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Let me start by saying: I’m a bit of hypochondriac. Not the full blown stage 4 OCD type, but I’ve been known to bookmark WebMD, and the minute I feel a tickle in my throat I drink 3 gallons of water and pray it goes away. Not exactly a convenient time to be on edge about your health during quarantine.
I’m also a business owner so a normal working day pre-March involved a fair amount of driving around town to client meetings, phone calls, and in person meetings at our home office. Contrast that to the world many of us are fortunate to be living right now -- full time WFH with the perpetual buzz of calendar invites, slack messages, and Zoom calls ad nauseam.
Chronic Headaches at Home -- What Gives?
I distinctly recall the first few weeks of quarantine struggling with chronic headaches. My hypochondriac spidey sense was on full alert in those early days of COVID, knowing headaches were a telltale symptom of the virus. I went into a bit of a spiral, struggling to focus at work while my mood suffered and the headaches worsened. Parallel to all this, my partner started struggling with what felt like a 4 day straight migraine. Something was up, but aside from the headaches + eye strain, we were feeling generally healthy.ﾠ
Luckily we live in 2020, and another search engine, this time trusty old Google, offered a different explanation for my now chronic headache and eye fatigue. Increased screen time (both during working hours and binge reading updates on Twitter at night) could be the culprit alongside our new home office setup near large windows (great for Instagram photo ops, not ideal for screen glare).ﾠ
Enter LOOK OPTIC.
Prescription quality, retinashield lenses that are designed for anyone (even folks with 20/20 vision) concerned with the harmful effects of blue-light. To be honest I never really gave blue-light much much thought before being in front of a screen all day.
The 411 on Blue Light
Blue light, or high energy visible (HEV) light, is a type of light with short wavelengths emitting a higher energy. Blue wavelengths -- which can be helpful during daylight hours by boosting reaction times and attention -- are most disruptive at night. Increased screen time and proliferation of devices has in turn increased blue wavelength exposure. I wondered if blue light glasses even worked so I conducted a quick at home test using a blue light torch on a testing area. LOOK OPTIC passed the test with flying colors:
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Blue Blockers, but Make it Fashion
To be fair, there are plenty of entry level blue light glasses you can find on Amazon. So why LOOK OPTIC? To me, it was all about design aesthetic and the quality of the materials. I’ve tried to take some pride in my WFH attire, and I was really impressed with LOOK Optic’s frame designs and colorway selection. Literally all of the colors are gorgeous, but I opted for Crimson in the Abbey frame.
The Fine Print
This may be getting a bit in the weeds, but I nerd out on the details: The matte finish was smooth to the touch, while still letting the color pop against my skin tone. I also appreciated how comfortable and lightweight they felt on my face after a full day's wear. The Italian spring hinges were much higher quality then any of the knock offs I’ve seen and tried, so all in all I was very pleased with LOOK OPTIC's attention to quality.
Combine all the aesthetics wins with a 53% reduction in hazardous Blue Light, and my partner and I felt an immediate improvement in eye strain, and the headaches vanished; my fear of getting sick sadly hasn’t. At this point I instinctively put my frames on every morning when I start my day, and actively avoid looking at any screens -- even on leisure hours -- without my LOOK OPTIC Abbey’s on. Have a gander and consider adding a pair to your own WFH uniform!
Five More Reasons to love LOOK OPTIC:
- They use RetinaShield TM Blue technology to provide clear lenses that filter out the dangerous band of blue-light from the UV spectrum. Rather than using a coating like most blue-light protection lenses, RetniaShield TM lenses disperse the UV inhibitor in the lens material itself.
- As seen in Wall Street Journal, InStyle, Women’s Wear Daily, and NY Mag, LOOK OPTIC’s blue light glasses were designed for anyone, even those with 20/20 vision.
- They have a 90 day try-at-home policy, so you can give their frames a spin at no risk
- 1% of all profits go to charity:water, a non profit providing clean and safe drinking water to developing communities
- They offer optional magnification on all their frames, so you can combine the benefits of blue light blocking with that of a conventional reader.
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