Decoding optical lingo can be tricky, and sometimes people throw around words without actually knowing what they’re referring to.

Blue Light is a great example of a commonly misused and misunderstood buzzword. So let’s break it down together..

Blue light is a colour on the visible light spectrum, which means it can be seen by people. Every type of light produces energy, but blue light makes much more energy than many others because of its shorter and stronger wavelengths. Blue light can be found naturally but is also produced artificially.

Natural blue light wavelengths come from the sun, and they are everywhere. In fact, they’re even the reason the sky is blue! These wavelengths collide with air molecules, which makes the blue light scatter through the air and the sky look blue. Blue light from the sun also tells your body to wake up in the morning and fall asleep at night. During the day, natural blue light keeps you awake, boosts your mood, and improves your feelings of general wellbeing.

Artificial blue light comes from our digital devices and LED lights. As we’re spending more and more time in front of our phones, tablets, laptops and televisions, we’re being exposed to artificial blue light more often. As we use screens after dark, like when we watch TV before bed, we’re also soaking in blue light when our bodies aren’t used to it.

The impact of blue light depends on where it comes from. The blue light that comes from the sun is mixed in with a range of other lights, like infrared, red, yellow, orange, and UV wavelengths. When all the lights are mixed together, we are only exposed to small amounts of blue light at a time. The sun also filters the mixture, so that there are lower levels in the morning and at night than during the day.

But screens can’t control blue light like the sun does. Sometimes blue wavelengths from a phone, TV or iPad come in a big spike, and other times it is much lower than other light colours. Blue light is also the strongest light that comes out of a screen and it isn’t mixed in with anything else.

As everyone, especially kids, spend so long on screens every day, there can be some serious issues down the track.

Blue light from the sun sets our body clock. When the sun rises in the morning, the blue light is higher so that our body knows it’s time to wake up. Blue light gets stronger during the day to keep us awake, before decreasing at night to make us feel relaxed and sleepy.

Watching TV after dark or going on your iPad before bed will confuse your body clock and make it harder to switch off at night or wake up early in the morning. Being exposed to lots of artificial blue light throughout the day may also wake you up throughout the night.

Staring at digital screens all-day can cause blurry vision, difficulty focusing, dry and irritated eyes, headaches, and even neck or back pain. This condition is known as Digital Eye Strain Syndrome, and can be even worse for children as their eyes haven’t developed fully yet and the effects can cause lasting damage.

Before you throw all of your electronic gadgets and screens out the window, augie eyewear is here to help you protect little eyes. Our glasses aren’t just stylish and comfortable, but we’ve also got a range of blue light lenses too. These glasses are designed by medical experts to block, filter and scatter artificial blue light. Fitted into both prescription and clear lens, blue light blocking glasses will help:

Blue Light Filter Glasses reduce eye strain, making your eyes feel more awake. This means you can concentrate on a screen for longer periods, without getting sore eyes and feeling sleepy!

Blue Light Glasses help filter blue light just like the sun. By reducing blue light right before bedtime, you’re less likely to wake up during the night. When you sleep better, you wake up feeling better too!

Blue Blocker Glasses help prevent long-term damage by protecting young eyes from dangerous levels of blue light. This protection reduces the likelihood of optical issues down the track.

Augie Eyewear offers a wide range of Blue Light Glasses for kids. We make the selection process simple and enjoyable, to ensure your kids love their glasses as much as their eyes do. Our online range of unisex kids frames have utility, versatility and timeless style. Augie gives kids freedom.