There are three things to consider when you are choosing a pair of sunglasses. First, while you obviously want them to look good, complementing your facial features, even more foreign is that they protect the health of your eyes. If you buy a pair of sunglasses which fails on one of these counts, you are almost certainly throwing your money away. Why? If the sunglasses don't look good on you, you are not going to wear them. If the sunglasses look great, however, but don't protect your eyes from UV glare so that you're constantly squinting, you are not going to wear them either. Anyone choosing sunglasses (including celebrities, sportscasters, and newscasters who spend a great deal of time out of doors) should factor these two considerations into his or her decision.

What must sunglasses do in order to protect the health of your eyes? They must have degrees of tint or polarization that neither distort natural color nor lessen contrast. If they do either, they will compromise visual clarity. Sunglasses protect the health of your eyes either by lessening contrast, or by shading them, but if they interfere with the clarity of your vision, their drawbacks will outweigh their benefits.

There is a second way in which sunglasses protect your eyes from harm, and that is by shutting out both the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays and he High Energy Visible Light (HEVL). We have known for a very long time that overexposure to UV rays is extremely damaging to the eyes; the problems caused by HEVL have been recognized more recently.

For people whose livelihoods depend on their degree of visual clarity, exposure to UV rays or HEVL can be critical. Such people include airline pilots and truck drivers who may be facing toward the sun for several hours at a time. Athletes like skiers and snowboarders are faced with the double dangers of UV exposure and snow blindness, which can happen when they are exposed to the sunlight reflected off the snow around them. All these people, and millions more, have learned how essential it is that their eyes remain protected, but it is no less important for those of us spend less time in the sun to give our eyes adequate protection.

Clinical research indicates that those of us who use their eyes constantly in their work, whether it involves long-distance driving or winter sports, use up enormous amounts of energy while our brains process the vast visual input they are receiving. Having high-quality sunglasses will benefit you by allowing your eyes to function more efficiently so that you do not burn more energy than absolutely necessary.

When you have decided which sort of sunglasses will give your eyes the most health protection, you can turn to choosing a pair of sunglasses, which is not only fashionable, but great on you! Many sunglasses manufacturers have made a point not only of making their products as health-friendly as possible; they have developed lines of "designer" sunglasses. These manufacturers include; Juicy Couture, Lacoste, Serengeti, Ray-Ban, Oakley, Wiley, and Maui Jim. Some of these manufacturers have gone so far as incorporating Bluetooth into their sunglasses so that you can use either your cell phone or your MP3 player without removing them!

Your final consideration in choosing a pair of sunglasses is that they fit you comfortably. The best looking and healthiest pair of sunglasses and the world will be of absolutely no use to you if it hurts to wear them!