New York / Vision East Expo Days 1

What a week!

Late March, our flights are all scheduled, we've re-jigged our diary and all prepared to take head down to New York on the first flight on Thursday morning to get us to our first workshop for 10 am.  Taking the days out of Ocean's diary is a big commitment for both Dr. McGinty and Dr. Wilson, however Euan & John feel that to offer both the best services and most wonderful products our commitment to seeking these out has to be there.

This exhibition we were being joined by our optician, Erin, her first visit to any of the international expo's - we knew it was going to WOW her.

Halifax airport the day before the storm!

Then ... the weather throws us a curve ball.  On Sunday forecasts started to come in about one last winter storm on yet another Wednesday.  Knowing how the previous Wednesday storms of 2014 had affected flights and transport we had to make a decision, take a chance on the Thursday morning flights or re-arrange everything last minute.  Gulp!  We took the latter, but it's hard to believe as we sat at the airport taking in the scene that a storm was really going to arrive.

Both docs arrived in to the office on Tuesday morning, and met with Mike and Erin.  Mike had kindly volounteered to hold the fort at Ocean while we were away as he'd done NYC last year.  This is no mean feat, as when we are busy and everyone rocks up at once you have to be quite the juggler to cope, but we know Mike is more than capable.

We see our eye exams that were already scheduled in and at 11 am head to the airport for our new flights.  Everything was smooth, we flew down to Philly and then on to New York:

Stopover in Philadelphia

Jump in our car and head in to the city for our hastily re-arranged reservation at the Yotel (more about it later  - but lets just say, it's hip and purple!).

So, having rolled the dice and decided to get ahead of the storm, we were safely in New York.  We kept our eyes on the various news feeds to see what was happening back home in NS with the impending storm.  All settled in we headed out for dinner, so many choices in NYC, where to go - a quick stroll found us an incredible steak house and we knew the trip was off to a fantastic start!

Stay tuned!

Green with envy?

Green with envy?

With spring just around the corner what better way to celebrate than wearing a frame which shines with the hue of the season....green. I know what your thinking...sure...yeah...ok green looks great on other people - but not on me. Are you sure?  Have you tried the many different shades and textures of green? Green can be bold and exciting or soft and subtle.

Think of mother nature's palette and you will realize that there is, indeed, a green out there for everyone - and we are here to help you find it.

Drift Eyewear Atticus

Is it possible to be soft and bold at the same time? The 'Atticus' by Drift certainly is. A warm green matte front is balanced perfectly with smooth, sleek temples handcrafted from the deck of a 70's racing yacht.

A frame with a story where you could be the next chapter. Where will it take you?

TD Tom Davies Bespoke

Choices, choices so many choices!  With TD Tom Davies you become the designer. Take your new found love of green to a whole new level and create your own masterpiece.

Change the size, colour and finish of your favourite style. Then - put your name on it (or handle, or mantra) and call it your own.

Bellinger Turbulens

Danish designed Bellinger screams sleek, sexy and sophisticated. Vibrant, bright colours such as this uber shocking lime green transform your glasses from an accessory to a statement.

Yet -the easy to wear style compliments the bright colours and makes for a perfectly balanced piece of eyewear.

Oliver Goldsmith Lord

Green isn't just for the frame. Why not try green lenses in your sunglasses to create a unique and fashionable look? While still dark enough to provide great sun coverage they take your style to a whole new level. 

This combination looks especially striking against tortoiseshell frames such as this Oliver Goldsmith beauty.

Claire Goldsmith Hollander

Retro meets modern, jade meets crystal in this stunning combination by Claire Goldsmith.

Sharp angles coupled with non-descript temples create a unique and wonderful style. Reminiscent of the fashion icons of the 50's and 60's this frame will turn heads and spark conversations.

gӧtti Winny

Sharp design made with ultra-light titanium this frame by gӧtti has solid style while feeling virtually weightless.

Classically beautiful this timeless piece will elicit rave reviews for years to come.

SALT. Clark

California style & California cool - does it get any better than this? SALT. optics are superbly well made frames with a style that is perfectly on-trend.

With SALT. green is never just green - its 'olive gradient' or 'tweed moss' and it's stunning.

UV protection and You!

We are all much better now at using sunscreen to protect ourselves from the damage that can happen through UV rays.  Can the same be said about protecting our eyes?

The harmful effects of ultra-violet radiation on the eyes has now been well documented, however, what many do not appreciate is how important it is to protect children's eyes.  Children spend more time playing outside, their pupils are larger allowing for more light (including non-visible light) to enter the eyes.  Research has also shown that a significant amount of our total lifetime UV exposure now happens by the age of 18 and we know that the damage adds up over time.

So how can we protect our eyes?

UV protection -definitely cool

There's obvious steps which can be taken, common with general sun protection, like wearing a wide brimmed hat.  We can not, however, put sun cream in our eyes, so how do we ensure that they are fully protected?

Sunglasses

The most obvious choice would be to use sunglasses, as long as they have UV protection.  You can look for certain marks like UVX or UV400 to ensure that the sunglasses will do the job properly.  Without proper UV protection, sunglasses could actually make sun damage worse as the pupils will dilate behind the dark lenses allowing more UV to enter they eye than without.

Sunglasses should be well fitting and thankfully current trends of either wrapped style or over-sized sunglasses definitely help to max out the protection and reduce peripheral light from entering the eyes.

Prescription Glasses

It may not be obvious that your prescription glasses can actually help to reduce the amount of UV light getting to the eyes.  Higher index plastic lens materials have inherent in-built UV protection as part of their optical characteristics and even standard plastic (1.5 index) can have a UV blocking treatment applied to it. 

With added benefits of being robust and durable, it is easily argued that 1.6 index plastic should now be our standard lens material of choice.  It is thinner and lighter than standard plastic, safer for the eyes with the UV protection and particularly beneficial in children's glasses as it is incredibly tough.

While prescription glasses wouldn't replace good sunglasses for overall sun protection, it is worthwhile taking the time to discuss your requirements with your optician to make sure that you are making the best choice overall.

Contact Lenses

We are increasingly finding contact lenses coming with built in UV protection and it is a feature of the lenses manufactured by Acuvue that all of their lenses have a UV blocker.  The big advantage of contact lenses in UV protection is in reducing peripheral light which gets in to the eye from oblique angles, light coming from the sides, above or below.  This Peripheral Light Factor can cause real problems for glasses and sunglasses as the light can "creep" around the edges of the glasses or be reflected from the skin and then from the back surface of the lens.

Acuvue lenses with UV protection as standard

While contact lenses will not protect the whole eye, as they only cover the cornea in the center, they will add a level of protection which is a great supplement to good quality sunglasses.  They will also allow you to choose from non-prescription sunglasses, perhaps opening up options in style, selection and having multiple pairs to suit your mood or the environment.

Whatever you are doing, whatever time of year, when you are going outside make sure that you have the best protection available and if you are unsure of what works for you, speak to your optician or optometrist for the best advice.