I (Mike Tanasychuk) had been suffering from some solid eye fatigue for months. Every day around 3 p.m., I'd get this feeling like I was dehydrated or had slept for 12 hours straight (but not in a good way). I was considering picking up a pair of blue light-filtering glasses, since I had heard about blue light's follies and figured it might be a good way to go.
When I was offered the chance to review a pair by Felix Gray, I jumped. After all, they don't exactly come cheap.
Here's my review of Felix Gray's Faraday glasses.
Do they work?
Right off the bat, let's just get the question on everyone's mind out of the way: Do these things actually work?
The answer is complicated.
There's a lot of speculation and poo-pooing when it comes to blue light glasses, and even the American Academy of Opthamology calls B.S. That being said, I experienced real results. Whether it's a placebo effect or not, I'm noticing a change.
Within three days of wearing them, the 3 p.m. fatigue and headaches were gone.
I've been wearing these glasses for about two weeks now, and within three days of wearing them, the 3 p.m. fatigue and headache were gone. This is where the complication comes in: I work first thing every morning, walk my dog, then get to work, having breakfast about an hour later. I then force myself to wait to eat until after 12 p.m., and then I try not to eat until dinner. Or at least, I did, until I started just eating when I got really hungry, no matter the time of day. So I've been better fed over the last three weeks. That likely plays into my lack of afternoon fatigue, but I can't say for sure.
As for helping with sleeplessness and all that, I can't really attest. I can't sleep at the best of times, and these glasses certainly haven't changed things. So I'm sorry to say that I have no definitive answer as to whether or not these glasses work. It's going to be incredibly subjective and there is no solid medical proof that they work anyway.
That being said, every little bit helps, right?
Get the look
Felix Gray has five frames to choose from and there's definitely a particular motif at work. All frames are horn-rimmed, with slight variations in shape and in the bridge. I received the Faraday frames in "Burnt Amber", and, despite them not being my style or my first color choice, they actually look half-decent on me (or so my wife says).
Each frame has three color options to choose from and they're not the same three colors for each style. Chances are you'll be able to find something that suits you nicely. If you grab a pair and don't love it, you have up to 30 days after delivery to return it for another option.
Comfort included
These are entirely plastic frames, so I was worried that after prolonged wear they'd start to hurt the tops of my ears. Not the case at all. In fact, these glasses are even comfortable when I've got my big over-ear headphones on. The bridge sits comfortably on my nose, and aside from a small red mark when I take them off at the end of the day, you'd never know I was wearing them.
These glasses are even comfortable when I've got my over-ear headphones on.
What does it for these frames is how light they are. Once you get used to the frame in your periphery, it feels like you're wearing nothin' at all.
Presentation
Starting at $95 a pair, these glasses aren't cheap, and presentation means a lot to value. I'm pleased to say that I was quite enamored with the packaging. Felix Gray glasses come in a forest green box with a cream-colored pleather case that's lined with microfiber and comes with a microfiber cleaning cloth. It's a legit glasses case and is all-around elegantly presented.
An eye-opener
So these don't work entirely as advertised. I was skeptical from the get-go given all the research I had done. That being said, I have noticed a change, and whether that's based on my eating and hydrating habits or not, I'll likely keep wearing these daily, even if medicine doesn't agree.
You can get Felix Gray glasses in regular or with +0.25 magnification. You can also get them in a reading prescription from +1.0 to +2.5.
