A Little Known Perk from VSP Lets Lasik Patients Use Their Eyeglass Benefit for Non-Prescription Sunglasses

If you’ve had Lasik surgery and want to upgrade to a new pair of sunglasses this summer, we’ve got a great tip that could save you over $100 on your new shades.

Thanks to a little known benefit from VSP, VSP vision insurance members who have undergone Lasik vision correction surgery can use their bi-yearly eyeglass benefit toward a pair of non-prescription sunglasses.

Yes, we said that right: If you’ve had Lasik and you have VSP, you can get your non-prescription sunglasses completely or partially paid for.

Normally, the frame benefit can only be applied to prescription sunglasses (for non-Lasik patients.) But if you’ve had Lasik surgery, VSP wants you to still protect your eyes from damaging UV rays and is willing to let you apply your usual frame benefit toward a pair of fantastic suns.

Depending on your particular VSP plan, this benefit can save you up to $150 dollars on non-prescription sunglasses.  That will pretty much cover a brand new pair of Ray Bans or get you into a pair of fab Badgley Mischka, Prada,  Sama, Tag Heuer, or Chloe suns at a savings of up to 50% off the retail price (or better, depending on brand and model.)

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Today’s Look Is All About Pairing the Heart of Gold Sunglass by Sama with Cool Whites and Neutrals for a Perfect All-Day-Long Summer Look

One of the things we wanted to accomplish with our “Sama Heart of Gold Five Ways Over Five Days” was to demonstrate how exceptionally versatile these handmade sunglasses by Sama are as an accessory.

The Heart of Gold is really jewelry for your face;  so like a ring, necklace or pair of earrings, you want to know that your investment has legs in terms of how many different ways you can pair it.

The first two looks we put together were a little more opulent — perfect for a summer wedding or formal event when the days are still long and you can wear your sunglasses into the evening hours.

Today’s look is a bit more understated.

We wanted to show how you take the Heart of Gold and accessorize them with day wear — letting you transition flawlessly from the office, to lunch, to dinner without doing much more than perhaps swapping out your shoes.

The look below combines the cool whites and neutral grays of an sophisticated shirt dress from Alice + Olivia with jewelry in yellow gold, diamonds and precious stones that once again play off from the Swarovski crystals in the Heart of Gold’s temples.

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We Got A Glimpse of the New John Galliano and Tod’s Line of Sunglasses and You Are Going to LOVE Them!

This week  Marcolin, the U.S. distributor of Tom Ford, Tod’s and DSquared2, stopped in to show us the new sunglass lines from John Galliano and Tod’s.

At first we were a little skeptical.

We’ve been searching for some new eyewear lines to add at Urban Optiques for several months now, and what we’ve seen so far (outside of Francis Klein) hasn’t particularly impressed us.

We pretty much knew what we didn’t want:  Yet another line of sunglasses from some giant corporate design center with yet another fashion designer’s name stuck on the temple with something akin to Super Glue as an afterthought.

There are tons of those brands out there, and outside of the designer logo itself, there’s really not much in terms of unique design to differentiate these eyewear lines from each other.

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EDGE Magazine — One of the Largest GLBT News and Entertainment Portals on the Web — Highlights Urban Optiques in its “Spring Shades” Style Feature

Yesterday morning we were thrilled to see that EDGE Magazine published a lengthy interview I did with them last week around how to choose fashionable sunglasses and take care of your vision at the same time.

EDGE is the largest network of local Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) news and entertainment portals in the world, serving 500,000  readers from a variety of metropolitan areas around the United States and beyond.

Unfortunately, they don’t currently serve Detroit, but we’re hoping to change that with this story.

Check out the full article here (it’s pretty cool):

http://www.edgeonthenet.com/index.php?ch=style&sc=fashion&sc2=news&sc3=&id=102117

We also made EDGE’s photo spread on cool sunglasses, sending them a pair of the same Ray-Ban 3025 aviators that Megan Fox has popularized.

Special thanks to David Andrusia, the author of the article,  and the entire EDGE staff for being so great to work with.

Sunglasses Magazine Profiles Urban Optiques as Part of Their “Sun Selling: How The Pros Do It”  Series

Last month, Sunglasses Magazine — the leading trade magazine for buyers and sellers of quality sunwear — approached us about doing a interview and profile on Urban Optiques in the magazine’s regular “Sun Selling: How the Pros Do It”  column.

The magazine’s editor, Ana Montoya, discovered Urban Optiques online, and was intrigued by the way we use our website to present and promote our eyewear and sunwear online.

Ana wanted to know if we’d like to be interviewed as an example of a full-scope optometry practice that also put a strong emphasis on sunwear product alongside our vision health care services.

Since the whole vision behind Urban Optiques is to literally change the experience of going to the eye doctor from something sterile and clinical, to something exciting, high-touch and memorable, we were happy to see Sunglasses Magazine describe our website as “stylish” and our practice as out-of-the-ordinary.

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