Steer clear of fake sunglasses

11th November 2019

A sad story in the UK media about a 59 year British lady who has lost an eye to skin cancer caused by UV rays. For years Chris Wilcocks loved to soak up the sun on Turkish and Spanish beaches wearing her fake designer shades. She pins the blame for the eye cancer on her 40-strong collection of ‘knock-off’ sunglasses, often bought from beach vendors on holiday. She now accepts that they offered no UV protection. She said, “I always went for the blingiest sunglasses – I just loved the glamour, unfortunately, they had clearly done nothing to protect my eyes. Really, I’d like to ban cheap sunglasses without UV protection altogether but for now I’ve got to focus on raising awareness”. It’s often tempting on holiday to buy what appears to be stylish looking sunglasses from a market stall or beach vendor but almost always these sunglasses have no UV filters – the damage to your eyes will be like sunbathing for long periods wearing no sunscreen. More so because eyes are far more sensitive to sunlight than your skin.