shady business

Protecting your skin from sun damage might be crucial in the summer but no more crucial than protecting your eyes. A good-quality pair of sunglasses won’t just protect your rep, they’ll help protect your retinas too. Personally, I like a Ray Ban aviator as you see but the important thing is to go for a pair that offer proper protection. For starters, avoid those market-stall jobbies that are often inferior and don’t meet proper standards. They might look good and be cheap as chips but what price eye health?

It’s crucial to protect your eyes with a good quality pair of sunglasses since sunlight can damage the retina and the lens of the eye, causing long-term damage to our eyesight. Look for good quality dark glasses and check they carry the "CE" Mark and British Standard BS EN 1836:1997, which ensures that the sunglasses offer a safe level of UV protection.

Then make sure you wear them! With increasing awareness of the risk of skin cancer, most of us wouldn’t dream of going outside on a sunny day without proper sunscreen protection.  Yet we often forget to protect our eyes. In fact, according to one survey by The College of Optometrists around one in seven of us never wear sunglasses at all. But if you’re blue or green eyed they’re especially essential as people with light coloured eyes are most at risk from sun damage.

What’s more, sunglasses are one of the simplest ways to prevent wrinkles caused by squinting (especially if you opt for wraparounds) so make sure you invest in a good pair, up to the correct safety standards and keep some at work or in the car glove compartment so they’re always at hand.

Lee, Mankind Grooming Ed