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HEY YOU! FOUR EYES!

Yeah you. The one with the glasses. Thinking you look all cool and trendy with your Gucci frames.

Well, you kind of do. Actually, you look really hot. And since glasses have long been a fashion statement, I’m really digging your style. It’s obvious you love your eyes, and I do too.

It’s no surprise that I’m a huge supporter of Licensed Opticians across Canada. In fact, if you caught my Love Your Eyes posts last year, you’ll know that if there’s one thing I’m particular about, it’s eye health. And that’s why I’d never trust my pretty peepers to anyone but the pros.

Licensed Option 101:

An Optician is a licensed professional trained to help people see better – whether they’re near or far-sighted, or have low vision due to more complex eye health issues.

Opticians interpret vision prescriptions in order to fit and develop perfect lenses. They’re highly skilled, working to exact standards and precision, because creating the perfect lens requires attention to extremely fine detail. Using the latest technology, Licensed Opticians ensure lenses and frames have been created to meet national and international standards of precision.

(Translation: Although purchasing glasses off the Internet seems like a great money-saving idea, the truth is, buying prescription eyewear is not like shopping for books or clothes. In Canada, Licensed Opticians are regulated and guaranteed to be highly trained, follow a standard of care, ethical and accountable. And who wants to tamper with their eye health? That would be like biting the hand that feeds. Or poking the eye that sees. #badjoke #yougetmydrift)

Okay, so why all this talk about eyes? World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. As a countdown to the celebration of World Sight Day, Love Your Eyes is giving away prizes every week – for five weeks – from Friday, September 6th to Thursday, October 10th.

So, here’s the scoop. Head on over to www.weloveyoureyes.ca. Answer the daily questions on vision care. Every question you answer garners you an entry into the current and all the following week’s prize draws. Answer as many questions as you can to increase your chances of winning!

Not only will you have the opportunity to win fabulous prizes, you’ll also learn a ton about vision care, eye treatments, myths, facts and more. The first prize up for grabs is an Apple iPad mini – not too shabby! (Between you and I – I’m going for the MacBook Air. After all, hipsters wearing designer frames need a designer laptop too, no?)

And the GRAND PRIZE? A $3,000 President’s Choice Shopping Spree! SHAZAM! 

Be sure to pop by daily – and take care of those peepers!

This post is sponsored by the Opticians Council of Canada. I Love My Eyes and encourage everyone to regularly stay on top of their eye health.

Two days ago, I attended the Fashion Forward Conference in New York City with the always awesome @ShopwithRobin. On the agenda: learning from some of the best and most noted names in fashion and blogging, plus tips and tricks for writing fashion/beauty editorials (as you may have noticed, I’m a bit of a clothing/makeup junkie).

Now normally, the first thing I’d do for a fashion event is pop in my contact lenses. I’ve long detested wearing glasses and often felt “prettier” with my contacts in – and, it’s a well known fact that glasses make a gal look geeky, right? Right?

Nah, I don’t believe that either, at least not anymore. In fact, I now view my glasses as part of my “look” – and sometimes, an outfit actually looks better to me when I’m rocking my dark frames.

Case in point: Fashion Forward.

My outfit:
Waffle Cardigan, Joe Fresh
Active Tee, Joe Fresh
Leggings, Joe Fresh
Boots, Browns Couture
Glasses, Gucci

Five years ago, I NEVER would have worn glasses to a public event! It would take a (pretty awful) eye infection to keep me out of my contacts… but today, not only do I include my glasses as a fashion statement – I work ’em!

Of course, my “eye love” doesn’t end with my frames – I also happen to take my eye health more seriously than the average 30-something. From prior posts you’ll recall that due to my grab bag of eye issues and hereditary time bombs, I’ve had to see an ophthalmologist twice a year, every year… for the past 15 years.

(Click here to read Love At First Sight; Love Your Eyes)

So at the risk of sounding repetitive, PLEASE see a licensed optician to fill your eyeglasses/contact lens prescriptions. Opticians are trained to take proper anatomical measurements, make appropriate initial and ongoing adjustments to eyewear and to perform thorough pre- and post-assessment of contact lenses to ensure vision health and safety, comfort, peak performance and clear accurate vision….

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There are three things in life I’ll NEVER do.

1) Seek out the tallest and fastest roller coaster – and then ride it. (Gravol please/afraid of heights/Leviathan who?)
2) Cheat on my husband. (I actually have zero interest in having sole custody of my boys.)
3) Purchase glasses off the Internet. (Explanation ensues…)

I happen to LOVE my eyes. I honestly don’t think there’s another pair of peepers that have been so well taken care of. Between wearing glasses since the age of 12, having a strong family history of glaucoma, being diagnosed with pinguecula in both eyes on the temporal side, and experiencing migraines with aura that affect my vision… you can say that I have a vested interest in keeping my sight for as long as possible.

(I mean, who wants to tamper with their eye health? That would be like biting the hand that feeds. Or poking the eye that sees. #badjoke #yougetmydrift)

And so due to my grab bag of eye issues and hereditary time bombs, I’ve had to see an ophthalmologist twice a year, every year… for the past 15 years. In fact, I recently conquered a hurdle of sorts; at my last appointment, my eye doctor was so pleased with my test results and examination, that he actually said I didn’t need to come back for – gasp – one year.

However, having to wear glasses for so long, I’ve developed a healthy respect for the entire process – visiting an optometrist to check on your eye health/sight, and if you’re unlucky enough to need glasses, filling your prescription at a Licensed Optician.

Rant: Did you know that people buy their glasses over the Internet? HOW is this possible?

1. Licensed Opticians do more than just stick lenses in your frames. 

Buying prescription eyewear is not like shopping for books or clothes. In Canada, Licensed Opticians are regulated and guaranteed to be highly trained, follow a standard of care, ethical and accountable. Only registered contact lens fitters are legally permitted to fit contact lenses and automated refracting opticians are legally permitted to assess visual acuity.

2. Glasses and contact lenses are a medical device… not an “online deal” to be had.

Prescription eyewear is not “one size fits all”. Opticians are trained to take proper anatomical measurements, make appropriate initial and ongoing adjustments to eyewear, and to perform thorough pre- and post-assessment of contact lenses to ensure vision health and safety, comfort, peak performance and clear accurate vision.

3. Ill-fitting glasses can be detrimental to your eye health.

Improperly fitted eyeglasses and contact lenses can cause headaches, dizziness, and nausea. These side effects can also prove dangerous if you are in a situation such as driving, carrying glass or hot beverages, handling machinery and so on. I can’t stress this enough: eyeglasses and contact lenses need to be fitted to each individual patient based on measurements of the eye and face. This cannot be done over the Internet.

(Source: Opticians Council of Canada)…