, understanding of color science, and innovative technology make them the go-to choice for anyone serious about sports performance. For everyday use, I still prefer brands like Serengeti or Maui Jim, but on the field, court, or trail, Oakley stands in a league of its own.

Vuarnet has been making high-quality lenses for decades, and they have unique lens configurations that are worth taking a look at at a high level before reviewing each lens individually. This is a general guide to Vuarnet sunglass lenses. All Vuarnet sunglasses are made from mineral glass with anti-reflective, oleophobic, hydrophobic and HEV Blue/IR blocking coatings. The Vuarnet mineral lens filters 100% of UV (UVA, UVB, & UVC) and provides up to 99% protection against potentially damaging blue light, also known as HEV (High Energy Visible Light), the highest energy light in the visible spectrum. Vuarnet lenses are designed to absorb up to 94% of dangerous infrared, protecting your eyes from irritating dryness, heat, and destruction. Not many brands specify that they block IR light. It isn't that important in terms of eye health, but it can help with comfort in very bright places. There are five types of Vuarnet lenses , with six sunglass tint colors. There have been many other lenses in the past, but Vuarnet currently offers these as of 2026. The five types are: Pure - non-polarized, non-mirrored. Lynx - non-polarized, with a bi-gradient mirror (mirror coating on top and bottom but none in the middle). Polar - non-mirrored, with a polarized filter added between the lenses. PolarLynx - polarized and bi-gradient mirror. Flash Mirror (Polar or non) - a full mirror coating on the lens. Vuarnet seems to be moving away from these at the moment. Pure and polarized will look the same from the outside. Lynx and PolarLynx will look the same. The six base tint colors are: Grey Brown Blue Skilynx (dark yellow) Photochromic Pink (select models) Photochromic Yellow (select models) The grey base tint can come with any of the lens configurations. For example: Pure Grey - non-polarized, non-mirrored grey lens. Grey Polar - polarized grey lens. GreyLynx - non-polarized grey lens with bi-gradient mirror. Grey PolarLynx - polarized grey lens with bi-gradient mirror. Brown can come in pure, Polar, or Lynx, but not PolarLynx. Blue can come in Polar or PolarLynx. Skilynx, photochromic pink and yellow lenses only have one configuration, non-polarized with a bi-gradient silver mirror. (There is another lens called Eclipse, a Category 4 5% VLT lens, one of the most protective lenses in the market. It has no mirror and is not polarized. Because it is a specialty lens that is only in a few frames, I will not focus on it here.) This can be confusing, so I made a chart: Pure Polar Lynx PolarLynx Flash Mirror Grey Yes Yes Yes Yes Silver Brown Yes Yes Yes No Gold Blue No Yes No Yes NA Skilynx No No Yes No NA PH Pink No No Yes No NA PH Yellow No No Yes No NA Vuarnet lenses are generally dark, noticeably darker than most other brands that aim for a 15% Visible Light Transmission (85% of light is blocked). Most of Vuarnet's lenses are 9-12% VLT. 10% VLT lets in 33% less light than 15% VLT, so it will feel about one-third darker than the Ray-Ban G15 , for example. The lens tints are also more saturated colors than most other brands. Vuarnet is geared towards alpine and mountain conditions, typically very bright. They are one of just a few brands that feature several models with removable side shields that completely block any light from the sides or top, a useful feature in extremely bright conditions that complements very dark lenses. VLT Infrared Blocking HEV Blocking Pure Grey 12% 13% 8% Grey Polar 12% 9% 7% Greylynx 10% 10% 7% Grey Polarlynx 9% 9% 7% Pure Brown 12% 7% 4% Brown Polar 12% 74% 2% Brownlynx 10% 7% 3% Blue Polar 13% 10% 14% Blue Polarlynx 9% 10% 11% Skilynx 10% 8% 1% Pure Grey Silver Mirror 9% 6% 7% Photochromic Pink Lynx 24% to 71% 91% 37%-79% Photochromic Yellow Lynx 33% to 65% 91% 65% to 88% Eclipse 5% 4% 3% I need to verify the 74% IR number on Brown Polar with Vuarnet. The grey and blue lenses, in any configuration, have an "NPE Filter" in them that adds " improvement in color perception". I am working on getting more details about this filter, as there is no explanation available online or in marketing materials. The lenses continue to be manufactured in France, and their clarity and quality are immediately noticeable. It is a brand that isn't cheap, but when you see, feel, and wear them, it is understandable why that is. The lens tints are more nuanced than some other brands, and I will review each of them in depth.

It's annoying to get into your car on a cold morning, take out your sunglasses, and have them instantly fog up to the point that they are useless to see through. But taking them off and letting them get cold again just makes the problem return. So what is the best way to deal with foggy sunglasses in the cold? First, let's understand why the lenses fog up in the first place. Fogging is just water condensing from the air, and it happens because the lens is colder than the air around it. If you could zoom in on the fog, you would see tiny droplets of water. This is the same effect a cold can of soda just out of the fridge has, or a mirror next to a shower. Mark Rober has a good video on how to defog your car windshield as quickly as possible, where he shows how water condenses with a few analogies: For sunglasses, the main issue is the heat coming off our faces. The air near our faces is warm and humid. When we exhale, the air coming out of our mouth and nose is even warmer and even more humid. When that warm, moist air hits a cold surface, the air cools down fast. Cooler air can’t hold as much water vapor, so the extra moisture has to go somewhere. The water settles on the lens as tiny droplets. That’s the fog you see. (Smudges make it worse. If your lenses have oils or dirt, those tiny droplets stick and spread unevenly, which makes the fog look thicker.) There are a lot of different ways to help this, from vented sunglasses (not common), anti-fog coating or spray (which don't last very long), or warming your sunglasses in advance (who has time for that in the morning?). Realistically, most people are not going to be using other products to solve this problem. But there is one solution that works for any pair of sunglasses, and it is what I do. What is the solution? Letting them warm up more slowly by wearing them down your nose for two minutes. Yes, for two minutes, I look a little funny, like the girls who wear the Ray-Ban Round sunglasses halfway down their noses on a bright day. I wear it even further down than they do. Silly, but it works. It works because it creates a huge venting area between the lenses and my face, and because it isn't warm enough at that distance to fog the lenses, but it is warm enough to start heating them. I also try to breathe out with a bit of force so the air moves away from my face and not straight up. After around two minutes, the lenses are warm enough to push up my nose and wear normally. Another aspect that is useful to know is that different materials and coatings make a difference here. Some materials fog less naturally. Glass lenses with certain hydrophobic coatings clear faster than polycarbonate without coatings. Glass has a higher thermal mass and better thermal conductivity than polycarbonate or TAC. Thermal mass is basically a material’s ability to absorb, store, and hold heat. When we say glass has a higher thermal mass than polycarbonate, we mean that it takes more energy to change its temperature, and if you put both materials in a cold environment, glass cools down more slowly, while plastic cools down very fast. If you bring them into warm air, glass warms up faster at the surface because it can absorb more heat without its temperature swinging wildly. Plastic stays cold longer because it doesn’t hold heat well. (This is also one of the main reasons why plastic lenses and their coatings get ruined and delaminate more than glass lenses in high heat or very cold.) Because glass doesn’t get as cold as quickly when warm air hits it, the surface warms up faster. A warmer surface reduces condensation because the air doesn’t cool down as sharply on contact. Less temperature shock = less fog. Polycarbonate and TAC are light and low-mass, so they equalize with the outdoor temperature almost instantly. When warm air hits them, they stay cold longer and fog up right away. Hydrophobic (water repellent) coatings also help by making water bead up and roll off instead of spreading across the lens. This helps in two ways: Serengeti Sedona 1) Drops stay smaller, so the fog layer is thinner. 2) They clear faster as the drops move or evaporate. In contrast, uncoated polycarbonate is slightly hydrophilic. Water spreads out more, turning into a cloudy film rather than discrete droplets. For what it's worth, I wear the Serengeti Sedona lens the most in the winter ( review here ). It is glass and has hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings. Here are some brands that have glass lenses with hydrophobic coatings (make sure it's glass, most have non-glass as well), and not just anti-reflective coating: Randolph Engineering Maui Jim Serengeti (use code SUNSCIENCE30 for 30% off) Ray-Ban Chromance ( here is a list of what is glass ) Costa Del Mar Island Optics Revo Vuarnet Smith Bajio Otis LIT I review many of these lenses here on Sunglass Science, and talk about the best lenses to wear in the winter here .

Ray-Ban does not list the lens material for any of its lenses on Ray-Ban.com . Sunglass Hut does , but there is no way to filter results to see just one material, and there is no list to see all the options. That's why I made a list of all Chromance lenses on Sunglass Hut as of November 17, 2025, along with whether they are glass or polycarbonate. I did not independently verify if this information from Sunglass Hut is correct or current, but I find it generally reliable. Ray-Ban New Aviator in Silver/Brown Chromance All Chromance lenses are polarized and have anti-reflective and hydrophobic/oleophobic coatings, which makes them much better than Ray-Ban's uncoated polycarbonate lenses. The only other Ray-Bans that have better lens construction are the Icons collection , which have glass lenses and an anti-reflective coating. I hope this is helpful. You can get any of these from Ray-Ban's Chromance page , Sunglass Hut , or get them in prescription from Ray-Ban as well. Here is the Ray-Ban Chromance Glass or Poly list: RB3686 Chromance Glass RB3751CH Chromance Glass RB3684CH Chromance Glass RB3565 Jack Chromance Glass RB2213CH Chromance Glass RB3016 Clubmaster Chromance Glass RB3671CH Chromance Glass RB2140 Original Wayfarer Chromance Glass RB3025 Aviator Chromance Glass RB3807M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Chromance Glass RB3775M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Chromance Glass RB3766CH Chromance Glass RB3447 Round Metal Chromance Glass RB3776M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Chromance Glass RB3717 Glass RB3636 New Caravan Glass RB3625 New Aviator Glass RB3699 Glass RB4416 New Clubmaster Glass RB2205 Bill One Glass RB3707 Glass RB3637 New Round Glass RB8089 Aviator Titanium Glass RB3694 Jim Glass RB7680S Larry Glass RB3706 Glass RB8094 Jim Titanium Glass RB8265 Jack II Titanium Glass RB2198 Bill Glass RB3796 Glass RB3721CH Chromance Poly RB4330CH Chromance Poly RB4264 Chromance Poly RB4320CH Chromance Poly RB8319CH Chromance Poly RB4264CH Chromance Poly RB3737CH RB3737 Chromance Poly RB4452CH Chromance Liteforce Poly RB3762M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Chromance Poly RB3763M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Chromance Poly RB4443M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Chromance Poly RB4385 Poly RB3701 Poly RB4414M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB3673M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB4394M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB4310M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB4195M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB4607M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB3726M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB3659M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB3703M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB8327M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB3696M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB4309M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB8331M Scuderia Ferrari Collection Poly RB3709 Clyde Poly

Rose lenses are an intriguing option due to their unique strengths and some limitations. We dive into the specifics of rose lenses here , but now we’ll focus on the best scenario for using them. Rose lenses enhance reds the most, blues to a lesser degree, and reduce greens. This can be especially helpful in winter when greens are scarce, and adding warmth to reds can help bring out contrast in all that white. However, winter scenes can be magical sometimes but are mostly less than scenic. In the other seasons, on bright days rose lenses may feel too "hot" or like everything has a slight "burnt" feel to it. Sometimes I like that, but mostly I opt for brown lenses in those situations when I want a warmth and energy boost to the view. In most overcast situations rose lenses are too dark because they dampen greens, which our eyes are most sensitive to. Where rose lenses truly excel is in relatively bright, hazy conditions. While brown lenses also work well here, they often make the sky appear overly murky, dulling the view. Rose lenses, in contrast, preserve the blue in the sky while adding vibrancy and definition to the scene. In hazy yet bright conditions, light diffusion is stronger than in regular cloud cover, reducing contrast as light scatters from every direction. Rose lenses can add even more color and contrast than brown lenses in this setting. The greens are still bright enough because the haze is so glaring. That is when rose lenses are best. Let's explore an example: No Lens Here we have a bright, hazy day, where anyone would be squinting without sunglasses. Rose Lens The rose lens removes the glare and adds a ton of color, bringing out details in the road, the trees, and even the mountains. Brown Lens Brown lenses will still do a really good job here, also adding detail to the road while keeping the greens brighter, but the sky seems a bit dirty, and the view is a little dull. It is a matter of preference, and I do not have an issue wearing brown in these conditions, but I definitely prefer rose. Grey Lens To round it all out we have grey, which helps with the squinting but takes down color to a really dull degree. Perhaps better than nothing, but worse than anything else. Top Rose Lenses Maui Jim MauiRose The MauiRose lens is a very dark lens, with a beautiful rose hue and the added color and contrast of the PolarizedPlus2 technology included. The colors are saturated and warm, and the clarity is off the charts. The gradient version is less rose and is a category 2 lens. See the full MauiRose review here . Serengeti Sedona The Sedona lens, which is mildly photochromic, is much brighter than the MauiRose, and takes less time to adjust to. The colors are rich and pleasant and the versatility of the lens is the best of any rose I’ve tried. The clarity might be even better than the MauiRose. See the full Sedona review here . Use code SUNSCIECE30 for 30% off Oakley Prizm Sport Almost all of Oakley’s Prizm sport lenses are rose-based, with some notable exceptions. From the dark polarized Prizm Deep Water to the bright Prizm Trail, Oakley has a tint for every condition. Without taking away from how good most of these lenses are, it should be noted there is a lot of marketing involved with the different lenses for sport-specific applications, and the truth is that most of the lenses would work fine in any other sporting application, though there is some nuance there. Check out Oakley Prizm Sport reviews here . Dita Lancier Land The Dita Lancier Land lens is a cross between rose and brown, sort of a bridge between the Serengeti Drivers and the Serengeti Sedona/MauiRose. A beautiful rose that works well in conditions that many other rose lenses do not. See the full Lancier Land lens review here . Island Optics Green Flash Mirror An amazing budget option, this lens is similar in tint to the MauiRose lens, without some of the amazing tech added, but at a fraction of the cost.

One of the most interesting and useful lens colors is rose, a high-contrast, energetic tint. I am sure more people would wear rose lenses if they understood what they could do (and if they kept them on their faces for more than two minutes ). Serengeti Sedona In This Article How Do Rose Lenses Work? What are Rose Lenses Good for? Sports Driving Golf Beach Top Rose Lenses Conclusion - How Rose Sunglass Lenses Work How Do Rose Lenses Work? When I was looking into how rose lenses work and why they are so contrast-enhancing in some environments, but downright useless in others, I discovered that magenta, rose, purple, etc. do not exist at all. Magenta is an ‘extra-spectral color’, meaning it is not found in the visible spectrum of light, which is why it is not in a rainbow. You can “see” an object when light reflected from an object enters your eyes and strikes the photoreceptors inside them. I explain this in much more detail here . But briefly, we have three types of cones in our eyes that are sensitive to blue, green, and red light. When your brain sees red light your red cone fires. Same with blue and green. If your brain gets yellow light, it makes both the red and green cones fire partially, and your brain will interpret that combination as yellow, since it is in between red and green. This is really astounding, as your brain is perceiving something real it cannot actually measure. In physics, you cannot mix photons. But in biology, the brain can mix what the eyes pick up. That's how we can see hundreds of shades of color. And that's why you can see yellow even if there is no yellow light present since a mix of red and green would result in the same yellow perception as yellow light itself. And that is why computer or phone screens only need red, blue, and green lights to make all the colors you are seeing right now. When it comes to the color of materials there is a lot of misunderstanding. Many people think that a yellow object, for example, reflects only yellow wavelengths (those at about 580nm) and absorbs the rest. But it isn't like that. Most of the colors that we see do not correspond with one wavelength of light but are composed of a mixture of wavelengths. This can be shown using a reflectance spectrum, which is the best way to see what light makes up the color that we see from an image. We can measure a reflectance spectrum using a reflectance spectrophotometer. This instrument illuminates the object with light at all the wavelengths in the visible spectrum and measures how much light is reflected by the sample at each wavelength. This gives us spectral reflectance factors which generally range from 0 (total absorbance and no reflectance) to 1 (total reflectance) at each wavelength. Let’s take something purple and see what the spectral reflectance looks like. First, this is the purple I am talking about. Now let’s look at the reflectance spectrum. Notice that reflectance is lowest at around 540nm. This is in the green region of the spectrum. Purple objects generally absorb in the middle of the spectrum and reflect both long and short wavelengths. But notice that the reflectance factors are less than 1 at every wavelength. This means that to some extent the object is absorbing light right across the visible spectrum but the absorption is strongest in the middle of the spectrum. Most crucially, notice that the purple object does not only reflect the blue and red wavelengths. It reflects strongly in the orange region (around 620nm). There is appreciable reflectance (around 20%) in the yellow region (around 580nm). There is even about 5% reflectance in the green region. Light is not colored; it just looks colored. The distinction is critical to understanding color. Objects don’t look a particular color because they reflect the wavelength that corresponds to this color. The vast majority of things (look around your room now; almost all of those) have quite broad reflectance spectra; they reflect lots of different wavelengths. Purple is different than yellow though. Yellow wavelengths do exist, though we cannot see them. Our brains see a mix of red and green light and ascertain that what we are seeing is yellow - and it gets it right. Purple is a mix of blue and red, short and long wavelengths, and our brain makes up the color purple, but there is no actually corresponding wavelength. It wants to see a color that makes sense to be in between blue and red, which would be green. But our green cones are not firing, so it cannot be green. In other words, purple can be described not only as a mix of red and blue but in terms of optics, it is also simply the relative lack of green light. And that is why rose lenses are some of the most interesting and useful lenses out there (you knew we would get here eventually). The sensitivity of the human eye varies with wavelength or color. Because of the physiology of the human photoreceptors, the sensitivity of the eye falls off rapidly for colors in both the blue and red ends of the visible spectrum and is highest for wavelengths near the middle of the spectrum. This means that considerably higher quantities of blue or red light are required to elicit the same sense of brightness as, for instance, yellow-green light. A plot of the relative sensitivity of the eye as a function of wavelength is known as the relative luminous efficiency function. During the day, the eye is maximally sensitive to yellow-green wavelengths near 555 nm; this is the photopic response of the eye. Now look at a rose lens spectral profile. And when we overlap the two: Rose lenses almost perfectly inversely correspond to the sensitivity of the human eye. While we get a much higher brightness from green light relative to red or blue light normally, with the green light reduced relative to the red and blue light the result will be a similar brightness through all colors. Put another way: The lens principles are as follows: The color of the base lens tint will let more of the same color light through relative to other colors. A green lens lets more green light in, and a rose lens lets in more red and blue (what combine to make rose). The color opposite the lens color on the color wheel (the complementary color) will generally be the least transmitted and most muted. A green lens will most block purple (a mix of blue and red), a rose lens will block green, etc. Letting relatively more light of a color through the lens brightens that color relative to other colors. Letting less of that light in relative to other colors will make other colors brighter relative to that color. Generally speaking, if you want more contrast (difference in colors) you will use a lens that blocks the most prevalent color and boosts the other colors. If you want less contrast you will use the lens that is the same as the dominant color in your environment. For example, if you want more contrast on a green golf course, you would use a rose lens. If you want more contrast in a red desert, you might use a green lens. Since the blues and especially reds are boosted, but green is still mostly left intact because our eyes are so green-sensitive, what results with a rose lens is a sort of high contrast and warm view that feels like a grey lens but with everything tuned way up. The reds are still the most prominent and that will affect the blues of the sky, but the details in any non-red environment will be more highlighted than with any other lens. This makes rose lenses amazing for areas full of green, and not that great in red deserts. Here is how Oakley shows it for their Prizm Road lens, which is rose-based. I think this is a bit extreme and the view isn't as red especially in the sky, but the greenery being highlighted like that is fairly accurate. Because of the massive color upheaval that rose lenses create, it takes our eyes some time to get used to them before our brains calm down. After just a minute or two the crazy amount of red subsides and the lens sort of feels like a very color and contrast-enhanced grey lens, with a lot of warmth. That is why, and I will repeat this again, it is important to keep them on your face for more than two minutes to properly get a feel for a rose lens. The same effect happens once you get used to a rose lens and then quickly change to another colored lens. Our eyes and brains get color whiplashed and it is a bit jarring for two minutes. Like how people smell coffee in between trying out new fragrances to reset their noses, all you have to do to reset your eyes is take the lenses off and wait without any lens on for around two minutes. And before you ask about it, while the metaphor of "seeing the world through rose-tinted lenses" describes an overly positive and sometimes naive perspective, actual rose-tinted lenses do have some benefits that could improve visual comfort and mood, albeit not to the exaggerated extent implied by the expression. What are Rose Lenses Good for? Interesting fact: Oakley doesn't make a green-based lens, and most of their sports lenses are rose-based. Why is that? We need more red light to enhance contrast and less green light. The reddest functional lens, even more than a brown lens, is rose. Brown lenses do boost red, but they also boost green, while reducing blues. This does increase contrast, but not as much as a rose lens that boosts red and blue while keeping greens relatively flat. Brown is a beautiful lens tint generally but rose is often more functional, and can be even more beautiful in some environments. (Oakley proves most people do actually enjoy rose, but they need the marketing of "sport-specific" lenses to get them to trust the lens long enough for their eyes to adjust.) For general use, rose lenses may not be the best option in full sun because the feel of the lens is too hot. A grey or green lens, or even a brown lens, are better in bright clear sunlight. They are better in overcast and cloudy situations where they add warmth, contrast, and color, but they really thrive in mixed conditions or bright haze. For functional use, rose lenses may be the best anytime because of the high contrast, especially for sports. In those situations, the goal isn't to have a more beautiful view but to help you perceive your surroundings and activities as accurately as possible. Additionally, green is on the "cool" side of the color wheel. According to color psychology, different color temperatures evoke different feelings. For example, warm colors are said to bring to mind coziness and energy, while cool colors are associated with serenity and isolation. Rose is right at the warmest part of the color wheel. Sports For sports, lenses are better when they evoke feelings of energy and boost colors. That is why Oakley and many other sports brands use rose lenses. I usually wear Oakley Prizm Dark Golf when I play tennis in sunny weather, Prizm Golf in overcast weather, and Maui Jim Rose or Serengeti Sedona when golfing. All Oakley road lenses (there are three of them) are rose-based. These photos are what I will use to show the simulated view. Keep in mind that photos will never look as good as the real view  looking through the sunglasses with your own eyes. This is especially true of rose lenses that I have worked much harder on, and I still feel the real-life experience is many times better. No Lens Rose Lens Driving There is a good reason Oakley’s road lenses are all rose. The road itself, the other cars, the greenery, and the sky can all be greatly enhanced by the added reds and blues, with the bright greens less distracting. This is more of a functional consideration, as brown lenses will normally look much better while still adding lots of color contrast. Rose lenses take it to the next level and allow the driver to see details and action on the road better than other lenses often do. Keep in mind that this is speaking for what’s generally normal conditions, but there are places like Arizona that are almost entirely red where rose lenses would have nearly the opposite effect of what has been described. No Lens Rose Lens Golf Golf involves being surrounded by green, and telling the difference between the different greens and enhancing depth perception are a huge part of the sport. Rose lenses are absolutely the best lens to have when golfing, with Oakley making specific non-polarized golf lenses (regular and a darker version) that are rose-based. Maui Jim and Serengeti both make lenses that are polarized and work excellently as well if that’s an option you prefer. No Lens Rose Lens Beach It is very difficult to show an illustration of a rose lens in full sun because the brain does so much of the heavy lifting where the colors are so bright. Pay attention to the trees and dirt, see how the greens have so much detail added with the red highlights and the sand on the beach getting a deeper, warmer hue. Unlike brown lenses that minimize blues, which may be desirable at the beach with bright blue skies and blue water, rose lenses bring out a deep, dark, rich blue hue that adds a lot to the view. With that said a rose lens can feel very hot in an already hot and sunny place. Often grey or green are preferable to calm down the hot view. I very much enjoy a rose lens at the beach but only for a relatively short period of time before it feels too warm and I want a break. No Lens Rose Lens Grey Lens Top Rose Lenses Maui Jim MauiRose The MauiRose lens is a very dark lens, with a beautiful rose hue and the added color and contrast of the PolarizedPlus2 technology included. The colors are saturated and warm, and the clarity is off the charts. Serengeti Sedona (use code SUNSCIENCE30 for 30% off) The Sedona lens is much brighter than the MauiRose, and takes less time to adjust to. The colors are rich and pleasant and the versatility of the lens is the best of any rose I’ve tried. The clarity might be even better than the MauiRose. Oakley Prizm Sport Almost all of Oakley’s Prizm sport lenses are rose-based, with some notable exceptions. From the dark polarized Prizm Deep Water to the bright Prizm Trail, Oakley has a tint for every condition. Without taking away from how good most of these lenses are, it should be noted there is a lot of marketing involved with the different lenses for sport-specific applications, and the truth is that most of the lenses would work fine in any other sporting application, though there is some nuance there. Conclusion - How Rose Sunglass Lenses Work Though rose lenses can be stunning, they generally are not the most beautiful lenses to wear. They are, however, the most functional for activities in any condition. If you are looking for a sport lens, or anything that involves high speeds and quick perception, this is the lens for you. If you are interested in having a lens that can wake you up and add warmth and life to your world in a way no other lens can, definitely consider adding a premium rose lens to your life.

When it comes to sunglasses, no lens is more versatile than the energizing, warm, colorful brown tint. In This Article How Do Brown Sunglass Lenses Work? What are Brown Lenses Good for? Sports Driving Golf Beach Top Brown Lenses Conclusion How Do Brown Sunglass Lenses Work? Brown lenses can colorize your view in a way few other lenses can do for an interesting reason: In terms of colors, brown is not a color on the visible light spectrum and even if it was, our eyes do not have any receptors to pick up the color. Instead, brown is a mix of red and green, but mostly red, making a dark orange color. It can also have some blue mixed in, but essentially, it is red with green. Though there can be many different concentrations and variations of brown lenses, this is the basic recipe. This is important because we have three kinds of color receptors in our eyes that can pick up different light wavelengths and generally they correspond to blue, green, and red, which you can read more about here . The basic science of tinted lenses is that the lens transmits relatively more of the lens color and absorbs more of the opposite color. A green lens will let more green light through the lens relative to other colors (and block more magenta) so the visual experience will look more green. You can see this on the color wheel for green. Source: Canva In the case of a brown lens, red is transmitted the most and becomes richer, with green also being let through at lower levels than red, and blue being the most absorbed and least transmitted. A brown lens will therefore let more red and green light through the lens relative to blue. This is notable because when it comes to contrast and clarity, red and green are very useful, and blue is not, so brown checks a lot of boxes. Red is the most useful regarding color and contrast enhancement because there is generally less of it around us as compared to green and blue. Since red wavelengths have the largest waves and the lowest energy, they get absorbed more easily by most objects relative to green and blue. Since they are absorbed more, they do not reflect off objects to create a red appearance. Look around outside, how much red do you see relative to blue and green? In many places, like where I live in the northeast, it's almost all blue and green. But to create contrast, and by extension a bit more clarity, we need to be able to use all the colors at our disposal. If you are on a golf course, and the grass and surrounding trees are all green, how can you sharply tell the greens apart if they are all so similar? We can do that using red, which is actually present in almost everything you can see. All colored objects have the appearance of the color wavelength the object reflects. But it is very rare for an object to only reflect one particular wavelength. Usually, there is a mix of wavelengths and the object has a combination of colors that span the light spectrum, and each combination makes a different specific color. For example, see the differences between red, green, and yellow apples. Source: Mark N. Merzlyak The red apple has a lot of red light (roughly 600-700) but still has some blue (400-500) and a bit of green (500-600). The green apple has a lot of green but has a lot of red and a bit of blue too. The yellow is a mix of red and green, with a bit of blue. So a green apple absorbs a lot of red light but does reflect some of it. What if we were to alter the amount of green and red there was relative to their starting positions, but only slightly? We would get a redder apple, but it would be a redder green. That might sound unappealing, but it's actually very subtle. See this: Letting more red reflect from a green apple relative to the green light makes the apple look more yellow (but still green) similar to how a yellow apple is nearly equal parts red and green. If there were a basket full of green apples, green peppers, watermelon, and green pears, on a bright day it might be hard to tell the different items apart because the green is so bright. Boosting red relative to green will bring out the subtle differences in each object since they all have different spectral properties. See how this plays out in this (very accurate) Oakley simulation of their bronze-based Prizm lens. There is another reason brown lenses have enhanced color and clarity, and that is the relative reduction of blue light. Blue light has two problems with it in regards to optics: there is too much of it and it blurs other colors (it has other problems in regards to health as well). Because blue light has the highest amount of energy and the shortest wavelength, it is absorbed the least of any color. That is why the sky and bodies of water are blue, and there is a lot of blue all around us. Source: SportRX Short-wave (near 400nm) high-energy blue light creates scatter and haze, making objects appear somewhat blurry. See that Oakley picture above. The left side looks much more blue, and duller, compared to the right side. Brown lenses are well placed to reduce blue light because of the mix of red and green faces opposite blue on the color wheel, as seen above. For the issue of blue being so common, brown lenses are great. For the haze, brown lenses are only moderately effective as they do not block all of the high-energy light, just more of it. Many brands offer high-energy blue light blocking as a feature, and these brands have managed to completely eliminate it. Maui Jim, Serengeti, Costa, Spy, and Bajio are just some examples. Now that we have established what brown lenses do, let's understand some aspects of them. The color wheel can be divided into warm and cool colors. The warmth or coolness of a color is also known as its color temperature. The color combinations found on a color wheel often have a balance of warm and cool colors. According to color psychology, different color temperatures evoke different feelings. For example, warm colors evoke feelings of comfort and vitality, while cool colors are associated with tranquility and seclusion. Warm hues span from red to yellow and evoke a sense of warmth akin to the sun. Cool shades encompass blue, green, and purple, evoking a coolness reminiscent of water. Brown is on the warm side of the wheel and as such, will make your view feel "hotter" and can cause you to feel more energized and excited. This is often why brown lenses can feel overwhelming in the brightest light on the hottest days. It isn't that too much light is coming through the lens. It's that you feel the world is too overwhelmingly "hot". When I was in Phoenix in 115-degree weather (45 Celsius), I exclusively wore grey and green lenses. The brown was too much (especially in an environment like the desert with a lot of red). That being said, where I live in the northeast I wear brown lenses more than any other lens colors combined. They work in full sun since they are a dense tint. They work in cloudy conditions where the world gets an extra blue filter from the clouds and the brown lenses brighten and colorize everything. They work for sports with their contrast-enhancing features. Here is an example of Maui Jim's HCL Bronze Lens Maui Jim Here is Serengeti's Drivers Lens Serengeti Drivers You can see both of them do an excellent job at cutting down any blue haze and boosting reds and greens to enhance the colors of all objects. What are Brown Lenses Good for? Sports For sports, lenses are better when they evoke feelings of energy and boost colors. Brown lenses do that. Even more importantly, the color boost and contrast they create by boosting reds and greens and reducing blues makes them a tool and advantage when playing sports. I often switch between brown and rose lenses for sports, but I will not use anything other colors. When I show others at the tennis court my brown lenses from brands like Oakley and Maui Jim , by the next week they will be wearing the same lenses. Driving In my opinion, brown lenses are the best for driving as long as the view is not too red, which is usually only in desert environments. One of the best lenses in brown - or any color - is the Serengeti Drivers lens , specifically designed for driving. Since the road and other cars are mostly highlighted by the red light spectrum, and much of the rest of our view is green from any grass or trees, brown lenses are well suited to brighten and highlight all the colors most prevalent in our views. Golf Though rose lenses are generally better for golf, the red highlights that brown lenses have will help to show the differences in the greens and allow you to see the ball better against the sky and grass. Unlike rose lenses, the greens will still stay bright with brown lenses, and many people I know prefer that. Beach If you want to go to the beach and enjoy bright, beautiful colors, brown lenses are the right lenses for you. They are still dark enough to control the light levels to manageable amounts, but the colors will pop. The only exception is the water and sky. Depending on the brown lens they may be more impacted and the blue brilliance may be reduced. If the world is already too "hot" for you at the beach then go with a grey or green lens, but if you want the energy and liveliness that comes with brown lenses you will not be disappointed. Maui Jim Top Brown Lenses Here are my picks for the best brown lenses. There are many other excellent brown lenses as well but these are the best for me: Serengeti Drivers (use code SUNSCIENCE30 for 30% off) Every time I show this lens to someone and they try it on they go buy one for themselves. The beauty this lens achieves is astounding. The colors are warm, highlighted, and clear. The lower VLT works amazingly in overcast or mixed conditions, while still a top lens in full sun. This is as close to the perfect sunglasses lens as you can get. See the full Drivers review here . Maui Jim HCL Bronze SuperThin Glass A close competitor to the Serengeti Driver, this lens is a bit more yellow-brown compared to the Driver's more rose-brown tint. This still works great in overcast but where it thrives is in full sun, bringing out the color and liveliness in the view while managing glare with ease. See the full HCL Bronze lens here . Dita Lancier Land More like a rose/brown, this is an absolutely beautiful lens that is comfortable in full sun or overcast weather, summer or winter. It is fully coated nylon. See the full Land lens review here . Smith Chromapop Glass Brown Smith did a great job here. Like the Maui Jim HCL Bronze, this lens works great in full sun and overcast conditions. Slightly more red than the Maui Jim, this is a great choice if you prefer a more saturated view to the other options. Revo Terra This is almost identical to the Maui Jim HCL Bronze in the MauiBrilliant material. A bit of a less vivid color option than the glass, but with spectacular clarity and versatility. If the glass is a dealbreaker because of weight or impact resistance, this could be your go-to. Conclusion If I had to pick only one lens to keep for the rest of my life, it would be a tough choice between the Maui Jim bronze and the Serengeti Drivers. Brown lenses are not just versatile but are also some of the most beautiful lenses to look through. They are the first lens I recommend to people looking for premium sunglasses, and I am certain that you will see why as soon as you try a pair for yourself. Maui Jim

In this Article: Introduction: The Importance of Trying on Sunglasses with Advanced Lenses Reasons to Spend More on Premium Sunglasses Enhancing Your Visual Experience with Premium Sunglasses How Premium Lenses Maximize Performance and Protection Lens Materials and Construction: The Advantage of Glass Lens Coatings and Features in Premium Sunglasses How Much Is Reasonable to Spend on a Premium Pair of Sunglasses? Conclusion Introduction: The Importance of Trying on Sunglasses with Advanced Lenses This post is called "Why You Should Buy Premium Sunglasses" but really the goal is to get you to properly try on a pair of shades that have advanced lenses. Once you do that in the right setting I am confident you, like the dozens of people in my life who have done this, will be convinced. I hope this article gets you to that point. I also want to be clear this post is not about expensive sunglasses per se, as many of the most expensive brands are primarily selling their name or style. This is about sunglasses with advanced optics. Reasons to Spend More on Premium Sunglasses First off, let me be straight with you. For eye protection, you can find many inexpensive options at your local drug store or gas station, just make sure they say UV400 protective. You shouldn't spend more than $25 if that is your only concern. But that would be a huge shame. There are many reasons to spend more on premium sunglasses, but by far the most important one is that you are buying a more beautiful world, which is a huge return on investment. Let me explain. Say you are planning a long-overdue vacation to a beautiful destination. You might spend money on flights, good food, fun activities, shopping, and anything else that might enhance your well-earned time off. The money you use is going directly to making your time more enjoyable. A huge chunk of that enjoyment is what you see. The spectacular views, the bright landscapes, the rare events, the local architecture and the ecology. After all, you purposely went to your destination. Premium sunglasses can enhance the color, contrast, clarity, and comfort of your visual experience to effectively make the location you are in twice as good. If you had spent $2000 on your vacation, with a $300 pair of shades (that you can keep and use for decades) you can make that $2000 feel like a $5000 splurge. That's a great return on investment. No Lens With Premium Sunglass Lenses Enhancing Your Visual Experience with Premium Sunglasses Vacation is just the beginning. When I'm wearing the right sunglasses for the conditions around me I feel like the world has been upgraded in a way only the richest people can buy. The trees, cars, sky, flowers, etc. all stand out with rich color and clarity, and I can't stop looking at the natural beauty of the world in wonder on my walk or drive to work every day. It isn't just about not squinting and glare reduction. It's about enhancing your view to the highest degree possible. There's a good reason certain shades can provide this experience while the cheap ones you can buy at the gas station do not. Basic sunglasses add a tint to the lenses that create a visual effect that is not too dark, not too light, and are reasonable for producing lenses that suit the basic need of sunglasses-reducing the amount of light reaching the eye-but do not allow for the higher performance and protection that is now possible with technical advances. How Premium Lenses Maximize Performance and Protection By knowing the science and properties of light, optical engineers and scientists can design sun lenses that maximize performance, enhance vision for specific activities, and protect our eyes from damaging radiation. For example, High-energy violet (HEV) light, often referred to as high-energy blue light, is the highest energy visible light that reaches the retina. Short-wave high-energy blue light creates scatter and haze, making objects appear somewhat blurry. In the last few years a number of products have entered the market advertising HEV-blocking properties, which reduce haze and blur, provided greater clarity of vision, enhanced color definition. Here's an example of what removing short wave high-energy blue light can do. This is from Oakley : Source: Oakley The colors are affected by the tint and Oakley Prizm technology but take a look at the sky and the green hill at the top left. Without the Prizm filter there is a haze and blur and mixing of colors. Once the filter is added the clarity and color are dramatically enhanced. And this is with a simulation. No picture or video online will be able to fully replicate the real experience, since our brains can focus and adjust to a much greater degree then a camera or computer. If you think this is impressive, you should try it on yourself to really see. Reducing HEV light is actually only one of the technologies being used in premium lenses. Many brands have their own proprietary technology but the principles in how they manipulate light are all roughly the same, though the implementation and methods are different (and some brands do it better than others). They involve manipulating the light spectrum. Here is the difference between a pair of regular Ray Ban lenses with no color enhancing technology and Maui Jim, one of the best in the business. This is the spectral transmission profile of each one, essentially showing how much light of each wavelength and color is getting through the lens. Source: Progressive-Glasses.com You can see the Maui Jim lens uses different filters to allow or restrict the wavelengths of light to reduce or boost colors. I won't get into the weeds here but the goal of these filters is to reduce certain blue and yellow light, and boost certain green and red light. The reasons for that I discuss here , but for now the takeaway is that premium lenses provide a much richer visual experience than a basic lens. Like this: Source: Maui Jim Lens Materials and Construction: The Advantage of Glass The lens technology is only one aspect of what premium sunglasses provide. There is also the lens materials and construction. Cheap lenses are made with polycarbonate lenses, which are easy to mass-produce at a low cost. Polycarbonate is essentially plastic. Polycarbonate lenses are not bad, and I do not want to give that impression. Many premium brands use polycarbonate exclusively or have a poly line. Polycarbonate is used in most of the prescription lenses people use and it is extremely shatter-resistant and very lightweight. However, when it comes to optics, polycarbonate lenses just can't do what glass, or glass alternatives, can do. For most people the difference is significant. First off, glass has less chromatic aberration at peripheral points. Chromatic aberration, also known as color fringing, is a color distortion that creates an outline of unwanted color along the edges of objects in a photograph or lens. It is when white light is broken up into component colors. In a lens, it won't be noticed as color fringing, but rather blurriness and peripheral distortion. Here's an example from Wikipedia: This is a photographic example showing high quality lens (top) compared to lower quality model exhibiting transverse chromatic aberration (seen as a blur and a rainbow edge in areas of contrast). Chromatic aberration is measured in lenses as an ABBE value. Crown glass has the highest ABBE number (least aberration) of any lens material and polycarbonate has the lowest ABBE number (most aberration). Source: SportRX Keep in mind that most of us see just as well with a low ABBE value lens as compared to a high ABBE value lens. Human eyes can not detect the chromatic aberration if the Abbe number is above 40. But polycarbonate has a 30 value and cheap lenses will have some distortion at the edges of the lens especially if the lens has a notable curve to it. This can lead some people to get a bit annoyed and even get a headache after long exposure. But glass has another more important advantage. Glass has a noticeable optical advantage in color sharpness. With glass, everything is a little crisper & more defined, making a much better "resolution". Some plastics get nearly as clear as glass (like Kaenon), but to me, glass renders colors better that plastic with the same tint. This is all from comparing the exact same manufacturer tints in glass & plastic (like Maui Jim superthin glass vs Maui Pure or Maui Brilliant). Glass takes pigments differently when they are smelted down. There are no cheap glass options. Even BSUS, which you can get on Amazon, is over $60. If you see a glass sunglass, there is a 99% chance it is real. For any polycarbonate lens, especially from brands like Ray Ban, Oakley, or Costa Del Mar, you better make sure you are getting the real deal from a reputable seller, because the fakes are remarkably good and common, which says something about the lenses too. Lens Coatings and Features in Premium Sunglasses Polycarbonate lenses can still be fairly elite however, and have features that make them significantly better than cheap gas station shades. Some of those features are lens coatings. An optical coating is composed of a combination of thin layers of materials such as oxides, metals, or rare earth materials, and can be applied in several ways, some better than others in terms of longevity and effectiveness. Without getting into the weeds here, there are many coatings that can be applied to lenses. These include: - Scratch-resistant coating - Premium front and backside anti-reflective coating - Advanced hydrophobic (repels water)/oleophobic coatings (repels oil and grease) - 100% UV protection Cheap lenses do not have these, with the exception of UV coatings, which they need to have by law. How Much Is Reasonable to Spend on a Premium Pair of Sunglasses? Here's where it is important to know the individual brands and different lenses, and why we have so many in-depth reviews on this website. The price of a good pair of lenses is not correlated with the quality you might get. This is similar to nearly every product. There are always the cheap options that will work in a subpar manner for a time, and need to be replaced relatively sooner, and can often end up costing more than if you paid for higher quality in the first place (hence the expression "I'm too poor to be cheap"). Then there are the products that cost more, but give you the quality, durability, and features you would expect to get if you wanted all your needs for this product met. Then there are the highest-priced variants, which add on extras that have no real value like brand names, useless features, and vanity editions to target the people who think spending more means better quality, or that a higher price says something about who they are as people, or they just like spending more money. But the highest-priced items often are even worse than their lower-priced alternatives in terms of quality. This is because the reasons to pay much more have nothing to do with extra quality, so they know their customers are not primarily concerned with that and they take advantage. I've found that the chart below is roughly accurate. I get into details on each brand and lens in their own posts, but you should expect to pay $250-$450 to get the best quality lenses. Below and above that you will end up with something that may be cheaper or has a fancier name, but you will miss out on the quality and optics that make the most positive difference. Conclusion - Why You Should Buy Premium Sunglasses Lastly (for this post, but I can go on), the durability of a premium lens (and the frames, don't forget about those!) is much better than a cheap one. This is due to the coatings, the better manufacturing process, and in the case of glass lenses, the superior scratch resistance. If I haven't convinced you yet to give a premium pair of shades a real try on, in sunny conditions in a nice setting, take one last look at this picture from Maui Jim and ask yourself what you want out of your sunglasses: to look the best or to see the best, and if you really want to compromise on either. Maui Jim HCL Bronze Lens

When Winter comes, much of the color we got used to in the Summer and Fall is gone, and the skies become consistently cloudy and overcast. What is the best way to use sunglasses to enhance our view? In This Article Sunny or Cloud y Grey Lenses Green Lenses Brown Lenses Rose Lenses Conclusion - Best Sunglass Lens Colors to Wear in the Winter After fall is over the magnificent colors we got with the changing trees going red, orange, and yellow, mixed with the green of evergreen trees and bushes all go away. The sun, which was already shining less in the fall, is now more often than not covered with clouds. Another big change is the angle of the sun. In the summer months, the sun is mostly directly overhead except in the morning and late afternoon. In the winter, even in the middle of the day, the sun is heavily tilted towards the south. This means looking towards the north, east, and west there may be significantly less shine than facing south. On top of that, there are two more factors that affect the view, the days with thin overcast days, and the snow. When there a solid ceiling of thick haze, the light coming through is diffused heavily. This means there will be less contrast and more parts of the sky you may be slightly squinting at than if there was only the sun. But it will still not be bright enough for a regular pair of grey or green sunglasses. Snow is highly reflective and can make low light levels feel super bright. People who hit the ski hills often know all about snow blindness, a painful eye condition caused by exposure to too much ultraviolet (UV) light. In the winter, we are closer to the sun but Ultraviolet (UV) levels (the amount of damaging rays from the sun) are lower during the winter because the earth tilts away from the sun. The issue with UV rays in the winter is more because of the reflectiveness of snow, which makes the UV rays bounce more than in the summer, and the lower levels of light which makes less people feel the need to wear sunglasses. To summarize the challenge of the winter, we need to deal with less light mostly, but sometimes a lot of light at more extreme angles, less color and contrast, and highly reflective snow. Ultimately there is less to work with in the winter to get great views, but with the right choice it can still be a pleasure to get outside. There are other considerations as well, like how to protect your sunglasses in the cold, what frame materials are better for you, fogging, and polarization or not, but here we will focus on lens colors. What we discuss here will be true for everyday use and also activities like snow sports and hiking. So what is the best way to use sunglass lenses to enhance the view? Sunny or Cloudy First off, it depends on whether the skies are clear or not. Brilliant blue skies are less common in the winter than throughout the year, but when that happens it matters less which lens is worn. Even a plain grey or green lens will suffice, as long as it removes glare. That said, there are better and worse lenses, as we will see. The only lens I would recommend against wearing is a blue-tinted lens (not blue-mirrored). This lens will tamp down on the small amount of reds and yellows that we do have and dull the view even more. Some lenses will be more brilliant than others, however. The way it works for the winter is this: Any lens that you enjoy when it is overcast will be even better in full sun. Green and Grey lenses will only be good in full sun. Condition Best Lens Color Why Sunny Any Most important to reduce high glare Overcast Rose or Brown Enhances contrast and adds warmth There is one lens that we will not discuss here, the yellow lens. Vuarnet makes a " Skilynx " lens designed for alpine use, and many people enjoy it for that, but yellow lenses do not work well for everyday use in the winter (or any time) in my opinion. Let's take a look at each lens color. Grey Lenses Grey lenses add no color and keep things neutral, which is fine for full sun, though not necessarily ideal. Since the winter is so cold anyway, grey lenses have a slight cooling effect and will make the view feel chilly. No Lenses Grey Lenses For any overcast conditions, grey lenses are not a good choice. The view will be too dark, too dreary, and too low contrast. No Lenses Grey Lenses For full sun, if you wanted a grey lens I would pick one of these: Costa Del Mar 580 Grey I find the Costa Grey lens to be among the more comfortable grey lenses in high sunlight, which is what you will be dealing with in the sunny winter. The polarization will also help deal with high reflections off the snow. See the full review here . Maui Jim Neutral Grey A bit less of a dark grey lens than the Costa, but still very protective, the Maui Jim Neutral Grey lens is the best color-enhancing grey lens you can find. There aren't that many colors to enhance in the winter, but this will be the best option for grey lenses in that regard. See the full review here . Island Optics Grey 12 A great budget choice is the Island Optics Grey 12, not particularly special in any way but had great clarity and all the coatings you could want on a lens, at a great price. Green Lenses Green lenses boost green light and do not do much for red or blue light. In the winter, there is very little green to boost, other than some dark green evergreen trees. This will make green lenses even worse than grey lenses in full sun, and downright bad in overcast conditions. For me, when the first snow comes my green lenses go into storage until the leaves start growing back. No Lenses Green Lenses No Lenses Green Lenses The only green lens i could possible imagine recommending here is the Serengeti 555nm , which is the most color enhancing green lens I have tried. I still wouldn't use it though if you can find an alternative. Put away your Ray-Ban G15 lenses in the winter. Brown Lenses Brown lenses are, in my opinion, the second best lenses in the winter. This is because they boost reds and yellows while keeping greens bright . There are some drawbacks in the winter, though. The blues of the sky, which on sunny days are some of the only nice colors we get, are somewhat negatively impacted, though the number of bright sky days is limited in the winter anyway. This is because brown lenses block blue light the most. Another issue is that brown lenses can make the view look dirty in the winter because mud and slush will get an extra boost of brown. Brown lenses work well in full sun and are useful in overcast conditions, where they add color and contrast and even make it feel brighter and warmer. No Lenses Brown Lenses No Lenses Brown Lenses For brown lenses, there are two kinds, yellow browns, and red browns. I generally like yellow browns year round, but in the winter I find red browns more enjoyable than the rest of the year. Yellow browns Maui Jim HCL Bronze A nice dark brown with amazing color enhancement, one of my favorite lenses that works well anywhere. Great in full sun and overcast, though better in full sun. See the full review here . Serengeti Drivers (use code SUNSCIENCE30 for 30% off) In my opinion, the most beautiful lens ever made that, like the Maui Jim HCL Bronze, can hold its own in any condition. Better in mixed conditions than the HCL bronze. See the full review here . Revo Terra Nearly the same as the Maui Jim HCL Bronze, but with nylon lightweight lenses and more frame designs to choose from, often at a lower price. Island Optics Brown 12 Nearly the same as the Serengeti Drivers, but with lightweight lenses and more frame designs to choose from, at a great price. See the full review here . Red Browns Persol Brown / Randolph Tan / Vuarnet Brown All these lenses are roughly the same, dark red-brown lenses that add a lot of warmth and contrast. Better in full sun than in overcast. Costa Del Mar Copper-Based Lenses Very dark, very comfortable brown lenses, I would only use them for full sun, they are too dark otherwise. See the full review here . Kaenon B12 A nice budget option compared to the other recommendations, with a pleasant red-brown tint. Rose Lenses With rose lenses , we come to the best lens color for the winter. This is because rose lenses boost reds and blues, while greens are relatively subdued. This means the blues of the sky will be nice and bright, and the added red will add color, warmth and definition to the rest of the view, even snow, once your eyes adjust . Rose blocks green the most, but there isn't much green to work with. It's like rose lenses were made for the winter. Oakley makes most of its snow goggles with rose-based lenses. Rose lenses will work great in full sun, and I think they are slightly better than brown lenses in overcast conditions. No Lenses Rose Lenses No Lens Rose Lenses My top picks for rose lenses in the winter are: Serengeti Sedona (Use code SUNSCIENCE30 for 30% off) A wonderful warm rose, with Serengeti's amazing quality and clarity. The lense are photochromic and will be great at adjusting in full sun, and letting in a bit more light in overcast weather. See the full review here . Maui Jim Rose A saturated rose with high color boosting, this is a darker lens that excels in full sun, and can hold its own in brighter overcast conditions. See the full review here . Revo Drive A more neutral rose that is easiter to adjust to, The Revo Drive performs great in bright sun, and overcast. Costa Del Mar Gold Mirror Very similar to the Revo Drive, the Costa Gold mirror comes in glass lenses and a nice gold mirror aesthetic. I have given it heavy rotation from the moment I got it. Otis LIT Green mirror Even more neutral rose to the Revo Drive and Costa Gold, the Otis green mirror combines amazing optics with a warm rose overtone. Great for full sun, not as good for overcast. Island Optis Green mirror For a budget option, the Island Optics Green Mirror is very similar in tint to the Maui Jim Rose, though it is not glass. It come with all coatings and a great price. Oakley Prizm Deep Water / Prizm Road black For a good sport option, which I use when I am shoveling and sweating, the dark rose-based Deep Water Polarized or the non-polarized Prizm Road Black perform well. They do not have any coatings other than their fragile mirrors, so get a wrap frame to avoid any backside reflections. Conclusion - Best Sunglass Lens Colors to Wear in the Winter Winter brings unique visual challenges, but the right lenses can make all the difference. While grey and green lenses suffice in bright sun, rose and brown lenses excel by adding warmth, contrast, and vibrancy to the muted winter landscape. For the best winter experience, opt for lenses that enhance color and clarity, helping you see beauty even on the dullest days. For what it's worth, I wear the Serengeti Sedona the most in the Winter.