Unfortunately for me, I've been a prescription glasses wearer ever since I was around eight years old. I remember the day that something was wrong very vividly; I was at school, and sat at the back of the classroom. In that lesson, the teacher was writing on the whiteboard, and we had to copy it down/make notes about whatever it was. I remember putting my hand up, and telling the teacher that I couldn't read what they were writing. I was moved closer to the front of the room and the rest of the day passed by. Unbeknownst to me, my teacher said something to my mum after school, and not long after that I went for an eyesight test. My first pair of glasses were very girly, with patterned pink and purple frames - I thought that they were wonderful! I couldn't believe how much better my vision was after I started wearing my glasses all the time, and I was the envy of my school friends for being the only one to do so. Fast forward some years, and I've had a love/hate relationship with glasses. As soon as I was old enough to wear contact lenses, I did, and I wore them as much as I could get away with up until about a year ago. Last year, my eyes started to get irritated and sore whilst I was at work, and it was due to the nature of what I do. To give my eyes a break, I wore my glasses one day and even though I didn't like how they looked at all, the relief I felt was immense. So, I promised myself that I would find some that I would like, and wear all the time - or at least to work. I booked an appointment at the opticians, got an updated prescription and went hunting for glasses online. The rest, as they say, is history!



Now, you might think that buying eyeglasses online is a risky business, but these days the quality is just as good as the ones you would find at your opticians. I've bought my glasses from various places around the web, but had yet to try GlassesShop. I think they had missed my radar because I assumed that it was a US-only site; but whilst they are based in the US, they do ship to the UK too. So, I spent some time browsing their styles and seeing if I could find any that would suit me. I know roughly what I like, and what suits me, so narrowing it down to a few choices wasn't too difficult. I ended up with two frontrunners; the Muskegon Oval in Black, and the Hyannis Rectangle in Brown*. As you can see from the pictures, I chose the latter, and that is because that I wanted a pair of brown or tortoiseshell glasses. You see, I already had a black pair, so I felt the need to expand my styles a bit. There were a couple of things about this particular pair that I liked, apart from the colour. First, was that the nose pieces were clear, and thus would be less obvious than the black pair that I was wearing at the time. Secondly, the style is very classic (let's call it Wayfarer), and thought would work well with my face shape.




Now, something to note about me and my prescription is that I am really very short-sighted. This means that the lenses of any glasses that I buy have to be thinned, for comfort and also for the look, as well - thick lenses make your eyes look smaller and stick out behind the frame of the glasses. GlassesShop have the option to have any lenses thinned for around £10 extra, or you can have them extra thinned for another £30. This is only generally recommended if you have very poor vision, which luckily mine isn't just yet! As such, I requested mine to be thinned - which was no problem at all - and I excitedly awaited their arrival. I expected to be waiting for quite some time for my glasses, but I was happily surprised to find them through my letterbox less than a week later - very impressive, considering the distance that they were travelling. The outer packaging wasn't the most glamorous, but of course what really matters is what the glasses themselves are like. They came fully intact, and well protected in a sturdy, plastic case and a cleaning cloth. When I removed the glasses from the case, I was immediately impressed by the quality of the frames. The hinges were strong, the screws were all tightly in place and there were no rough edges to the plastic, like I have found in other glasses that I've had. The glass was of high quality too, with no distortion around the sides of the lens and were sat firmly in the frame.



Going back to the style, and this is the obvious downside to buying prescription glasses online. They are not physically available for you to try on, and that can prove to be a little tricky. However, GlassesShop have a neat little interface where you can upload a picture of yourself, and it pastes the frame of the glasses over it, which you can then tweak to see how they would look on you. Now, it's not going to give a completely true representation - no website ever could - but it certainly gives you an idea as to what styles and shapes would work best for you. When I tried these on, I was surprised to find that they were a bit bigger than what I had imagined, but that wasn't - and still isn't - as issue for me. The imagery on the website was extremely accurate, even down to the tone of the frames, and I don't honestly think they could do any better with that. It's always a bit of a gamble when buying online, and I was happy that in this case, it paid off. I have since worn them daily for the past few weeks, and I can honestly say that I have not had a single problem with them. They still feel and look just as good as they did when they arrived. The arms haven't loosened at all, the glass is still clear and scratch free, and most importantly, my vision is perfect and they're extremely comfortable. I have had glasses in the past that have pinched the bridge of my nose and behind my ears, giving me headaches, but that definitely is not the case with these! I'm extremely happy with my new glasses, and am looking to invest in the other pair that I had my eye on in the near future. A girl can never have too many pairs of glasses, right?



To answer the question of the title of this post - yes, I truly think you should buy prescription glasses online. There are some scare stories out there, but after buying several pairs myself, I can tell you that I have never had a problem with my any of my glasses. The quality has always been up to scratch, my vision is clear and I'm certainly not causing my eyesight any damage whatsoever (like some media outlets claim). These glasses are no exception to that, and now that I am aware of GlassesShop, I will definitely be buying from them in the future. They often work out much, much cheaper than ones you buy from the opticians, too - because you are buying direct from the manufacturer, and not having to contend with inflated sales prices that the stores put on. Also, as well as stocking regular glasses, GlassesShop also have an excellent range of prescription sunglasses too. This pleases me, because usually I can only find glasses frames that allow the option for tints to be added; not a range of frames specifically designed for sunglasses wear. The choices for prescription sunglasses in stores are limited at best (and frankly ugly at worse), so to have that choice is amazing. If you fancy treating yourself to some lovely new glasses, use the code GSHOT50 for 50% off glasses and sunglasses, with free lenses too!