Where can I buy a protective nose shield for sunglasses?
We're searching for a pair of sunglasses with a protective nose shield for a friend who has reoccurring skin cancer. Can you help us out?
— Tammy Tarentum, Pennsylvania
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No problem finding glasses like that. The problem is finding a pair that don't look like you just stepped off Mount Everest and have misplaced your crampons.
Julbo, for instance, make a nose shield that sells for $9 and fits easily to their teardrop-style glacier glasses ($89; www.rei.com). Nothing necessarily wrong with this combination—the glacier glasses are extremely good sunglasses, albeit a little dark for non-glacier use. And maybe they make the fashion statement your friend is after. If not, then the nose shield should fit over many, if not all, sunglass models. They simply loop around the bridge between the lenses and snap into place, so the determining factor will be how much space there's between the lenses of the sunglasses in question.
The Julbo isn't the last word on this issue, anyway. A Web store called Sungrubbies (www.sungrubbies.com) sells what it bills as a multi-sunglass nose shield. Same principle as the Julbo model—the non-nose end of it wraps around the glasses' bridge and snaps in place. Only $6.
You might even want to go a step further and consider a face guard. Sun Precautions (www.sunprecautions.com), a purveyor of many excellent sun-shield products, sells one for $30 that basically shields your entire lower face from sun. A broad-brimmed hat is also an excellent addition to any sun-blocking setup, something like Outdoor Research's Sahara Sombrero ($33; www.orgear.com).
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No problem finding glasses like that. The problem is finding a pair that don't look like you just stepped off Mount Everest and have misplaced your crampons.
