Written by Nordic Light Lab — the UK arm of a Scandinavian family of specialist light-therapy shops, including Lysterapi.no, Norway’s largest light-therapy store with over 10,000 customers. We sell the products we write about, and we say so openly.
Blue light glasses are sold with two very different promises — better sleep, and less eye strain. One of them has decent evidence behind it. The other mostly does not. Here is the honest split.
The sleep case: reasonable evidence
Light in the blue range tells your brain it is daytime and suppresses melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy. Screens and ceiling lights in the evening deliver exactly that signal at exactly the wrong time. Amber or orange lenses filter most of the melatonin-relevant wavelengths, which is why every serious sleep study on this uses tinted lenses — not the clear “blue light filtering” glasses sold on the high street, which remove only a small fraction.
The eye strain case: weak evidence
For daytime screen fatigue, trials have largely failed to show a meaningful benefit from blue light filtering. Eye strain is mostly about focusing distance, blinking and breaks. We sell blue light glasses and we are telling you this anyway: buy them for your evenings, not your office.
What we stock
Our Vesper Blue Light Blocking Glasses (£97) use orange lenses that filter the melatonin-relevant range, with a red-lens version for maximum filtering and a kids’ model. They pair naturally with red-spectrum evening lighting such as the Vesper Sleep Light Bulb (£38) or Bedside Lamp (£69) — see without waking your brain up. Everything carries our 90-day money-back guarantee, which exists precisely so you can test the sleep effect on yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Do blue light glasses actually work?
For sleep, the evidence is reasonable: blue light in the evening suppresses melatonin, and amber or orange lenses that filter it can help protect your natural wind-down - especially if you use screens late. For eye strain during the day, the evidence is weak, and we will not pretend otherwise. Buy them for evenings, not for the office.
What is the difference between clear and orange lenses?
Clear 'blue light' lenses filter only a small fraction of blue wavelengths and are mostly cosmetic. Orange and red lenses filter most of the melatonin-relevant range, which is why sleep-focused glasses are always tinted. Ours are orange or red for exactly that reason.
When should I put blue light glasses on?
Roughly 90 minutes to 2 hours before bed. Combined with dimmer, warmer room lighting, this is one of the simplest evening routines with a plausible mechanism behind it.
Are blue light glasses suitable for children?
Evening screen light affects children's melatonin at least as much as adults'. We stock a kids' version with the same orange lenses. That said, the cheapest intervention is still screens off earlier - the glasses are for the evenings when that fails.
What else helps evening wind-down?
Warm, dim lighting after sunset makes the biggest difference. Red-spectrum night lighting - like a sleep light bulb or bedside lamp without blue wavelengths - lets you see without telling your brain it is daytime.