Children's Vision - When Should They Have Their Eyes Tested?

Most children have excellent sight and do not need to wear glasses.
Some children may have vision screening done at school. However, the earlier any problems are picked up the better the outcome.

If there are problems and they are not picked up at an early age, the child may have permanently reduced vision on one or both eyes.
If you have any concerns about your child’s eyes, or if there is a history of squint or lazy eye in the family, do not wait for the vision screening at school.

Take your child to a local optometrist for a sight test. An optometrist has the equipment and training to carry out a thorough eye examination, checking all the aspects of your child’s vision which are important to learning.

Signs that your child may have a problem with their vision include;
*One eye turns in or out – this may be easier to spot when the child is tired
*They rub their eyes a lot (except when they are tired, which is normal)
*They have watery eyes
*They are clumsy or have poor hand and eye co-ordination
*Your child avoids reading, writing or drawing
*They screw up their eyes or frown when they read or watch TV.
*They sit very close to the TV, or hold books or objects close to their face.
*They have behaviour or concentration problems at school.
*They complain about blurred or double vision, or they have unexplained headaches
*If flash photographs show a white, yellow or orange colour in their pupils or red in only one eye.

Simple treatments like wearing glasses or wearing a patch for a while could be all that your child needs. The earlier that eye problems are picked up, the better the outcome will be.
If the Optometrist cannot help your child's vision improve, they will refer your child on to an eye doctor for further help.

If you have concerns about your child’s vision, please visit your local optometrist. An eye examination is a vital health check and should be part of everyone’s normal health care.

Rachel Murray Eyecare are running FREE sight tests for all primary & secondary school pupils until the end of September.Check out the offer here.

Choosing A Frame For Your Colouring

We talked before about what sunglasses styles suit your face shape. The principles for choosing a pair of glasses are the same. Opposites attract so try and choose a frame that balances your face shape. So what about frame colours? What will suit you? 

Principles Of Colour

We are BIG fans of colour! We don’t like to play it safe and neither do our clients!

It can be intimidating to commit to a coloured frame, especially if you wear your glasses all the time; but a coloured can add so much personality to your look and getting the colour right can enhance your best features and balance out your complexion regardless of what colour clothing you choose everyday.

Play With Colour

Want to know how? - Let’s play with colour!

First, focus on two aspects of your own colouring - hair colour and eye colour. Experts agree we all have a ‘dominant’ colouring and then either a warm or cool undertone. We won’t be discussing undertones too much in this post, but - just to skim the surface – generally a ‘warm’ undertone is anyone with dark eyes and a sallow complexion, whereas a ‘cool’ undertone describes light eyes and a fair complexion. Makes sense, no?!

Choosing a frame which complements or contrasts to your eye colour can really enhance your look. Look at the colour wheel - colours that sit on opposites sides are complementary and provide the best contrast.

We love frames that have a little variance in colour, or subtle nuances of different tones, it makes them much more versatile. If you have light blue eyes, for instance, a grey/blue frame can deepen your eye colour, whereas choosing a warm brown or a tortoise shell frame can make your eyes pop, as it creates a greater contrast.
You can go into all sorts of details describing many different colourings, but for today, let’s just focus (spot the pun!)on eye colour.

Hope this helps you be a little more adventurous with your frame colour. We are always happy to help with any questions (or if you feel we have left anything out ). We are working on a Part 2 which will describe some of the complexion and hair colourings that you can base your frame choices on too, if you want to get a little more technical. 

Let us know what you think in the comments!

How To Choose Sunglasses For Your Face Shape

Sunglasses season is in full swing - it seems like everyone is heading away for week abroad or just enjoying the (very!) few evenings of sun here at home.

I know we may not always have the strongest sunshine in Ireland, but I for one hate any kind of glare - which is why on an overcast day, or even during the Winter months, you'll find me with my sunglasses on. *Here comes the science bit!*The lighter in colour your iris is, the more photo-sensitive you are! This is why it is essential to have a really good pair of sunglasses (or four!). Squinting in bright light can give you eyestrain, headaches and *gasp* - wrinkles. No fun – especially when the solution is so fun to wear!

A good pair of sunglasses are an investment and should last you for years, and it’s probably why the biggest question we get asked in the practice about sunglasses is “What shape best suits my face?” There are no rules exactly, but there are some guidelines for your faceshape that you can stick to if you want a starting point. 

The old adage of ‘opposites attract’ are the name of the game with face shapes - the idea is that if you have a round face, you choose a square style; a square face should choose a round style and so on. 

Features: Face is wider than it is long, with a prominent jawline.

Square-Faced Celebs: Angelina Jolie and Gwenyth Paltrow

Try: Round/oval styles soften an angular jaw & soft curved or cat eye shapes work well.

Our Picks (Top-Bottom): Etnia Barcelona 'Wild Africa 6', WOOW 'Super Chic 1'

Features: Prominent forehead, wider cheeks tapering into a pointy chin.

Heart-Shaped Celebs: Reese Witherspoon and Naomi Campbell

Try: Draw attention away from the forehead with low set/keyhole bridge & graduated tints. Stick to curved shapes.

Our Picks: Maui Jim 'Honomanu', Etnia Barcelona 'Paris/Tokyo'

Features: Face is roughly the same length as width, with full cheeks.

Round-Faced Celebs: Mila Kunis & Emma Stone

Try: Angular shapes work best with a round face and will give definition.

Our Picks: Maui Jim 'Kawika', Elle

Features: Face gently tapers towards chin, with prominent cheekbones & forehead.

Oval-Faced Celebs: Jessica Alba & Alexa Chung.

Try: Everything!Oval faces are the most versatile. Just be mindful of size - smaller oval faces should choose petite styles.

Our Picks: Etnia Barcelona 'Wild Africa', Lacoste

With all that said, it's fun to break the rules! If you find a style you love, don't worry if it doesn't fit the criteria of the face shapes. If you love it, work it!

Once you have found the perfect pair, look after them! Keep them in their case, clean them regularly with a good lens spray and microfibre cloth, don't leave them on the dashboard of your car to warp in the heat....and try not to sit on them! If you mind them they will reward you with years or service and you will feel like a million bucks everytime you pop them on!

WOOW Has Arrived!

We recently took delivery of a new brand to our collection. WOOW are a diffusion line of popular French eyewear brand FACE A FACE. We have added ophthalmic frames and sunnies to our shelves, with styles for both men and women.

WOOW have managed to create a brand that is truly unique. Their exaggerated frame shapes and layered colours are unlike anything else we have seen. Each style has a little message inserted on the inside tip of the frame - fun, motivational quotes, (for what WOOW call “anti-crisis eyewear”)such as ‘Super Duper’, ‘Wake Up’ and ‘Rock Me’. Such details are completely unnecessary but utterly complimentary of the brand’s creative design and intended to enhance the frame for the wearer alone, as the design is completely hidden!

We love WOOW’s attention to detail with saturated colours, layered acetates and original shapes. Everything, down to the little quotes’ vintage inspired type-writer font, has been carefully chosen.

The sunglasses are reminiscent of the 60’s and 70’s, with round and cat eye shapes for the ladies and keyhole bridges and metal sides for the men. These frames have already proved popular and, as always, we try not to repeat our ophthalmic frames, so that our customers know that they are getting something as unique as they are!

What do you guys think?!

Choosing Frames For Our Collection

We always enjoy choosing frames for the new season. Some eyewear brands bring out several capsule collections per year, whilst others change or update their styles just once a year. We get lots of visits from different brand representatives each year - and while most brands have websites, it’s a necessity to see the frames in person so we can check the quality and compare them to the others in the practice. We try to make sure that we try on each style and take the time to put ourselves in our customer’s shoes before we settle on the frames we know they will love.

We recently had the first of our twice yearly visit from Etnia Barcelona rep, Mark. As it's one of our favorite brands, when choosing frames from this collection we are like children in a sweet shop! The range is huge and the frames are so colourful and diverse. Also, for the first time, we were choosing from their new sunglasses range, too, which we were more than a little excited about!
The European brands tend to be the trendsetters, so it’s not surprising that Etnia Barcelona is on the pulse of what’s hot in the eyewear world.

The vogue for acetate frames is going nowhere, with this new collection, we are still seeing lots of plastic frames in different shapes. 50’s and 60’s styles are featuring massively, with the cat eye style in the lead.We are also seeing loads of twists on the classic, with bolder tortoise shell patterns with pops of chocolate box colours.

Their new capsule collection is called ‘Art Flowers’, (right down my street) a range of frames adorned with a delicate abstract print, born from the floral fashion trend.

When the sun shines, what’s hot is their limited edition Wild Love In Africa sunglasses, taking inspiration from the bright colours and animal prints of Africa.

The ophthalmic range is fully stocked in the practice now, with the sunglasses trickling in over the whole Summer, so there will always be something new to see, pop in any time for a look at the range.

Watch this space for an exciting new collection this Autumn.....we can't wait to see whats in store for this innovative brand!