With the American Cancer Society predicting thousands of new cases of intraocular cancers this year, you might want to think twice the next time you leave the house without your shades. According to Dr. David Abramson, chief of ophthalmic oncology at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, there’s no foolproof way to prevent an ocular melanoma. Still, overexposure to sunlight should absolutely be avoided. “Anything that humans can do to protect themselves from ultraviolet rays is a good idea,” he says. “And for the eye, that means wearing sunglasses.”

Abramson recommends larger, snug-fitting frames with lenses that provide 99 to 100 percent UV protection, and luckily this season’s models—oversized Hunter S. Thompson-esque aviators ranging from Ray-Ban’s classic tortoiseshells to Marni’s more modern slate hues—fit that criterion perfectly. He also says to steer clear of lenses in the blue family, as specs in that range fail to filter harmful light frequencies from the eye, and may allow nearly as much damage as wearing no glasses at all. —NIA ELIZABETH SHEPHERD

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