Frame Colors
If you have piercing blue eyes, choose a standout blue eyeglasses frame. If you have overwhelmingly pink pigment in your skin, a blue/pink two-tone laminate such as Calabria Readers 636 designer eyeglass frame may be your ideal pick. Eye color comes in such differing shades, as does hair, that eye color is not usually the best determiner of eyeglass frames colors.

In general, cool or “blue” skin colors, in other words paler complexions, do well with eyeglasses frames in black, blue-gray, plum, magneta, pink, jade, and darker tortoiseshell (demi-amber). Warmer or “yellow” complexions with more pink or dark pigment are complemented by an eyeglass frame in camel or khaki, peach orcoral, gold and copper, off-white or warm blue, light or blond tortoiseshell, orange or fire-engine red.

Matching Frame and Lens Color
Unless you buy tinted eyeglasses, you don't need to worry about matching eyeglasses frames and lens colors. When you're buying a designer eyeglass frame for sun reading glasses, you need to consider the overall effect. Matching a blue-gray eyeglass frame to a light blue lens seems a good choice if you have blue eyes and a cool complexion. However, you can also choose a darker or silver-tinted lens for your eyeglasses frame. Contrast between eyeglass frames and lenses (for example gold eyeglass frames and gray or black lenses), especially with hand-painted eyeglasses frames, aren't a face or fashion faux pas.

Like New Eyeglass Frames
Most eyeglass care focuses on the most important part of the glasses...the lenses.

However, eyeglasses frames need care too. Keeping your glasses in their protective cases will prevent damage to your eyeglass frame.

Use metal polish for your metal eyeglasses frame such as your Silhouette 7373/7395 Minimal Art frame, even though titanium, beryllium and Flexon are corrosion- and tarnish- resistant. Use jewelry cleaner for your silver-accent, crystal, rhinestone, bejeweled and gold-plated discount eyeglass frame—just don't immerse your glasses in the cleaner.


Try not to put your plastic eyeglass frames through too much punishment. Luckily, nylon can take more damage than most plastic frames.

Keep your screws tight and your spring hinges in place.

Durable Plastic Frames
Plastic eyeglasses frames as a rule tend to break more easily, especially kids' plastic eyeglass frames. Nylon is lightweight and strong, and particularly wear-resistant if you're active in sports. It also is ideal for the flexible, long-lasting wraparound eyeglass frame.

Although it's not super-strong, zyl, short for zylonite, gives you a designer eyeglass frame in whatever color you might want, such as Nine West's NW 11. Want your eyeglasses frame to match Marcia Cross' hair on “Desperate Housewives”? No problem!

The most durable plastic eyeglasses frame we've seen is On-Guard Safety's with attached wire mesh side shields.


Gold, Silver, Crystal, Wood and Bone
Solid silver or sterling silver often accent designer eyeglass frames but don't make up the whole eyeglass frame enchilada since silver is not comfortable. All that glitters is gold, that is, gold plating, when it comes to gold eyeglasses frames.

Wood and bone, while less adjustable than other eyeglasses frame materials, look fashionable. Calabria 798 eyeglass frames have distinctive wooden temples.

A crystal designer eyeglass frame, sometimes set with precious or semiprecious stones, may drive up the price but befits a black tie or other dressy occasion.

The Right Eyeglass Frames for Your Face
You might have found the perfect discount eyeglass frame, but is it perfect for your face? The over-abiding rule is simple: Know your face shape.

* Round face: Opt for a clear bridge and wide rectangular (such as Burberry 8369) or angular narrow eyeglasses frames to lengthen and thin the face.
* Square face: Try narrow eyeglass frame styles, especially narrow ovals, and a wider eyeglasses frame to soften the face and make it look longer.
* Diamond face: Try eyeglass frames that highlight the eyes and accentuate the cheekbones of this rare face shape—choose distinctive brow lines in your eyeglasses frames, oval and cat-eye shapes, and oh yes, go rimless!
* Base-up/Inverted Triangle: Try eyeglass frames wider at the bottom, light colors and materials, and of course, rimless frame (such as D & G 4077) styles to create an airy effect and make the top of the face look less top-heavy.
* Base-down/regular triangle: Go for a brightly colored designer eyeglass frame with detailing on the top half, preferably combined with a cat-eye shape (such as Baby Phat's frames) to widen the top half of the face.
* Oblong face: Also known as the longish nose face and long face in general. Try an eyeglass frame that has a top-to-bottom depth, a low bridge to make the nose look shorter, and/or decorative or contrasting temples (such as wooden) that widen the face
* Oval face: These lucky people have perfectly proportioned face shapes. Opt for opticals with eyeglass frames that are wider than the broadest part of your face, or proportioned walnut-shaped eyeglasses frames. Don't choose frames with too much depth or too much narrowness.