When it comes to choosing a tint on sunglasses or tinted prescription lenses it's essential that you understand the different tint colors and sunglasses tint percentage for optimal protection and comfort. With a variety of dark categories to choose from for your dark lens sunglasses, you want to be sure that the tint color and tint level will be best, but how do you know if you should get slightly tinted sunglasses or choose the darkest sunglasses tint?

Super dark lens sunglasses aren’t ideal for all lighting conditions, and yellow tinted lenses aren’t right for bright conditions. And it’s important that you understand the differences between sunglasses that are polarized vs tint that is super dark. There are five various sunglasses categories when it comes to dark tint sunglasses that range from very lightly tinted to super dark tint. 

What kinds of tints are available for glasses?

Understanding the different sunglass tint colors that are available for glasses will allow you to choose the best one for you. This is important to comfort and protection based on your environment and lifestyle. 

Photochromic tints

Photochromic tints will darken when it is exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun. These are also known as transition lenses. They offer a great amount of benefits having glasses and sunglasses in a single frame. These are often for people that have prescription glasses and makes protection from the sun possible without having to switch glasses. Photochromic lenses are made of different types of lens materials such as plastic, glass or polycarbonate.

Colored tints

There are many different colored lenses with various darknesses which provides you with a variety of options in color and darknesses. The color that you select and the level of darkness provide many benefits depending on a variety of factors. Some colors are more versatile than others and can be worn in many lighting conditions while others are specific for other conditions. Here is a list of the colors and their benefits.  

Here’s a good sunglasses tint guide to help you choose the best color tint to suit your specific needs based on your environment,

Yellow or Orange

Yellow tints are perfect for moderate to low-level lighting conditions. It may cause the surroundings to look brighter and increase contrast which provides an enhancing property which makes yellow glasses great for night driving or sports. However, there may be some color distortion.

Brown

Brown lenses are recommended for people that have near-sightedness or myopia. This tint can bring comfort in sunny conditions and even helps to improve contrast which can bring comfort to your eyes. 

Gray

Gray tint is extremely beneficial to those with hyperopia or far-sightedness. It helps fight against fatigue and it’s great for many lighting situations which makes it a good all-purpose color tint for your sunglasses.

Blue or Purple

Blue or purple tint will enhance color perception, and can be worn both indoors or outdoors. This tint color will offer some protection from highly reflective surfaces, such as water, glass or snow. Blue tints are claimed to be beneficial in foggy weather, and help reduce eye strain with the use of computer screens. 

Green

Green tints are great for playing golf or tennis in the sunshine. They help to reduce eye strain because they filter the blue and UV rays.

Pink or Rose

Rose-colored or pink tinted sunglasses will help to improve visibility for driving. This is due to the depth perception, and detai that they provide. Some people with migraines will wear these colors to help filter certain wavelengths of light caused from certain lighting such as fluorescent fixtures that have been shown to trigger migraines.

Polarized

When you add polarization to your sunglasses you are increasing your visibility in harsh glare situations where the sunlight reflects on surfaces. These are perfect options for when you go fishing, boating, skiing and more.

This is a virtually invisible filter that can be built into the lenses of your sunglasses. It’s designed to eliminate the amount of reflecting light that can enter your eye. But polarized lenses do more than reduce glare, they help to make things sharper and clearer, increasing visual clarity and comfort. 

It’s important that no matter which type of lens color or tint that you choose for your sunglasses that you also make sure that they offer UV protection. The tint or color will not protect your eyes against the harmful ultraviolet sun rays. 

Can sunglasses be tinted darker?

Yes, you can make sunglasses tinted darker. Lenses can actually be made lighter or darker based on your preference through a simple process. When it comes to selecting the right tint you’ll need to consider your environment and its lighting. The lighter densities don’t offer as much protection from sunlight as darker densities will. So for example, if you choose a lens that is tinted at 75% gray it’s going to provide you with more protection than the same gray lens tinted at 25% density.

There are some things that you’ll want to take into consideration when choosing the best level of darkness for your sunglasses. These include, making sure they are in good shape to be darkened, and the type of lens that they are. Polycarbonate lenses with a non glare or polarized coating are not going to be able to be tinted.

How dark is 80 tint sunglasses?

Let’s just put this into some perspective for you. The average sunglass tint should be at least 60% intensity. This is going to provide adequate protection in most lighting situations. If you are into sports and enjoy outdoor activities or do a lot of daytime driving choosing a 70-80% intensity will work well. If you enjoy sports such as mountain climbing or snow skiing, you’ll want to have a 90% tint level for ultimate protection and comfort. 

How to tint your sunglasses darker

It’s cheaper just to buy a second pair of sunglasses rather than spending the time or money adding an additional tint to your sunglasses. Having two pairs with the desired darkness of the lenses, will be perfect for bright sunny days and those days when the sun isn’t so bright.

What tint color is best for sunglasses?

The color tint that you choose for your sunglasses is going to depend on what you are doing when wearing your sunglasses. Choosing a green lens might provide you with better contrast than gray lenses. But the gray lense provides protection and improved vision in most lighting environments whether it's sunny or low light. Whereas brown and copper lens colors are great for bright days, and provide you with natural protection against blue light as well. 

 It’s important that you are taking some time to understand when you will be wearing them, and whether or not they are going to be your main pair of sunglasses.   

At ShadyVEU we have a large selection of sunglasses to choose from, and a variety of tint colors. So whether you’re searching for super dark sunglasses for extreme lighting, polarized lenses for your fishing trip, or blue tint sunglasses for protection when working in front of the computer you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for at the right price.