Guys! Allow me to give you a heads-up on a totally life-changing discovery I stumbled upon recently.
But first, a little backstory: I’ve been wearing prescription eyeglasses since 2009. Supposedly I only had to wear them to be corrective, but they ended up making my eyesight worse in the sense that I’ve become too dependent on the darned things. Now I can’t see a foot ahead of me without them. My OD and OS aren’t the same so I was told that it would be more beneficial for me to wear contact lenses instead, but putting on contacts has always led to a lot of crying in the bathroom (probably because I have small eyes?) and I’m not up for doing that every day. So I settle with good ol’ spectacles, which I wear everywhere except at home.
I have acquired a variety of frames over the years, from different brands―although admittedly most them were bought because I thought they looked good on me, not because they’re 100% comfortable. (Ha.) Well, okay, I do make sure that they are comfy at least―it’s just that most glasses are totes modeled for heads that are shaped differently from mine, so they never fit me perfectly. When I have frames adjusted by professionals, usually it’s just the tightness or looseness of the screws that are manipulated and that doesn’t really solve my biggest problem: Most glasses keep slipping down my nose. Doesn’t matter whether they’re metal or plastic, or have nose pads or not, they all fall down my nose. Because aside from my head shape being weird, my ears are also placed too up front, my nose bridge leaves much to be desired, and my genes dictate that I perspire more intensely than the average person. (D:) Hence, slippage is A Thing. But I’ve come to accept it as a fact of life and never really thought it a peeve. I just push the glasses up when they slip. Easy. Sure, I have to do it, like, every five minutes, but I’m used to it by now.
So it only occurred to me that there could, in fact, be a solution to my predicament (and I actually want to kick myself for not thinking of this sooner―me, self-confessed serial Googler of Practically Every Single Thing) when I was browsing Daiso Japan a couple of weeks ago. Daiso, of course, is a treasure trove of nifty trinkets that you haven’t even thought you needed, but you do. I love browsing through the shop because (aside from everything being relatively inexpensive @ 88 pesos) almost every item is amusing, and I’m always like, LOL I can’t believe this exists. Or wait, no, I can. Of COURSE the Japanese would invent something like this! Duh?
Anyway, during one particular Daiso trip, I found these tiny rubber (or possibly silicone?) thingies, labelled “Glasses Stopper.” I couldn’t understand any other words because they were all in Japanese (LOL) but there was a diagram that clued me in on what they were for. I may have freaked out a little bit. Because really. I mean. HELLO I NEED YOU IN MY LIFE?!?!
So I bought a pair. They have holes where you insert the temple tips of your glasses, and you slide them through the temples to the point where they’d allow your frames to hang more snugly on your ears, making your glasses budge-proof even with enthusiastic head movement. They’re great! The only problem is, they’re not one-size-fits-all. If your glasses have large temple tips, like most of mine, they won’t fit the holes of these stoppers. Which is a shame.
Not to be deterred, I fired up trusty Google to help me out. Turns out I’m most definitely not the only one with glasses slippage woes (I still can’t believe I didn’t think of Googling this sooner!!!), and there are a lot of tips on glasses adjustment. (I don’t want to permanently bend my frames, though, or mess with the screws.) Items similar to these “glasses stoppers” are actually quite widely available, although there isn’t one name for them―ear locks, anti-slip holders, keepons. There’s also Nerdwax, but I’m way too sweaty to believe that’ll work on me. The best things I found are these funky inventions called WedGees, which are exactly what I am looking for. I am super tempted to order them, but alas, international shipping costs remain a pain in the ass. I’d have to shell out a thousand bucks for five tiny pairs of sewed cloth! I mean, I need them, but dude. No way.
THANKFULLY there is someone who has come up with a super resourceful solution that works like a charm, using―I still can’t believe it―hair scrunchies. (Or cloth hair ties. Ponytail holders. You get the idea.)
I mean, they’re not as presentable as WedGees, but GUYS. THEY WORK. Basically you tie a scrunchie around each temple so they sit behind your ears. Put the glasses on, adjust the scrunchies as necessary, and head bang all you want―your glasses are totes gonna stay in place! CREYS. The way you can DIY the placement of the adjusters is even better for persons with asymmetrical/lopsided peepers like me. I suggest using small and thin cloth ties for maximum comfort. (Rubber bands would also work, but those are going to snag and pull at your hair and basically become a nightmare.) These ties don’t really show up under your hair (but I might be more thick-haired than most people) so it’s okay to use any color, like if you want them to match your frames, I guess, but I chose black cus my hair is black. I got my bunch of unbranded hair ties from a local department store for only 20 freaking pesos, and after using the tiny ones I still have bigger ones left for actual hair tying! Amazing.
So this is how your glasses will look on your face before and after the scrunchie-treatment (feat. my post-school-day bothersome face, whaddup):
Yaaassss.
So, fellow bespectacled humans. You’re welcome? 😉