LUMES: Blue Light Blocking Glasses Review

Modern living doesn’t make being happy and healthy very easy. We are bundles of stress navigating our way around this crazy world in hopes of living a better, calmer life. Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Do you spend most of your day staring at your screen? I’m guessing the answer is a resounding yes to both of those questions. Thankfully there is a solution – the awesome LUMES blue light blocking glasses. (Pronounced ‘looms’ just so you know.)

DISCLAIMER: Please note that this is not a sponsored post and I have not received monetary payment for this post. I have been sent products from LUMES for personal use and to write a review if I wished. All opinions are my own and 100% honest.  If you buy anything from the Organic Basics website I will not receive any commission. If you’d like to know more, feel free to contact me.

I’ve been a long term blue light blocker user and I’ve even got f.lux installed on my computer. For those that don’t know f.lux is a handy piece of software that changes the colour temperature of your screen depending upon the time of day. Sadly, neither of these are particularly great options for those of us that do design or photo-based work. Ever tried editing photos through yellow-tinted glasses? It ain’t fun I’m telling you. (To find out why f.lux doesn’t make the cut read this post!)

(Quick! There’s now a sale on at LUMES – all glasses are £38.00, with my discount GSA20 they’re £30.40!)

Why Do We Need to Block out Blue Light?

That is the question that pretty much everyone that I know asks me. So, what is the deal? Well, blue light can disrupt your sleep, reduce your sex drive, and potentially cause diseases such as; cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and even, yes… obesity. Our ancestors spent their evenings in darkness, not basking in the addictive blue light that our very many digital devices emit. This blue light mimics the light of the sun telling your brain that it’s not nighttime and throws off your circadian rhythm. That’s your internal biological clock if you’re not too science-y brained.

Any kind of light can actually suppress the secretion of melatonin, the lovely hormone that sends us to the land of nod, but blue light seems to have the worst effect out of every light that there is.

Daylight keeps our internal clocks aligned with the environment that we live in. Any kind of light can actually suppress the secretion of melatonin, the lovely hormone that sends us to the land of nod, but blue light seems to have the worst effect out of every light that there is. Studies have found that exposure to blue light suppresses melatonin production for twice as long as green light, and that by wearing blue light blocking glasses melatonin production improves.

Now let’s get something straight – not all blue light/wavelengths are bad. In fact, during the day they are pretty beneficial because they boost your; attention, reaction times, and mood. And let’s be honest we don’t want any of that boosting at night time if we want to get a good night’s rest.

What Makes Blue Light Blocking Glasses so Amazing?

Blue light blocking glasses work by using filtered amber-tinted lenses that can block or absorb varying percentages of blue light. LUMES take theirs one step further by including an anti-glare coating to help to prevent your eyes from developing eye strain when working at screens.

Generally speaking, the more orange the lens the more blue light will be blocked out by the glasses. I have a very unstylish pair that are great for watching TV with at night as they are so orange you can barely make out the colours of the screen. Great for night time but not great for working at night or day, and that’s where LUMES come in.

Although blue light blocking glasses are an amazing gift to humanity, it’s best to avoid looking at any bright screens 2-3 hours before bedtime (even when wearing your blockers). Switching any night lights to dim red light will have the least effect on your circadian rhythm and melatonin production.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way it’s time for my actual review…

LUMES: Blue Light Blocking Glasses, £48.00/€55.00

If like me you sometimes find yourself working late at night but still need to be able to clearly see what you’re doing then you are gonna love LUMES. They only block out 25% of blue light and so the tinting on the lenses is very minimal, meaning that the colours are almost true to life and you’re still getting enough blue light to stay alert and focused. They also use an anti-glare coating so that you won’t get tired, dry, and irritated eyes whilst working at your computer during the day time.

About LUMES

LUMES was founded by the wonderful Amsterdam based, Nicolas Deskos. After asking him why he set up LUMES he said this:

“I set up LUMES because, like most people, I spend a lot of time behind a screen. I’m a relatively healthy guy who regularly exercises and eats healthily (most of the time!). But I realised I was often experiencing negative effects like headaches, tiredness, dry eyes and not getting high-quality sleep.

After doing a bit of research I discovered that being exposed to blue light from screens can cause some of the symptoms I had. In today’s world, it’s pretty difficult to get by without using screens so I knew I needed to find a solution.

The first thing I found to help was an app called f.lux which adjusts the colour temperature on your screen so it emits less blue light. Unfortunately, this wasn’t really suitable for a couple of reasons. For one, it changes the hue of your screen display to a yellowish colour. Since I was working in digital marketing and often needed to review graphics, it wasn’t really suitable for my day job. F.lux also doesn’t remove glare: since screens ‘flicker’ it makes our eye muscles stressed which can be another reason why we get eyestrain and headaches.

After doing a bit more research, I realised that blue light blocking glasses could probably help. But I couldn’t find a product that looked great – basically, one that I’d be happy to wear in an office or out of my home. There also weren’t many European companies offering screen glasses when we launched.

LUMES lenses are pretty much transparent and our frames are also stylish so people are happy to wear them in the office or in public. The lenses don’t noticeably affect colour perception so it’s perfect for people like designers or marketers who need to see colours as they actually are.”

Productivity

I’ve been wearing my LUMES blue blocker for quite some time now. I have found that I’m a lot less anxious by the time the day has ended. My eyes are super relaxed and I don’t find myself blinking so much or losing focus, which to be honest has been becoming a big problem for me lately. For example, I’ve found myself staring at the screen wondering what I’m supposed to be doing or just looking at my phone like the millennial that I am. It was fantastic to see my productivity being boosted by such a small change to my routine.

As LUMES filter out only the very highest wavelengths of blue light (up to 420 nm) my colour perception wasn’t really affected. This meant that I could wear them whilst photo editing which was incredible. The clear frame also meant that I didn’t find them to be much of a visual obstruction whilst working. In fact, I totally forgot I had them on and did a full 15 minutes on my rower until I felt them starting to slip down the bridge of my nose.

Style + Quality

The LUMES frames I received come in two clear unisex styles – Danvers and Kent – rather cleverly named after the alternate identities of both Supergirl and Superman. The lenses are scratch-resistant with an anti-glare coating, plus the frames are made with sustainable acetate making them pretty darn sturdy. This is important when you live with kids because they will wear your glasses whilst doing commando rolls off the sofa.

…you can still maintain a professional look in meetings and have confidence in knowing that you’re looking pretty damn sexy whilst protecting your health.

As the frames are made from a clear acetate rather than coloured they go with any skin tone. Both styles are slightly angular, with the frames being wider on the top than the bottom, and are both oversized too. Although, I’d say Kent are a lot more oversized than the Danvers frame. The Kent frame is also a lot thicker with Danvers seeming a little more dainty. The lenses carry a hint of amber but overall are pretty crystal clear and I don’t feel like this affects the overall style of the glasses.

Kent has a rectangular frame (I think they’re called Wayfarers?) and would best suit heart (a.k.a inverted triangle), round, oval, or square face shapes. I have an oval face shape so naturally, I suit something a bit more square but I also felt that the Kent’s still suited me, they were just a tad too oversized for my face. I could just about pull them off but I felt a bit like Dame Edna and Heston Blumenthal’s love child.

Danvers has slightly more of a rounded square look and is totally 70s vibing. I feel like they’d best suit round, oval, heart, diamond, triangle, or square face shapes. I felt that these were definitely my pair. It was like geek chic heaven when I first put these bad boys on and I haven’t taken them off since. My teenage daughter has been hankering over both pairs – she’s desperate to wear them to school so they definitely have that ‘cool factor’. (Yes, I cringed whilst typing that.)

It’s worth noting that before Christmas LUMES released 2 new frames; Mayfield and Parker. I am desperate to get my hands on the Mayfield frames as they are tortoiseshell, which is my favourite colour combo/pattern, and they also have that 70s vibe that I love so much. Parker has a really thin wire frame to them and look super professional. Both pairs have the same shape lenses to the Danvers glasses.

Sleep

Sleep? What’s that? Now, I usually wear some ridiculously oversized bright amber blue blockers before bed, so switching up at nighttime to LUMES has been enjoyable. I can actually see what’s going on on the television rather than giving up all hope and getting distracted. For an ex cinematography student being able to soak in every colour is a must. But, I did feel that my trusty hideous ambers did a more efficient job at making me tired at night. With LUMES I still felt a little too alert.

The big difference has actually come from wearing them during the day. Like I said before, being able to work at my computer with some blue-blocking glasses has left me a lot more relaxed and I feel like this has made a big difference to my overall stress levels and ability to fall asleep at night. It’s also left me wanting to turn in an hour or so earlier than I would which I think has helped too.

Currently, I’m on the fence about LUMES improving my sleep quality in comparison to very amber-tinted lenses. That being said they definitely work a lot better than going without blue blockers altogether.

The Verdict

With Scarlett nagging to steal a pair to wear to school, which sort of blew my mind, to be honest, and with the numerous compliments I received every time anyone sees them on Instagram – there is no doubt in my mind that these are some of the most stylish blue blockers going. But style aside, I really feel like these glasses help me to be more productive when it comes to working at the computer and are particularly perfect for any kind of photographic or design work. They’re also great for just scrolling through Instagram without straining my eyes but still appreciating the beauty of everyone’s work. Or just for looking at memes, because… memes…

I love the fact that they come in a sturdy case to protect them and even a cloth to clean them with. Although LUMES recommend only using the cloth to clean the lenses I found that because I use a natural foundation it was literally smudging all over the lenses making them blurry to see through. Eventually, I had to start using a tiny bit of natural window cleaner to clean them, alongside the cloth of course.

At just under £50 I feel that the LUMES range are pretty easily accessible to most and are great value for money as they are ridiculously durable and most importantly they actually work. My less attractive, giant amber glasses cost the same amount and aren’t anywhere near as stylish, plus they didn’t come with anti-glare or a scratch-resistant coating. Oh and brownie points for using sustainable acetate LUMES!

So, my overall verdict is that these are perfect for anyone that spends a lot of time in front of their phone or computer, day or night, which is pretty much everyone that I know. They aren’t too geeky-looking and you won’t stand out like a sore thumb in the office – you can still maintain a professional look in meetings and have confidence in knowing that you’re looking pretty damn sexy whilst protecting your health.

You can pick up any of the LUMES blue light blocking glasses for £48.00 here. Don’t forget to enter GSA20 at checkout for 20% off bringing the total cost down to £38.40. (Quick! There’s now a sale on at LUMES – all glasses are £38.00, with my discount £30.40!)