New Glasses: A Review

Several weeks ago, I was contacted by GlassesUSA.com to see if I would be interested in a review, which sells cheap eyeglasses. To give some back story, I ordered my first pair of glasses online almost a year ago from a competitors website. Over the past year, I have not been pleased or happy with the product I received from Zenni. In fact, I had taken the time to replace the glasses in December at a local discount department store- another pair I wasn't thrilled with, and paid out the nose for.

I have an extremely high prescription. If my vision were the same, but uncorrectable by prescription lenses, my prescription would be defined as legally blind. Because I can wear glasses to correct it, it isn't actually considered legally blind, though. This leads to thick heavy lenses more often than not.

When I placed my order with GlassesUSA, I left the prescription glasses up to them- I did not place a traditional order, choosing the type of lenses I wanted. Instead, I left it in their hands to provide me what they could. With my prescription lenses, I was expecting them to have some width to them. The other two pairs I've ordered from difference companies over the past year were depressingly thick, despite getting the highest index I could the second time around.

I was happily surprised when the glasses arrived and were thin. Not super thin- that's just not going to happen with my prescription, but thin enough that the lenses are light weight, and don't look as noticeable from the sides.  Below are photos of the 3 pairs of glasses I have used over the past year.

This is pair #1, ordered online from a competitive online website. I did not get the highest index I could due to finances at the time, however, these are exceedingly thick.  

This pair is #2, ordered from a discount department store in the highest index available, with a roll & polish added to minimize the edge width. These are almost the same width as the pair ordered from Zennioptical.com

This is pair 1 and 2 next to each other- they are both very wide, and exceedingly noticeable. The frames chosen did enhance how wide the lenses are, but aside from that, they are wider than I was comfortable with.

This shows all three pairs, with the newest pair on the left. They are quite a bit thinner than the other two pairs.

This is my new pair of eyeglasses, ordered from GlassesUSA.com. I am happy with how thin the lenses are, and how accurate the prescription was. I  love these!

I really like the frames- it's been several years since I've worn plastic frames. Generally, I prefer metal frames, but the last two pairs I got left me wanting a change, so I chose a pair of black plastic frames. I had forgotten just how much they chance my face! I choose a slightly retro-ish pair called Hilarie, which retail for $39.00, which includes basic lenses.

If you have a prescription in the -4 or +4 range or up (mine is -10.5 and -11.25 in each eye), you will want to add in a higher index lens than those provided. The price goes up depending on the index chosen for your glasses. For my prescription, it's recommended that I use 1.67 high index, or 1.74 super high index. With the high index, it adds in $67. With 1.74, it adds in $139. Not a small fee, but if you don't have optical insurance, it's not as high as it could be. At a regular optometrist, my glasses easily run in the $300-400 range, so under $200 is still a really decent deal.

I had planned to take photos specifially for this post, but I've had a horrible head cold, and don't care to share that image with anyone. Instead, here's a photo I took a few days ago, to show off a headband I made for an upcoming event. ;) I'll be posting a tute for that soon ;)

I am hoping to save up some money, and order a nice pair of prescription sunglasses this summer. I have a pair from the competitor, and the frames are miss-shaped. The bows bend outward from the frame, so in order to wear them, I actually have to have a sports band on. Because I am so sensitive to light, sunglasses are a must.

To help you out even further, GlassesUSA provided a handy 10% off coupon code for all of you to enjoy. Simply add BLOG10 to the coupon code area in check out to receive a discount on their already great prices!

This is a product review for GlassesUSA. GlassesUSA specializes in the sale of Designer Prescription Glasses, Nike Prescription Glasses, Discount Eyeglasses, Cheap Designer Eyeglasses, Cheap Eyeglass Frames, Cheap Prescription Sunglasses, and Cheap Reading Glasses. The review is based on my own personal views of the product I reviewed. The product was provided to me for free to review and use. No other compensation was given for my unbiased review.