Is there one glasses frame color that will never go out of style? Your best bet: tortoise shell.  There may not be a single more versatile color in the universe. We've all been brow-beaten by our grandmothers to not to mix black and brown, but tortoise shell can mix with anything.  It's brown, it's black, it's got gold and ivory undertones.  It just works.  If you are trying to find a frame that will last for years, and be a glasses-staple in your wardrobe, I always recommend shopping in this color range.

They are called "frames" for a reason.  Glasses can enhance your natural face shape attributes (just check out my posts on the best frames for your face shape to see how).  With a neutral like tortoise shell, you can let the shape of the frame make the statement for your look (and your own natural beauty shine through).  Overtly oversized frames are quickly fading into the past, so skip the extra large frames in the men's section.  2014 is trending much more natural -- look for a frame whose depth, or vertical length, is about two times larger than your eye, and where your eye is well centered in the horizontal width.  Bigger than this was popular in years past, but will look quite juvenile by 2014 standards.



Two: Pop of Gold

Looking for something with a little more punch?  I love pairing tortoise shell with gold for a stronger statement.  Gold is still your metal of choice in 2014, and there are no signs of the gold phenomenon fading any time soon.  Tortoise shell naturally has gold highlights, so the color story flows quite naturally.  Look for a pop of gold in the temples or in a two-tone effect along the face of the frame.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and noticed, "wow one of my pupils looks huge?"  Well if you have just been to the eye doctor and had your eyes dilated, that is perfectly normal.  But a dilated pupil out of the blue can also be a huge medical issue, and a quick google search of the symptom is enough to scare yourself senseless.  Before you high tail it to the nearest ER, let's look at some of the possible normal causes that could have resulted in a temporary dilation effect:

This person had a larger dilation effect in his right eye after a routine dilation at the eye doctor.  Sometimes one eye will have a larger response, and it can be quite dramatic.  via

With any new products, there can sometimes be a few surprises.  If you read my post about Bausch and Lomb's new monthly Ultra contact lens, you know that I found it exceedingly comfortable and a very exciting new option on the market.  The overwhelming response to their launch of Ultra has been positive, with most patients reporting better initial comfort and less end of day dryness compared to other monthly lens options.  But as more doctors began fitting the lens around the country, a surprising finding began showing up in a minority of lens wearers: redness.

via

Staining grid studies are a controversial topic, but can raise some interesting discussions as to what solutions we should really be recommending to patients for the contact lens brand that they wear.  We don't have information about Ultra yet, but perhaps it to requires a certain solution brand to perform at its best in a sensitive patient population.  via

With the official kick-off of summer vacations, if you haven't already pulled out your new pair of sunglasses for the season, now is most certainly the time.  With all of the Memorial Day sales going on this weekend, here are Eyedolatry's picks for the best new looks to bring to the beach, lake, or wherever your outdoor travels may lead.

White cat eye sunglasses pair great with the summer's bold floral prints.  via

Miu Miu patterned sunglasses via

You've done it!  You've made the decision to devote the rest of your life to eye balls and their care and keeping.  I know that may seem like an exaggeration, but when you become an optometrist, you really do think about eyes all day long.  When you aren't at work seeing patients, you are talking to your optometrist friends about eyes, talking to your family about their eye problems, talking to your outside of optometry friends about their eyes, talking to total strangers that ask what you do for a living about their eyes.  Just as a word of advice, when you are on vacation and don't want to talk about eyes for a few days, pretend that you have a different career.  White lies can't hurt in this case. There is nothing like hiking Yosemite and having to talk to a stranger about their uncle's cousin's cataract surgery complication all the way up the mountain.

States with current optometry schools -- more coming soon!  via

My Graduating Class

With the recent launch of Ciba's Daily Aqua Comfort Plus Multifocal, the world of daily multifocal lens options just got a second look.  Remember about a year ago when CooperVision first pioneered the option with their Proclear 1 Day Multifocal lens?  Within a few tries, I think most ODs sighed a long, low sigh of exasperation at the peculiar performance of the lens, and went back to fitting Biofinity Multifocal.   Well, I know I did at least.

But as with most products, what we really needed was a good fitting guide to cut down all the time spent trying and failing in the room.  CooperVision has recently published their recommended guide, and it is time to take a second look at fitting this lens!

Things to Know:

No, this lens is NOT designed like Proclear Multifocal (the monthly version) or the newer Biofinity Multifocal.  Unlike Ciba's daily product that uses their exact same Air Optix multifocal fitting strategy, you need a whole new method to fit the Proclear 1 Day multifocal.

Center Near design via

Even though this is a multifocal, you will definitely need to be maximizing vision by using the dominant eye.  Make sure you determine this before you get started.

This is a center-near optical design, and there are no add powers to select. CooperVision states the lens can accommodate up to +2.50 add despite this.  If you have detail oriented patients that like to question the power of their contact lenses compared to their glasses Rx, please tell them up front that this lens power will look NOTHING like their glasses Rx.  Set the stage that this is a whole different way of seeing, and the power of this lens on the box label does not mean the power they are getting out of the lens due to the center-near aspheric optics!

Fitting Guide:

1) Refract and determine eye dominance.  I like to use the +2.00 blur out method (the eye that cannot take the plus is your dominant eye).
2) Select your initial lens:  

Dominant Eye:  Select +0.50 over top of vertexed distance power
Non-Dominant Eye:  Selection depends on add
             +1.00                          Select +0.50 over top of vertexed distance power
             +1.25 to +1.75            Select +0.75 over top of vertexed distance power
             +2.00 to +2.50            Select +0.75 to +1.00 over top of vertexed distance power

3) Over-refract with +0.25/-0.25 in binocular conditions
For distance refinement refract over dominant eye
For near refinement add more plus to non-dominant eye

In Summary:

Since changing to this fitting guide method, I have saved a ton of chair time.  The lens takes A LOT of plus, so don't waste time by grabbing their distance Rx as a starting place.  Vision has all the complaints of normal multifocal lens wearers -- ghosting at near, poor performance in low lighting, etc.  Typically I can get 20/25 distance vision and around 20/30 near vision on most every patient.  These are my target goals for optimal performance (I set the expectation before we ever start the fitting process so the patient knows what to expect, and that for better vision than this they will likely need glasses).  If you were frustrated before by the large over refraction needed over their distance Rx, take a second look at the Proclear 1 Day Multifocal. In my experience the vision performance out of the Biofinity Multifocal tends to be better for most people, but for the comfort of a daily, you are still achieving usable vision with this lens approach!

One thing is always true about fashion: we love to recycle the past.  Glasses styles are definitely no exception, and this spring no vintage look is having a bigger moment than horn-rimmed specs.  It is popping up everywhere from Ray Ban's classic Clubmaster shades being relaunched in every spectrum of the rainbow, to ophthalmics embracing a new take on the geek-chic look that has become played out in the oversized trends of years past.