Tints for Sunglasses: Does Color Matter?

You can't judge sunglasses by their color. At least, not when it comes to eye protection. Tints don't reflect how well the lenses block UV (ultraviolet) light.

Sunglass lenses are treated with UV-absorbing chemicals. These chemicals are usually colorless, so clear lenses can block UV rays just as well as dark ones. Clear lenses, however, don't block sun glare.

So why are so many lens colors available? This article looks at the purpose of tinted lenses and the benefits of different colors.

Verywell / Gary Ferster

Purpose of Tints

Tints filter light in different ways. Some are better at blocking light. Some enhance colors while others distort them.

Tints can enhance your vision in some cases. You might like the look of one color over or another. But the pretty one may not be the best fit for your lifestyle.

Gray

Gray is a popular neutral tint. It helps reduce brightness without adversely affecting your ability to see shape and detail. Choose gray for:

• Driving
• Outdoor sports such as golf, running, or cycling

Yellow/Orange

Yellow and orange tints increase contrast in hazy, foggy, or low-light conditions. They tend to make objects appear sharper, both indoors and outdoors. But they can distort colors.

Choose yellow shades for:

• Snow-related activities

• Indoor ball sports
• Nighttime use
• Driving in the fog

You may want different lens colors for the same activity in different conditions. For example, skiers often use gray or brown tints on sunny days and yellow or orange when it's snowing or hazy.

Green

Green tints filter some blue light and reduce glare. They also offer high contrast and visual sharpness. Green lenses can be soothing and green light can help improve headache symptoms.

Green also tends to reduce eyestrain in bright light. Choose green for precision sports such as:

• Tennis
• Baseball
• Golf

Amber/Brown

Amber and brown tints reduce glare and block blue light. They brighten vision on cloudy days. And they increase contrast and depth perception without adversely affecting your ability to see detail and shape.

They're especially useful against green and blue backgrounds, like grass and sky. Choose amber and brown tints for:

• Fishing
• Baseball
• Golf
• Hunting
• Cycling
• Water sports

Melanin Tints

Melanin is the pigment in your skin that helps protect it from sun damage. Some sunglasses manufacturers use synthetic melanin as a lens coating to help filter light and protect the eyes. Manufacturers claim melanin-coated lenses protect your eyes from aging related to sun exposure.

Rose/Red

Rosy tints increase contrast by blocking blue light. They have a reputation for soothing the eyes, and they may be more comfortable for longer wear times. A red tint may also help improve contrast and support depth perception.

Choose red tints for:

• Better visibility while driving
• Reducing screen glare and eyestrain
  

Blue

Polarized, blue-tinted glasses can help reduce glare from water or snow. The blue tint can also help with color perception. One study found that people wearing blue-tinted lenses did not perform as well in sports activities; possibly because this color may reduce contrast sensitivity and increase color distortion.

Blue-tinted glasses are believed to have a soothing effect on the eyes.

Additional Options

When you buy sunglasses, you may also have the option to select additional features such as a mirrored coating or polarized lenses. These features can help reduce reflections and eye fatigue.

• Mirrored Lenses: Mirrored sunglasses have a thin metallic coating on the outside. This coating reflects glare away from your eyes. 
• Polarized Lenses: Polarized lenses also reduce glare and eye strain. Polarized lenses block the horizontal light waves that bounce off shiny surfaces such as still water or glass.
  This helps reduce glare and eye fatigue. Polarized lenses can also help you see detail more clearly.
  

How Dark Should Tinted Sunglasses Be?

Tint is defined as the percentage of light the lens blocks. Commercially available sunglasses have tint intensities that range from light to dark. Lightly tinted lenses have about a 20% tint intensity, while a medium tint is about 50% and a dark tint is around 80%.

A high tint percentage isn't necessarily better at protecting your eyes from the sun. What matters most is whether or not your sunglasses provide full protection from all UV light. Darker sunglasses do help reduce squinting, which can protect your eyes from fatigue, especially when spending a lot of time in very bright conditions. Wearing sunglasses is also a good way to reduce eye strain while driving.

Very dark tints may make it harder to see, even in bright light, while light tints may not be enough to reduce squinting. A medium tint is a good general-use lens for most outdoor activities, though this is based more on personal preference since tint does not affect how well-protected your eyes are from UV rays.

How to Choose the Right Tint For You

Tint choice should be based on personal preference as well as on the activities you plan to do while wearing your sunglasses. Your choice of tint doesn't affect how safe your sunglasses are, though it may help reduce eye fatigue and make it easier to see during certain activities. Some of the elements to think about include:

• Whether you live in a place with a lot of sun or mostly overcast skies
• The amount of driving you do
• Whether you play sports or spend a lot of time outdoors
• Your level of sensitivity to bright light

You may also want to consider polarized or mirrored lenses if you spend time in environments with a lot of glare, such as lakes or snowy areas.

Sunglass Safety Concerns

Regardless of the hue, experts have some concerns about tinted lenses and eye health. Wearing sunglasses can give you a false sense of eye protection.

For starters, dark-tinted lenses without appropriate UV filters can cause more eye damage than not wearing shades. This is because the pupil widens in the dark to let in more light, which exposes it to even more UV radiation.

Additionally, sunglasses sold in the United States are not required to adhere to the American National Standards Institute (ASNI) recommendations. Lenses that do will likely have a sticker or tag stating lenses meet ANSI Z80.3-2018 UV blocking requirements.

For optimal protection, sunglasses should block at least 99% of UVA and UVB radiation. Look for either one of the following terms on the label:

• 100% UVA/UVB protections
• 100% UV 400 protection 

These lenses, however, only protect against direct UV rays. Indirect sunlight can reach your eyes through the side of the frames or reflect off the back of the lens. In fact, one study found some sunglasses allow up to 42% of UV rays to reach your eyes.

For better eye protection, buy oversized or wraparound-style frames to help reduce the amount of UV light entering from the sides.

Additionally, look for lenses that have a UV coating on both the front and back of the lenses. Research shows this can reduce overall UV exposure to 7%.

If you are unsure about the quality of UV protection, bring the sunglasses to an optician or ophthalmologist's office. Most eye care specialists have a UV light meter that can test the lenses' UV-blocking abilities.

The Ultimate Guide to Metal Security Fences

Recommended article:
Embracing Adventure with Skiing Safely

Summary

Tinted sunglasses have different properties depending on their color, but you can't gauge UV protection by the shade.

Different colors work best for various needs and activities. Gray is good for driving and outdoor sports. Yellow and orange increase contrast and are great in the snow. Green reduces glare. Brown tones block blue light and increase contrast against the grass and sky. Reddish tints may be soothing and good for long car trips, while blue can help reduce glare.

The most important thing to consider when buying a pair of sunglasses is whether they provide 100% protection from UV rays. Choose sunglasses with larger lenses to avoid unfiltered UV light getting in around the edges. The amount of tint your glasses have should be based on personal preference and the types of outdoor activities you plan to do while wearing them.

Frequently Asked Questions

• When should yellow lens sunglasses be used?

  Yellow lens sunglasses are best for snow-related activities, indoor ball sports, at night, or while driving in the fog. The same is true of orange-tinted sunglasses, which can increase contrast in foggy, hazy, or low-light conditions.

• What are the benefits of blue light glasses?

  Blue light glasses are believed by some people to reduce eye strain and prevent eye damage while reading a computer screen. However, there is no scientific evidence that blue lights from these devices cause any lasting harm. The strain that we feel from a long computer session is actually caused by blinking less often, resulting in dry eyes. Eye strain can be avoided by taking a 20-second or longer "screen break" every 20 minutes.

• What color sunglasses are best for driving?

  Gray-tinted sunglasses are a good choice for driving. This color reduces brightness and glare.

Shades of Blue (in Carnival Glass)

by the Hooked on Carnival Team

We were asked to put together a document that would assist us in being able to more correctly identify colors of pieces sold at auction, so this is the result of that request.

First, the caveats:
In the carnival glass collecting community, through the years colors have been assigned that do NOT match those color names in other venues (color wheel, gemstone, etc.) but that are rather locked in place and will be called something specific in our hobby. [As an example, Sapphire Blue in a gemstone may look more Blue or even closer to Violet Blue than the color we have assigned in carnival glass collecting.]
Second, colors can look different on each person’s device or monitor (as well as with a different photo background).
Third – some colors seem to be very much manufacturer specific (i.e. Violet Blue is, to date, only found on Imperial patterns).
Fourth – when we started collecting some 35 years ago, almost any light blue base with an opalescent edge was thrown into the ‘Aqua Opalescent’ classification, and many of them, using this document, will not be correct. We will attempt to sort them out over a period of time.
And lastly, because often you don’t have something to compare, it is exceedingly difficult to remain consistent. We do our best to stay the course, but there will always be points of contention.

These are the blue shades currently in the Hooked on Carnival database as of July 2021.

Aqua (Sits between green and blue in the color wheel.)

 

Aqua/Marigold Overlay (Sits between green and blue in the color wheel – the glass has a marigold iridescence that may cover almost the entire piece – usually leaving the feet or base as the only real way to tell the color.)

Aqua Opal (Aqua Opalescent – Aqua base color with white or light blue, milky edge or tips). In carnival glass, MANY pieces that are actually a different shade of blue (but with an opal edge) are classified as Aqua Opal. Incorrect, BUT because there is no ‘color wheel’ for us, that is the term.
The Corn Vase below looks a true Aqua Opal, the Tree Trunk vases run the gamut from what looks like Aqua Opal to Blue Opal or Sapphire Blue Opal, but they were all classified as Aqua Opal.)

 

You will need to go by the pattern as much as by the actual color.

Aqua Opal Butterscotch (Aqua Base color with white or light blue, milky edge or tips AND has a predominantly marigold/orangey iridescence.)
The top two left Tree Trunk vases could be classified as Aqua Opal Butterscotch. The Corn Vase has some marigold/orangey on the top 1/3 but would probably not be as likely to be called Butterscotch.

Aqua Opal Pastel (Aqua Base color with white or light blue, milky edge or tips AND has a predominantly light iridescence with blues/pinks/yellows– very easy to see the base glass color.)
The same issue is seen with this color as the other two variations of Aqua Opal – often the actual blue tone in the base is NOT aqua, BUT with many patterns, no matter the actual shade of blue, it will be reported as Aqua Opal Pastel. This phenomenon is usually pattern based.

Aquamarine (see Ice Blue for Carnival references -Described as a mixture of green, cyan and blue, this color is strictly used by Hooked for Stretch Glass at this time. It is what carnival collectors usually call Ice Blue (and will typically be frosty). The definition simply says, ‘a very pale blue color’.)

Blue (A primary color, typically used when the shade is not mixed with green/red). Fenton originally called this Royal Blue, sometimes people call it Cobalt Blue.

Blue Jade (Opaque to translucent light robin’s egg-like blue or blue-green glass – at this time, specific only to Northwood Stretch glass patterns – and the Stretch Glass collectors call it Jade Blue)

Blue Milk Glass (Opaque to translucent light blue (or blue-green) glass – specific only to Westmoreland patterns).

Blue Opal (Blue base glass with milky white or milky blue opal tips or edges.) The range of different blue colors that make up this category are all the way across the color scale. Often the opal is so heavy that only the base is actually blue and the opal is a light blue opaque color. We currently have 22 patterns in the HoC database in this color – the majority are Westmoreland. Those that are NOT Westmoreland (like Fenton Holly) tend to be a very Blue base with light opal on the edges (and may not have been production colors).

Blue Slag (Opaque marbled Blue base glass – can be called Sorbini) NOT the same as a slag effect, where the base glass has streaks of white in the clear base color – this is actually marbled. Only 10 or less pieces of this reported in Carnival Glass. You have to see the base to identify the marbling best.

Blue Swirl (Opaque marbleized Imperial Art Glass – Free Hand or Lead Lustre pieces are found with this exterior and an iridized interior). The shade of blue is not necessarily the same on all pieces.

Celeste Blue (A light to medium blue with a pastel iridescence (you can see the base color thru the iridescence, there is NO overlay)). The iridescence quite often will be ‘stretchy’. It can be like a robin’s egg blue; we were originally taught that Dugan/Diamond and Fenton were the two manufacturers that made Celeste Blue. [NOTE: The base color is very similar on some Celeste Blue pieces to the Northwood Sapphire Blue (with the pastel iridescence), so the two colors are sometimes interchanged.]

*Electric Blue (Blue base glass – (see Blue for reference) BUT this color in Carnival Glass is actually more about the iridescence on that blue base glass. The iridescence typically is predominantly Blue with Red highlights (and can have gold or green in addition to those). Said to look like it’s ‘lit’, it should be very vivid.)

Ice Blue (See Aquamarine for Stretch Glass reference – A very pale blue color with pastel iridescence (may have some green-light blue tones and may look ‘frosty’).)

Ice Blue Opal (A very pale blue color with pastel iridescence (may have a ‘frosty’ look) and milky white or milky light blue edges or tips.)

Pastel Cobalt Blue (Cobalt blue with pastel iridescence (no overlay).)

Persian Blue (Translucent milky robin’s egg or light blue, always with a Marigold Overlay- [production color for 4 Fenton patterns].)

Persian Blue Opal (To date, all of the items under this color category are Northwood pieces that have a milky light blue base glass and opal edges or tips.)

Powder Blue (Described as a ‘pale grayish-blue’, this color is most often seen with the Marigold Overlay (see below), very few pieces of true Powder Blue). It could be described as a ‘washed-out’ blue color.)

Powder Blue Opal (These would be a ‘pale grayish-blue’ with opal edges – very few classified as this color, at this time only a few Northwood patterns exist in the Hooked on Carnival database.)

Powder Blue/Marigold Overlay (This is, again, pale grayish-blue, but the marigold iridescence usually covers it so that the only way you see it is by turning the piece over and looking at the collar/feet. The majority of pieces in this color category are Fenton.)

Renninger Blue (A blue shade that looks to us like Pacific Blue – a shade of cyan with 11% red, 66% green and 79% blue. This is what the internet shows as Pacific Blue:

And here are examples from the database:

Sapphire Blue (Described to us as ‘Windex Blue’, Sapphire was originally considered to be a Northwood Color (Dugan & Fenton called it Celeste) and it was only used to describe the pieces with a pastel iridescence.) This is now occasionally interchanged with Celeste Blue.
It could best be compared to an Azure blue or Deep Sky blue like these from a color chart (depending on the pattern):

Here are some carnival glass database examples:

Sapphire Blue/Marigold Overlay (Same as above BUT with a marigold iridescence covering much of the base glass color (NOT pastel iridescence)

Smokey Blue (Very close to powder blue but with a smokey gray look. It should probably be noted that the iridescence is sometimes what is making the ‘smokey’ part.)

Teal (Defined as a deep blue-green color, named for the colored area around the eye of the bird). Quite honestly, we would simply go with the pattern’s availability for this one – most things we call Teal in CG appear to be either Turquoise, Aqua or Aquamarine (much more blue than green). Also, typically teal will have a pastel iridescence (like many Imperial patterns that are classified as this color.)

Teal/Marigold Overlay (Should be the deep blue-green color with a marigold iridescence making it difficult to see the base glass color in most cases. On the vase below, look at the color far right where no iridescence is affecting the identification.)

Violet Blue (A deep blue – similar to Ultramarine on this color chart picture– violet is described as halfway between blue and purple.) Many carnival pieces are heavily iridized back and front, so difficult to get the color correctly identified. At this time, all pieces identified as this shade are Imperial patterns.)