While it may seem silly to some, finding the perfect pair of sunglasses can be a lengthy search. With 100s of different styles of frames, lenses and applications the ideal pair of sunglasses is different for everyone but with a little patience and understanding you can find the right pair for you.

First, there are 11 standard fashion shapes of lenses, for both men and women to choose from. Now a day almost all sunglasses come in an array of frame and lens colors but it is the shape of the lens that changes from style to style. The most common shapes of sunglasses are the oval, rectangle, pillow and rounded lenses. The oval shape covers above and below the eye usually an average size. The rectangle is commonly smaller around the eye, covering the eye enough to block the sun but with more room on top and below showing more of the ocular area. The pillow shape is a combination of the rectangle and the oval, rounded on top and straight on the sides, popular in larger shapes, which covers the ocular area up to or past the eyebrows. Rounded lenses are circular and like the pillow style are larger on the face.

There are the more exotic looking lens shapes. These include the aviators, the cat eyes, the butterfly and the square shapes. Like the more standard sunglasses these will come in many lens colors and most of them have a variety of frame colors. The aviators, which come in only a silver or gold metal frames generally have a large tear drop shaped lens with the bottom of the drop coming down to the cheek bone. Ray-Bans are popular for their aviator style and have an excellent overall rating. The cat eye shape, named so for resembling a feline eye, curve up from below the eye into a point on the side and then curve slightly down into the center bridge of the frame above the nose. The butterfly is very big like the circular style, is straight on the sides, angled on the top and rounder on the bottom. The square shape varies in size and can be average or large. Many of these styles can be found rimless, semi-rimless or as wrap around glasses. Rimless frames are when the lenses are attached to the arms of the frames but there is no frame on the lenses. Semi-rimless means the frame is on the top of the lens only. The wrap-around glasses have arms that wrap around the back of the head to keep the glasses from falling off which can be a problem for some people. While sunglasses are fashionable, they also serve a purpose of shielding your eyes from harmful Ultra Violet rays coming from the sun. Make sure when trying on the different styles that you ask for 100% UV ray protection in your lenses. To best figure what style works for you go to a store where they carry sunglasses and try them on.