Spectacles for the budget conscious: a guide to glasses online

Your pair of glasses can easily be found online. More and more retailers are turning to the world wide web to sell glasses of all shapes, styles, and sizes. Oftentimes, prices are much more affordable than if you were to purchase glasses through a physical store or your optometrist's office.

Round frames just have a mousy, bookish charm to them!

Over the past months, I've seen more and more pictures of girls wearing delicate, circular frames; it gives their outfits more depth and, dare I say, an extra level of cuteness.

To make matters even more complicated, I stumbled across Marion Uy's (a.k.a. Forest Doll's) review for Firmoo sunglasses and immediately added a pair of round sunnies to my list of wants. Their review had me rushing to Firmoo's website to see if the frames were still available ... but due to how much time passed, the style was out of stock and there weren't similar styles to my liking.

Firmoo Sunglasses (Forestdoll Diary)

Thus, my search began!

I've ordered around five or so pairs of glasses online from various websites before, and have learned plenty since my first experience. At first, I didn't know a thing about prescriptions. When I ordered my first pair online, I goofed up one of the most important measurements and had to return them.

Now that I've learned from my past mistakes and done my research, I'd love to share with those new to purchasing prescription glasses from an online website -- so they don't make the same errors as I did.

In my search for the perfect pairs of round frames, I looked at several websites. Glasses.com, Coastal, GlassesUSA ... however, I found myself loitering in the 'Round Frames' section of Zenni Optical more so than the others. This was mostly because their site is easy to navigate and that their selection was the most affordable out of all the websites I was looking at.  Since this overall purchase was a gamble for me -- I'd never tried on round glasses in person to see what they looked like on my face -- the allure of affordable frames was very appealing. I also had a positive experience with them from ordering prescription sunglasses a half-year prior.

Though their frames are not super high quality, you get a great deal for a decent pair of glasses from Zenni. Their prices for frames range from $6.95 to $29.95+ and sell frames for both adults and children. If you scroll to the bottom of the home page, there are categories that separate frames by their style, shape, and material. To a person who's never shopped for prescription eyeglasses online, they have how-to videos explaining various things one should know about fitting.

Miss Honey from Matilda (1996)

Before shopping for frames, it is of utmost importance to acquire a measurement of your pupillary distance (PD). Each frame has a specific range of PD they're best suited for, and this measurement is crucial to getting glasses you can actually see in!

Get this measurement wrong and your vision through those lenses will be warped and inaccurate; it may give you a headache or nausea and essentially render those glasses useless. While Zenni Optical has an instructional video on how to measure your PD at home, you can get the most accurate number by having a professional eye doctor measure it for you. Once you have this measurement, be sure to refine your search to match your PD for easier browsing.

Other measurements to be wary of are listed below. Comparing these measurements to a pair of glasses you already own can give you an idea of how a potential frame will look and sit on your face. You can find these measurements inside the temple arm of most prescription eyeglasses.

Bridge width: The space between the eyeglass lens that sits above your nose. A too large bridge = it will slide down your face (an issue associated with plastic frames; metal frames typically have adjustable nose pads.)  

Lens width and height: How tall and how long the actual eyeglass lens will be. If you prefer the oversized look, keep these numbers in mind! 

Frame width: The length along the front of the frames, measured from temple to temple. A small width indicates it's well-suited for a narrow face.

Aside from these measurements, you can also upload a photo of yourself to virtually try on frames. You need your PD and have to pinpoint the center of your pupils for the layering to be accurate. It took me several tries to get a photo in which the frames aligned correctly with my face -- albeit frustrating, it was well worth the trouble. This definitely helps choosing a pair that compliments your face shape, although it's an odd experience to have a picture of yourself staring into the distance scrolling through each and every page ...

Once you've chosen your frames you can customize them to your needs.

1. First, enter the prescription. If you don't want or need it to have one, leave all selections as 0.00. Be sure to double check that the information is correct before finalizing your order.
2. The next step is to pick the type of lens. The higher the lens index is, the thinner the lens will be. Each index is suited to a specific range of prescriptions. If you're unsure, it does recommend which one to get. I will warn that it's more expensive to get a high index lens, so only purchase it if it's truly needed.
3. Now, if you want to have the lenses tinted -- aka make them sunglasses -- you can choose between a standard or gradient tint, as well as the color and percentage of opaqueness. You can even choose to have photochromic lenses, which tint in the sunlight. This option is much more expensive than regular tinting.
4. Lastly, choose a coating for the lenses. Make then anti-reflective ($4.95) and/or water and oil resistant, or even add a mirror finish! If you want my honest opinion on coatings, the hydrophobic one is the best deal. It's an upgrade from the standard AR coating, but more affordable than the third oleophobic option. I've experienced both water and oil resistant coatings in action and, to me, there isn't much difference between the two upgrades. 

After perusing the website's 'Round Glasses' section, I decided on two very similar frames: Frame #6529 ($23.95) for my non-tinted eyeglasses and the slightly larger Frame #6508 ($29.95) for my tinted sunglasses. Because my prescription is intense, I upgraded both lenses to 1.67 High-Index ($34.95 each). I also added hydrophobic anti-reflective coatings ($8.95 each) and the 80% Amber Tint to the latter frames to make them sunglasses (an extra $4.95). Let me break it down for you:

(Frame #6529) $23.95 + (Index) $34.95 + (Coating) $8.95 = $67.85 

(Frame #6508) $29.95 + (Index) $34.95 + (Tint) $4.95 + (Coating) $8.95 = $78.80

Without shipping costs, the total for these two glasses was $146.55 — an awesome deal, considering that the pair of glasses I purchased at my local optometrist cost over $250.

They were packaged in a small box, with each pair in their own plastic case and bubble wrap filler. The nose pads that needed some adjusting, but afterward they were perfect and ready to wear! To my pleasant surprise, the eyeglasses frame (Frame #6529) has a red-pink tint around the lens that is the epitome of femininity. Because the frame is so thin, it has a very delicate look.

The sunglasses match practically any outfit I have. It's denser than the other pair, and  the lack of spring hinges makes the temple arms stiffer in movement. The amber is the most classic and flattering of sunglass colors and the 80% tint makes these frames stand out. Overall, I couldn't be any happier with my purchase and so relieved about my decision!

I hope this guide was informative and helps you on your search for glasses online. Until next time, and thanks for reading~!