Living in Singapore means one thing: perpetual sunny weather. This also means that sunglasses are a must-have – be it to simply boost a look tenfold, or to shield our eyes from the harmful UV rays of the sun.
But in a market saturated with tons of sunglasses in a dizzying variety, it’s often difficult to know where to even start looking, especially if this is your first foray into buying a pair for yourself!
Where to buy sunglasses in Singapore?
1. Ray-Ban Eyewear
We’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of Ray-Bans’ sunglasses – even amongst the non-sunglasses wearing people out there.
Internationally renowned, Ray-Bans has been around since 1937, and has definitely withstood the test of time. Its excellent, durable quality, and offering an array of 500 over different sunglasses attract a steady influx of customers.
Price range: Its best-seller, the Aviator Large Metal Sunglasses retails at SGD275.
Where to get: It can be bought in almost any optic shop that sells a variety of brands, as well as in online retail stores like Zalora and Shopee.
2. Gentle Monster
A beloved Korean brand with a huge fan following, it’s won the hearts of many with its quirky, runway-like futuristic designs, loved by both Korean fans – where it’s from – and popular international stars like Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner alike.
Price range: From SGD 288 and up
Where to get: ION Orchard, #01-13
3. Visual Loft
Want a platform where you can compare the prices of multiple brands on just one platform? With more upscale brands like Anna Sui, to both mid-range and low-range prices – you’ll be spoilt for choice.
And yes, it even has quirkier finds like Polaroid Sunglasses (SGD160).
Price range: From SGD45
Where to get: Available only in online stores.
4. Zalora
Zalora may be an online-only store, but what’s so good about Zalora is that you can return whatever purchases you don’t like – in this case, sunglasses – and get a refund. Rinse, repeat, until you get a pair you like.
Zalora also has pretty frequent sales on its pretty wide variety of sunglasses brands, so do be sure to look out for them!
Price range: from SGD9.90 and up
Where to get: Available only online, here.
5. H&M
H&M’s sunglasses section is almost always crowded, and with good reason – cute, trendy looking designs, and cheap prices, usually retailing for around SGD9.95 a pair, or sometimes, even cheaper, usually during their buy-one-get-one-free sales.
Price range: from SGD9.95 and up
Where to get: Any H&M outlet. All outlets can be seen here.
6. Owndays
Dotted in almost every heartland mall you can think of, Owndays is a pretty obvious place to go, considering their standard pricing of get one, get the other at half off, and the good quality of their eyewear.
If you’re particular about sun protection, Owndays is a good place to go, as it offers a 99.9% UVA and UVB protection in all its lenses AND is scratch-resistant – even its cheapest one – and gives the option to add on smudge-proof, water resistance, and other such properties.
Price range: SGD78 and up
Where to get: Available at all OwnDay retail stores. For view all the outlets, click here.
7. O+ Eyewear Designer
A local Singaporean store, their philosophy is that eyewear should never cost a leg and an arm, and in putting a meticulous amount of detail in their designs. What you get, is luxury-standard sunglasses, at a relatively affordable prices, as O+ Eyewear has taken it upon itself to be the middle-man, to cut unnecessary costs.
Price range: From SGD169 and up
Where to get: OUE Downtown Gallery, #01-07
8. Zoff
Love the multi-coloured tinted sunglass trend that’s been making huge waves all across Instagram? Fulfil your rainbow-filled fantasies with their colour tinted sunglasses in almost any colour you can think of.
Price range: From SGD98 and up
Where to get: Orchard Central, #B1-02/04 | Suntec City Mall, West Wing, #01-305 | Lumine, Clarke Quay Central, #02-20
So how do I pick the right sunglasses for my face?
So now comes the tough part – choosing the right sunglasses for your face shape.
Just like how people are not created equally, certain face shapes – like the oval shape – may flatter many different kinds of sunglasses, while other face shapes… don’t.
But basically, the guide to looking good in your new pair of sunnies, is to mimic the appearance of the ideal oval shape – which means that if, for example, you have a square shaped face, you want to wear something that would soften the edges of your face, so in this case, avoiding sunglasses that are more angular or squarish would be your best bet.
Below is a rough guide to matching your face with the right sunglasses:
Oval shape
Y’all are the genetically blessed, lucky ones with the “perfect” face shape that can virtually suit any style of sunglasses on the market. That being said, avoid frames that are too thick, or thin that may hide your pretty face shape.
Square shape
Because people with a square-face tend to have more pronounced jawline and edges – think Zooey Deschanel – you want a pair of round sunglasses to soften those angular features to mimic that ideal oval shaped face.
Consider getting aviators, butterflies, or any frame style that favours rounder, oval shapes.
Avoid rectangular shapes or anything with sharp angles that are likely to emphasise the squareness of your features.
Oblong face
Similar to the square-shaped face, the oblong face shape features a pronounced jawline and edges, but is longer, and often with a bigger forehead.
Consider getting oversized sunglasses, or rounder sunglasses that soften the angular features. Just like the square-shaped face, oblong faced people should take note to avoid rectangular, square-shaped sunglasses.
You could also pick larger lenses or a polygonal frame to create the appearance of the oh-so-coveted small face in Korea.
Round face
A round face has plumper cheeks and a chin, as well as a smaller forehead.
Consider polygonal, square-shaped, or sunglasses that have angles which will help in creating the illusion of a longer face, and more angular.
Diamond face
A narrow jawline and forehead, with the cheekbones being the widest part of the face – consider oval and rimless frames, which will complement wide or high cheekbones. Take note not to buy sunglasses that are wider than your cheekbones!
Heart face
Often also called the inverted triangle-shaped face, the heart shape is largest at the forehead and temples, and narrowest at the chin, true to the heart shape.
Consider getting a cat-eye sunglasses or tear-shaped sunglasses, which would work well with this face shape, as the rounded edges gives the impression of a longer face, and a more well-balanced look.
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