Choosing your perfect glasses

 Five expert style tips to help you find your feel good frames

inspiration-advice-opticians-choosing-your-perfect-glasses-hero-1360x502

We’ve compiled the top five tips from a Boots Opticians stylist to help give you confidence when choosing your glasses, so take a look below and put yourself in the frame for finding some seriously stylish specs!

Try frames you’re immediately drawn to

This is rule number one and we love it! If you find yourself feeling a little overwhelmed by the choice of glasses, simply try on the first pair that catches your eye and go from there. Don’t worry if they seem too big, a little brighter than you’d usually go for or a shape you never thought would suit you. Just pop them on, take a look in the mirror and see how you feel. Who knows, you could find your perfect frame match right away, or at least have a giggle trying on different looks.

Find frames to suit your face shape

Are you a square? No, we don’t mean like that! But knowing your face shape gives you an advantage on finding the right pair of glasses, as certain styles are better suited to certain shapes and can help complement and accentuate your favourite features.

Take a selfie (or ask a friend to take a picture of you) or simply study your face in the mirror to discover which face shape you have. It could be…

• Oval – the most common face shape with balanced proportions of facial features

• Round – fairly short face, a wider forehead, full cheeks and a soft jawline

• Square – your face width and length are in proportion and your jawline is a little more square

• Heart – face is wider at the top and narrowing down towards your chin

• Oblong – your face is typically longer than it is wide, with a narrow nose

Take a look at our guide to glasses for your face shape to help find your perfect pair.

Think about what you want from your glasses

You may need to wear glasses on a daily basis, for reading, driving or to help you type out those all important work emails, and a good pair of glasses is like a good pair of jeans - once you find the right one it can give you a feeling of empowerment and confidence. Perhaps you’re looking for a pair to match your favourite shoes, or maybe you want something to bring out your best features and help you feel more confident in your specs.

Match frames to your personality

What you wear is a great way to show your personality – why not take a look around your workplace? You’ll probably be able to spot this with your colleagues! If you have a bold personality, then you should go for brighter frames, right? Not necessarily! You may be the confident one in your friendship group, but perhaps you prefer frames that show your boldness in a different way, such as thicker rimmed frames or ones with a more unusual shape. If you have more of a quiet personality, then don’t be afraid to try frames which are a little bolder, as there isn’t a one size fits all when it comes to selecting your specs.

Go for the right frame colour

There’s nothing wrong with choosing your frames based on your favourite colour, but certain skin tones and hair colours are better suited to particular hues. So the first step is knowing your skin tone and which colours work best with it. So, what skin tone do you have? It will either have a warm or cool undertone, and the best way to find out is the quick jewellery test. Simply hold two separate pieces of gold and silver jewellery against your skin – if gold looks more flattering then you’re warm toned, and if silver looks better then you’re cool toned.

If you’re warm toned, these shades will help complement your look:

• Beige

• Brown

• Gold

• Pink

• Off-white

• Red

• Yellow

• Green

If you're cool toned, these are shades you should try:

• Black

• Grey

• Pink

• Blue

• Purple

But what about your actual eye colour? Brown eyes work well with warmer tones, such as greens, golds and even tortoiseshell, whereas blue eyes are better suited to grey tones and rich browns to help the eyes pop. Green eyes work well with earthy tones, but also pinks and purples too.