When traveling to the Caribbean, there’s no better way to spend your time than enjoying the sunny beaches, idyllic islands and turquoise waves. While enjoying the Caribbean sun in style is great, it’s important to prioritize your health and safety. Last summer, the Caribbean islands were met with record-breaking heat stress, with tropical Pacific and Atlantic Ocean temperatures remaining well above average. This amplified the Caribbean heat stress by increasing temperatures, humidity and heatwave frequency, surpassing numbers from previous years.
As a result, the Caribbean Climate Outlook Newsletter forecasted uncomfortably high temperatures for night and daytime, with temperatures likely to end up even higher than usual during the second half of the annual Heat Season 2023-24. Experts believed the humidity and frequency of heatwaves may have rivaled that of the record-hot years 2010, 2016, and 2020.
While getting your share of Vitamin D from a day in the sun can be healthy, it’s essential to prioritize sun protection for your eyes. Overexposure to UV rays from the sun can cause dizziness and headaches and may lead to eye conditions in the long term. Aside from wearing heat-appropriate attire, a decent pair of sunglasses can help provide much-needed UV protection while ensuring your beach pics remain fashion-forward.
Colorful sunglasses
The Caribbean is home to vibrant colors. Visitors can see playful colors as part of the region’s fashion, food and cultural events. As such, a pair of colorful sunglasses from brands like Oakley can help spice up your day in the sun while still providing ample protection. Oakley models like the Holbrook and Sutro come in various colorways, including Prizm Road Jade for a green-purple radiant and Prizm Ruby for a bold dash of orange-red.
Oakley’s line of sunglasses also comes with useful and protective features like photochromic lenses if you plan on keeping your shades on indoors, and are durable while prioritizing all-day comfort so you can enjoy your outdoor and water activities in the Caribbean without worrying.
Glitter sunglasses
Aside from incorporating colors into your sun protection, you can pair your swimsuit or beachwear with glitter sunglasses. This will add a touch of sparkle to your Caribbean ensemble, helping you stand out in pics as the Caribbean sunlight adds golden glints onto your glittered frames.
In a previous post, we highlighted a golden-laced glitter dress from the self-named brand J. Angelique. The Selene is made entirely out of ornate glitter lace and would pair nicely with glitter sunnies for both daytime and night beach outings. Of course, all that glitters is not gold, so you can opt for other colorways to match other outfits, including pink glitter or silver and faux diamonds for extra bling.
Oversized lenses
Finally, you may also want to consider wearing sunglasses with oversized lenses. While lens sizes shrunk in the 80s and 90s, the early 2000s gave birth to a retro-inspired era of oversized sunglasses — these range from large oval and circular lenses to more squarish and angular ones. Either way, they usually take up most of your facial features, which is great if you want maximum sun protection for your eyes.
To spruce up your Caribbean beach day, you can opt for looks inspired by Rihanna’s Fenty sunglasses line for a fashionable take on sun protection. Alternatively, you can draw from 70s icons like Brigitte Bardot and Twiggy. Even eyewear fashion enthusiast Joan Didion was a lover of oversized lenses, scoring a Céline campaign at 80.
