Measure Your Face Before You Shop

The best way to ensure that your glasses will fit without trying them on beforehand is to measure specific areas of your face. You will be measuring the bridge of your nose, your temple-to-temple width across your face, and combining the two measurements for the total width to determine the correct frame arm’s length, also known as the glasses temple measurement. For the measurements, you will need:

• Mirror
• Ruler
• Basic calculations
• Photo
• Friend (optional)

You will measure the position and width of the bridge of your nose to figure out the distance between your prescription glasses lenses. For this measurement, you will need a mirror and a photo. You may also find it easier to have another person with you to affirm your judgments.

• Width

Take a close look in the mirror and at the selfie. Determine if your nose is more narrow or wide. The width of your nose will correlate to the bridge’s width on the glasses you are shopping for online. If you have a thin nose, bridges in the 0.55 – 0.71 inches range will best fit your face. Likewise, if you have a broad nose, you will shop for bridges 0.71 inches or larger. Interestingly, the width of your nose corresponds to the positioning of your eyes in most cases. If you have a more narrow nose, your eyes are likely to be closer together; if your eyes are further apart, it is common that you will have a wider nose.

• Position

Use the mirror and the selfie again to determine the positioning of your nose on your face. You are looking to see if the bridge of your nose sits above or below your pupils. The best range for bridges that sit above pupils is 0.75 – 0.83 inches. For bridges located below the pupils, shoppers should seek out options that range 0.63 – 0.71 inches.

• Purposes

Once you have your bridge measurements and positioning, you can use that information to make several educated decisions while shopping. Use your measurements to adjust based on frame width and bridge positioning. Consider the following combinations:

• High bridge + thin frames change to smaller bridges
• Low bridge + thick frame adjust to larger bridges
• High bridges + brow level bridges in frames
• Low bridges + below brow level bridges in frames

You will measure your temple-to-temple width to figure out the total width of your glasses, including the frames, lenses, and bridge. This measurement is used to determine the most appropriate full width of prescription glasses online to fit your face best. For this measurement, you will need a mirror and a rule. Using a photo for this measurement is inappropriate because it cannot be scaled to the accurate sizing; use only a mirror and a ruler for best results. You will measure from your left temple to your right temple. To do so, hold the ruler below your eyes in a horizontal position and measure the distance between the two temples and record your measurement for total width.

• Note

Another vital part of gathering all of your face measurements is yet another temple measurement; this one isn’t from your temples; it is for the temples or arms of the glasses. To determine the correct length of temples for your glasses, you will use your total width. Temples on glasses usually come in three preset sizes but can also be found in ranges from 4.7 – 5.9 inches. The larger the whole width of your face, the larger the temples will need to be on your glasses.

To determine your lens width, you need only do minor calculations from measurements you already have. Start with the total width. Subtract from that number your bridge width. Subtract from that number 0.24 inches. The final calculation will determine your lens width. Usually, lenses will range from 2.0 – 2.4 inches.

To choose the best prescription glasses online, the final piece of information you need to determine is your face shape. Your lens shape and frames should complement your face shape. For this measurement, you will need a mirror, but a photo and a friend will also likely be helpful. Compare your face to these four basic shapes to determine which one your face best corresponds with: circle, square, oval, or heart-shaped. This determination will help match your face shape to the ideal lens shape when shopping for frames.

• Features

Using facial features, you can determine which face shape you have. Using your face shape, you will be able to select glasses to match. Oval faces have broad and high cheekbones that come to a rounded end at the chin and the forehead. Square faces have broad foreheads and defined jawlines. Heart-shaped faces have wide foreheads with high cheekbones. Circle or round faces feature equal length and width and often appear wider across the cheek area. Remember that safety glasses and goggles require a snug fit for regulatory wear. Still, other prescription glasses may be worn in oversize styles that are more trendy if that is your preference. Consider the following combinations:

• Oval + oversize, square, broad, rectangular, or trapezoid
• Square + rounded and dark, rimless, cat-eye or semi-rimless
• Heart + thin, light, wide, rimless, or aviator
• Circle + full-rim, semi-rimless, angular, broad, or sharp-angled

To ensure that your shopping experience is as easy and stress-free as possible, be sure to complete your measurements before logging on and making selections for prescription glasses online.