Beauty in the eye of the beholder

A new poll from Optegra Eye Health Care has delved into the attitudes of the British public towards eyewear.

The survey of 2000 spectacle wearers found that one in ten survey participants wore glasses when they did not need to.

Reasons given included wanting to ‘look cool’ or disguise bags under the eyes.

However, one in five people reported feeling uncomfortable while wearing spectacles and the same proportion of participants believed they looked better without eyewear.

The research found survey participants spent an average of six hours per day in their spectacles and spent £207.73 per year on eyewear.

Inconveniences of wearing spectacles highlighted by respondents included lenses fogging in the rain, dented nosepads, losing glasses and wearers getting their hair stuck in them.

The research found that 16% of respondents wore contact lenses.

The top bugbears for contact lenses included dropping a lens and not being able to find it, falling asleep in lenses and putting lenses in the wrong eye.