It took me 450 words to get to the bit about why I wanted a pair of Foxmans Frames, and though it was a nice bit of exposition, you wouldn’t be interested in it. And no, this isn’t a sponsored nor endorsed post.

After obsessing over the Foxmans website on a) whether to invest in a pair b) which frame to go for, I eventually when for the McCartney’s. The option I went for was the fixed Heavy Duty model as I wanted something to take the edge off bright lighting.

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If you obsess about your purchases as much as me, you might have already been checking these out and see a fair share of unboxing videos. For those interested in the packaging and blue light kit, go check those out. I’m only interested in the glasses. By the way, the case they come in won’t keep them protected unless you put them on a pedestal made of swan feathers.

The model I opted for is very glossy, and the lenses are pretty reflective. You only have to think of the word smudge, and it’ll appear like some sadistic poltergeist has lifted your tin foil hat and snickered in your earhole. As for the frame? Nice and stiff, but they won’t survive much in the land of punishment. To be fair, I get new sunglasses bi-annually as I often end up scratching the lenses or sitting on them. That’s on me, obviously. On the contrary, under me.

But the reason for the purchase was about my vision. From some of the research I’ve looked at, I don’t think blue light damages the eyes as much as a sales rep would have you believe, but looking at a screen without taking breaks, blinking, staying hydrated, et al. does make a difference. Do these things irrespective of buying glasses. However, these glasses have already made a difference for me, and they may work for you as well.

First of all, since wearing, I haven’t had a problem with dry eyes, eye strain or mild headaches. Perhaps sounding like a pitch, but utterly true, my sleeping has improved – waking up less in the night. I’ve stopped wetting the bed as well. Ok, that’s a lie. It could be a coincidence, but the improvement in sleep has happened since wearing these before bed. One thing it didn’t prevent (not that it claimed to) was my ocular migraines.

I get these once or twice a year where I lose my vision for 20 minutes to 2 hours. Once my sight is restored, I have a blinding migraine and try to sleep it off, but it lasts two to three days. Did the Foxman Frames cure it? Of course not, don’t be stupid. However, when the ‘attack’ kicked in, I put them on, and the vision impairment didn’t worsen and improved slightly faster. The most significant benefit was the calming effect it had on my eyes. Granted, the migraine was still debilitating, but these glasses helped somewhat.

My Heavy Duty glasses also served well as sunglasses when I wore them with contacts (these aren’t prescription). In sunlight, everything looks like looking through a melted pineapple ice pop thingy, which is surprisingly good, and offered immense clarity when driving – without affecting the colours of indicators or traffic lights! Though they’re great at diffusing bright LED lights at night, I wouldn’t recommend them for night driving due to the colour distortion and low levels of light.

You’re reading a gaming website, at least for the time being, so how does this affect gaming? The colour distortion will spoil some of your games as you don’t experience the full spectrum of colours. However, if you’re playing for long periods, it works wonders, and in fear of jinxing it, I haven’t once experienced tired eyes while wearing these. Hence why I wholeheartedly recommend them for this sort of usage.

But I’d recommend these more for people sensitive to light, who suffer eye strain, tired eyes/fatigue. They’re great for gamers and better than the Gunnars I had (the lenses have crystalised without even using them). I genuinely use these every day and have recommended them. People typically react to them with how nice they feel or that old chestnut, “Why should I bother when I have an app?”. Agreed.

For about ten years, I used to use a program called F.lux. It was/is amazing, but it was only for my screen. Wearing glasses that adjust ALL the colour and light around you makes a difference, and your eyes aren’t constantly shifting back and forth. Sure there are the downsides of missing out on colours, but your eyes will thank you for it(?) if you suffer from the above-mentioned ailments.

My predicament now is whether to get them in prescription. I think the Foxman Frames price range is very affordable, but on the fence about the quality of the lenses for prescriptions. I typically opt for extra features like non-scratch, anti-reflection, and make you a tea, with my other glasses, but there aren’t any other choices here. I’m going to monitor the durability of these for the time being, and if they hold up, will get the prescriptions plus the clip-ons. This isn’t an advertisement; check out their website for the specs.

I will stress that I’ve done this off my own back. I could have pushed for a free pair of glasses by putting Foxmans Frames in a good light, but it’s important to me to maintain my integrity – I mean, I write enough bloody reviews; I need some consistency. So, on that note, I paid for these glasses and have just received another pair that I ordered and paid for today. They’re the Lennons, and while they feel very comfortable and have a nice texture (the clear lens is very nice), my wife says I look like Blippi. While that’s inaccurate, the damage is done, and my daughter gets these as intended.

What’s so good about Foxmans Frames over all the others? I’m not a comparison site, so I don’t have a list I can recite from, but I’d encourage you to read/watch what you can. One thing I can vouch for is the customer service being excellent. I received emails when the order was received, processed and despatched. There was then a follow up to make sure I’d received them and asked if everything was ok. At one point, I spoke to a representative (an actual human -they have a phone number that isn’t a call centre), and they were very attentive throughout. This means a lot to me, as I’m sure it will to many of you. Much more important than the packaging, in my opinion.

So yeah, I seldom write about ‘hardware’, but as I wrote about the Gunnars and those other glasses I’ve already forgotten about as I didn’t hear back from their PR, I felt compelled to write about these with no real incentive other than to recommend something that might help you out, and also add a little bit of content for my lil’ ol’ site that isn’t just mind-numbing games. Sure, it’s not high brow or anything, but sharing is caring, eh?

The bottom line? Highly recommended. Of course, this is all opinion, but I really think these are worth getting before your next controller/RGB peripheral.

Thanks for reading, and if you didn’t read it and scrolled to the bottom, go watch the YouTube videos. I recommend the Eye Influence channel as a starting point.

An amazing article published by Vulgar Knight!

We know, we know! Eight hours a night is what the doc recommends, though let’s face it… Many of us struggle to stick to it. While there are heaps of things from overheating (wrong duvet?) to overthinking that can get in the way of a good night’s sleep, blue screens are a constant culprit. Modern life has us hanging out on our laptops, Ipads, and Iphones far more than is healthy. Wondering how all that screen time affects your sleep? Sit down and get comfy. We are going to take a look at just that, and some simple ways to stop scrolling and start snoozing.

Tick tock– Put down your fancy watches your body has a biological clock of its own that follows a 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. A hormone called cortisol is released with the sunrise, filling you with beans (a bit like your coffee)

Feeling Sleepy – As daylight fades, so does your energy. Your body produces another hormone- melatonin that makes you want to snuggle into your duvet and yawnnnnn… sleep!

Blue Intrusion- Bedtime scrolling? Though those late-night memes and Instagram stories could keep you blinking into the early hours. Blue light is bad for your sleep as it disrupts the production of melatonin, putting your body clock all out of whack.