With your examination, you had a choice among these worthy Portland-based nonprofits.

This is how we distributed the donations for year two here at Myoptic.

Thank you for your thoughtfulness and thank you for being part of our Myoptic community.

XOXO,

Your Myoptic Team

It’s time to start looking good for summer, and the easiest way to do that is to pick up a great pair of shades. Myoptic has been hoarding our best styles for this moment.

First, suit the frame to the game. Don’t choose a delicate vintage style if you’re going to use them to play soccer. Know that you can turn any frame into sunglasses – if you fall in love with a frame that’s shown with clear lenses, ask for them to be turned into sunglasses.

Second, consider the lenses. Make sure your lenses block UV waves. UV-B is the real threat to the eyes, though you want shades that will block UV-A as well. Consider polarized lenses; these block light reflecting off of surfaces like snow and water.

Match the tint to the activity. Brown, gray, and green lenses are close to color-neutral – they reduce the strain on your eyes by reducing the overall brightness without distorting colors. Yellow and amber lenses block less light but give a lot of depth perception. Some people claim that brown is the ideal lens color in the Pacific Northwest, providing contrast when high clouds create a bouncy light from all directions.

Can’t make up your mind? Myoptic carries a line by Rudy Project featuring interchangeable tints that mount over your normal glasses prescription.

Our favorite lines right now? The beautiful translucent designs of California designer Salt, and the funky frames of Paul Frank.

-Dr. Oliver Kuhn-Wilken

We know our show room is bursting with a huge selection of gorgeous frames from all over the world, representing nearly every personality, but when a cool innovator with style and a bigger purpose comes in, we can’t help but welcome him and his hip line of eye wear on board!

When Wes, founder of Aframes Eyewear came into Myoptic personally to show us his collection and explained to us how a portion of his sales goes to giving Vitamin A to people at risk of losing vision, we had him sign us up!  Loss of vision from Vitamin A deficiency is easily preventable.  Aframes works along with Helen Keller International to eradicate this too prevalent problem.  Thanks, Wes!

Come in next week to see this fashion-forward, feel good line!

Pic of Wes and Lisa sharing the mission!

XOXO,

Myoptic

They are affordable, benefit the Pixie Project and are very very fun to wear.  We carry their favorite suns, too so come in and get ready for the change in seasons.

Amy Sacks and Myoptic understand that in the end, it’s about helping the community and growing together to make the future bright!

Lovin’ the warm fuzzy feelings at Myoptic. xoxo

WHAT GIVES YOUR EYES THEIR COLOR?

The colored part of your eye is called the iris, named for the beautiful virgin Greek goddess of the rainbow. The iris only contains transparent tissue and brown pigment, so how do eyes come in so many dazzling colors?

Eyes have different colors for the same reason the clear sky can have so many different colors, because of the complex and magical interaction between a cloudy medium and light. Light is reflected and altered by the small particles in the transparent part of the iris.

When your eyes seem to change color in different lights, it is no optical illusion; your eyes are really changing color.

Brown eyes, the most dominant iris color in the world, are simply caused by an abundance of velvety brown pigment coating the iris tissues.

Blue eyes, on the other hand, have very little pigment in the visible iris; instead, the iris is reflecting out energetic blue light rays and absorbing the less powerful darker ones. This is exactly the same optical phenomenon that makes the sky blue, called the Raleigh phenomenon. Thanks to immigration and intermarriage, blue eyes are becoming less common in the U.S. – in 1900 you were 57% of the population, but now only 17% of you have blue eyes.

Grey eyes have no pigment in the iris, like blue eyes; however, the strands of tissue in the iris are larger, and so they reflect light waves back out differently (the Mie phenomenon). On a clear day, air particles reflect back only blue, but a stormy sky is filled with raindrops, which reflect back all colors. Eyes are the same, and the result is stormy grey eyes.

Green eyes are very rare, seen mostly in people who have Celtic blood. Green comes from essentially blue eyes that have a trace amount of brown pigment mixed in.

“Hazel” is a color that is only applied to eyes, and means any combination of brown/gold/amber and green/blue/grey. Like the other eye colors, hazel eyes change color dramatically depending on the colors around them – often a hazel eye will look blue one moment and green the next.

(David Bowie had two different colored eyes due to a playground accident)

-Dr. Oliver Kuhn-Wilken

What does “20/20” mean? Can you see better than 20/20? What’s the Guiness Book of World Records for vision?

The layman’s explanation of 20/20 goes like this: it means that you can see the same details from 20 feet away as a person with normal vision. If you have to stand at 20 feet to see details that a normal person can see from 40 feet, then your vision is 20/40.

The more precise definition is this: 20/20 means that you can distinguish letters whose smallest details are only as large as 1 arc-second, or 1/60^th of a degree – this is equal to about 1/16^th of an inch at 20 feet.

Some people can see better than 20/20. In fact, Olympic athletes in vision-dependent sports like archery and sharpshooting have an average visual acuity of 20/16.

However, at a certain point the wave-like nature of light limits your best possible visual acuity. Light bends slightly around the edges of your pupil: this is called the phenomenon of diffraction. It means that it is physically impossible to see better than about 20/8.

-Dr. Oliver Kuhn-Wilken

THREE FOODS TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR VISION

Everything you eat affects the health of your body, and the health of your body affects the health of your eyes. However, some foods are more necessary for your eye health than others. Here are the top 3:

1. The old wives’ tale about carrots is actually true: eyes depend upon vitamin A (found in carrots and other foods) for sharp vision.

2. Omega-3 fatty acids (found in salmon, sardines, and halibut) are important to keep your eyes lubricated and for long-term avoidance of diseases like dry eye syndrome and macular degeneration.

3. The most precise part of your vision depends upon the nutrients found in leafy green vegetables like kale, spinach, and chard.

As a hard-working organ that depends upon tremendous amounts of blood flow, the eye in some ways resembles no other organ as much as the heart. It may be that the most important decisions you can make for your vision are to stop smoking and get regular exercise.

-Dr. Ollie Kuhn-Wilken

Winter often makes dry eyes worse – we get lots of people complaining about their dry eyes at this time of year. Dry eye is a common but complicated eye problem that can show up in many different ways, including:

A feeling of dryness, of course

A stinging, gritty, burning, or itchy feeling

A feeling of something stuck in the eye, like a hair or piece of sand

Redness

Difficulty with contact lens wear

Even watery eyes are often a sign of dry eyes!

What causes dry eye? The most common culprits are:

Contact lenses

Prolonged computer use

Being female

Smoking

Arthritis

Dehydration

Age

Dry environment, including air conditioning and heating

What can I do about dry eye?

First, a good eye exam can help you differentiate the many kinds of dry eye and uncover which strategy will work best for your eyes. Second, deal with the causative factor if possible – stop smoking, take breaks from the computer, turn down the AC or heating. A good strategy may include:

The frequent use of artificial tears or gels

Lubricating ointment at night

Drinking more water

Omega-3 (fish oil) supplements

Hot compresses

Lid hygiene

Punctal plugs

Medical eye drops

Myoptic carries a wonderful mask, called Tranquilleyes, that applies healing heat to your eyes easily and quickly. We also carry an excellent omega-3 supplement that outperforms many of the drugstore varieties.

Stop in and see if we can help you!

- Dr. Oliver Kuhn-Wilken

“Our group is built on creativity, passion and the guts to make our own rules”

It’s like playing dress up with your eyes.  Looks of lace, pearls, marble and gold lamay, to name just a few…

Check our their site to learn their history, philosphy and style.  www.jonohennessy.com

Jono Hennessy was born in Australia but travels with the celebrity set around the world.  We’re glad they have a home here at Myoptic, too.

And ya know what?  We’re planning an exclusive off-site trunk show with them very soon….stay tuned…..

XOXO, Myoptic