~ MY LOCAL SPECSAVERS~
When I first went for an eye-test quite a few years ago now I did feel slightly nervous, how-ever the staff at my local branch made me feel welcome and ensured me there was nothing to worry about. During my visit here I saw approximately 2 different members of staff whom carried out different tests on my eyes. This included looking into lenses to focus on a balloon in the background of a picture. You are taken into a separate room when the main eye test is carried out and the lights will be dimmed. You will be asked to carry out a number of different things such as reading letters off a chart and concentrating on different coloured circles. The optician will also try different lenses with your eyes to see which one's you can see more clearly out of. I have an eye test regularly every 3 years, and every time I go into my local brand I always feel welcome and comfortable. The branch is always tidy and very clean and staff look very well presented. I had my eye-test and sure enough I needed glasses. My eye-sight wasn't too bad, how-ever glasses would help me to see distances a lot clearer.

~ CHOOSING THE FRAMES ~
I had no idea what kind of frames to go for but luckily a member of staff was on hand to offer their help. There were so many different frames to choose from, some bigger than others and some looked really fragile. The frames come in so many different colours and styles, and there were designer frames available to buy as well. I have a very slim/long face and a lot of glasses often look and feel too big for my face. I wanted something simple, but smart and I didn't really want to buy designer frames. I explained this to the lovely female member of staff and she suggested going for some teen glasses. I thought this was a bit odd at first, but then she said that she also finds that a lot of the adult glasses are often quite big on her, so I looked at the teen's frames. The assistant picked out some frames for me to try and it wasn't long before I loved a pair of frames that the assistant had given me to try on. Although the frames were teen's frames, they fit my face shape perfectly and didn't feel too big. The frames were black and the section where the lenses went weren't too big either. These were perfect so I decided to go for these.

~ DIFFERENT TYPES OF LENSES ~
I don't really know a huge amount of the different lenses available, how-ever I only needed single vision lenses which comes with a scratch resistant treatment, case and cleaning cloth. These lenses were perfect for me as I only need glasses for driving and watching the television. I don't currently drive and would be wearing the glasses mostly at home, so I thought these lenses would be perfect for me. The total price of the frames with the lenses was approximately £85, and I got another pair of glasses free which I thought was quite good value. I could have chosen a different frame style; how-ever I just chose the same frames as my other one's. This was really handy as I could now keep a pair in my bag and a pair at home for when I watched the television. My dad needs glasses for a number of different things, so he has varifocal lenses which are slightly more expensive. If you wear glasses all the time you can purchase UV lenses which are great for in the summer. You can also choose something called Ultra clear lenses, which have anti-reflection and are harder wearing. There are also other types of lenses which are suitable for people who have worse eye sight than others and lenses for professional drivers which eliminate glare. I know a few people who have the reactions lenses, these are great as they adapt to the different light and go darker when in the sun and a lighter colour when in normal day-light without any sunshine. If I had to wear glasses all the time, this may something I would go for as they seem like a great idea and are cheaper to buy here compared to other high street opticians. This is only a selection of lenses; how-ever they do have other different lenses which are suitable for different people who have different prescriptions.

~ RECEIVEING MY GLASSES ~
After having my eye-test and sitting down with a staff member, and choosing frames they advised me it would be about 1 week when my new glasses would be ready for me to pick up. They advised me I could keep one of my old pair of glasses in the mean-time to ensure I still had a pair whilst the new lenses in my frames were being fitted. When the glasses were ready to be collected the staff member sat me down to ensure the glasses fitted me comfortably and to ensure I could see out of the lenses and read things properly. After we were both happy with everything, I was able to leave the shop and hopefully not have to return until my next eye test in about 3 years. The glasses felt a little strange at first as it took a short while for my eyes to adapt to the new lenses, how-ever after a few days they just seemed normal and I could see perfectly clear out of them.

~ MY GLASSES ~
I have an eye-test at my local Specsavers every 3 years (I get sent a reminder through the post), and nearly every time I go my eyes have changed slightly, so I always nearly need to buy new glasses. They always give me the often whether I want to choose new frames or whether I want to keep the frames and just get the lenses changed. I normally keep the same frame design; how-ever I have changed the frame design once, which was about 6 years ago now. Although the glasses I chose are teen's glasses, they fit my face really well and are so comfortable. They aren't too big, so they don't look silly on my slim face. As I only use my glasses for a few things, they always last a very long time. The frames and the lenses are very strong and I have never had to take the glasses back with any issues. The scratch resistant coating is very good, as I have also never got any deep or even light scratches on the lenses. The cleaning cloth that comes with the glasses does a brilliant job of keeping the glasses clean and looking as good as new. Of course to keep my glasses in good condition I always put them in the case after taking them off and I never put them face down on a table where the lenses could possibly get scuffed/scratched. 9This shouldn't happen due to the scratch resistant treatment on them).

~ OVERALL OPINION ~
I have only ever visited Specsavers for an eye-test and have only ever purchased my glasses from here. Everytime I visit my local branch, I am always pleased with how helpful and friendly the staff are. If you have any problems/queries the staff in store are more than happy to help. I have been very pleased with both sets of glasses I have purchased from here. The lenses are perfect for me and the frames are stylish but also subtle and come in a range of different colours. Although I have never had any problems with my pairs of glasses, if I did have any issues I would go straight into my local branch where I am positive they would help me with any queries or problems that I may have. They do have a very large range of frames to choose from in store, how-ever I just feel as though the teen frames fit me a lot better. I will continue to buy my frames/lenses from Specsavers and will highly recommend them to others to use.




(review may also appear in ciao)