David Kind Online Luxury Eyewear / Glasses Try On Review

I purchased this product myself. I was not asked to write, nor was I compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own. Post contains referral links, where if you click through and make a purchase, I can earn perks like free glasses cases etc. David Kind is a different online eyewear brand. Not a bargain brand, but a luxury brand with a very reasonable price, David Kind employs talented stylists to hand-pick frames for you. Send a photo, and you’ll receive an at-home try on. Take 6 days to try them on, snap photos and get opinions. Send them back and buy your favorite, or don’t buy any. You provide your credit card number when you order, but the try on and shipping is free.

I’ve worn glasses since I was 8 and failed a school eye exam. (Amazing to be able to see clearly for the first time, wow!) When I was 12 I finally convinced my parents to let me get contacts. I wore contact lenses until my daughter was born, at which point they were no longer comfortable for me. They felt like sandpaper and I couldn’t wait to take them out. I had a junky pair of glasses from when I was visiting my husband when we were dating, dropped/lost a contact and had to get something in order to be able to drive home. When I finally found a decent pair, I stuck with them and wore them for nearly a decade. I’m totally dependent on my glasses since with a fairly high prescription I can’t see more than 6 inches or so in front of me without them.

I hate shopping for glasses. I have a narrow face, which makes most frames look ridiculous on me, and I can’t stand having sales people hover. I followed my eye doctor to a new franchise, and that franchise has an extremely small selection of glasses and they keep all the decent frames under lock & key. As a result, you have to sit across a small table while they watch you try on pair after pair. 2 years ago I decided I had to get a new pair, or I’d be in big trouble if anything happened to my main pair. After trying on every pair in their store (twice, LOL) I finally got a pair I really didn’t like. They were teen glasses, very cheap (but not inexpensive) and had stupid flowery scroll stuff on the temples. I was just happy to be done with the ordeal. Within the first day of wearing them, the temples stretched out and they were no longer comfortable. Since I live a half hour drive+ from the place and almost never go to that area, I didn’t take them back until last month when I went for my checkup. Two years of these expensive glasses sitting in my drawer, had them adjusted, and despite being incredibly careful when taking them off, they were stretched out within the day.

Anyhoo, back to David Kind. I sent a terrible cell phone photo as well as a photo booth shot of my son and me, and my old blog “headshot” and within a few days, my try on set arrived with a personal note from the stylist.

There are lots of sites that offer very inexpensive glasses for those who like to have many pairs and change up their look. David Kind’s frames are very high quality, stylish and while not super inexpensive, are far less expensive than comparable glasses from most stores.

Every pair includes premium quality lenses which are anti-reflective, anti-glare, anti-scratch, oil resistant, water resistant, and UV blocking at no extra charge. Each complete pair is $295 including shipping. People like me with higher prescriptions don’t have to pay through the nose for lens upgrades.

Below are my old glasses. On top are the glasses I purchased but never wore, and the bottom are the ones I’ve worn forever.

The stylist took into account my preferences, but also what would work with my face shape. Each pair had a card attached so I could give feedback.

You can see the difference between my never wore ’em glasses (left) and the David Kind glasses (right), but seeing them in person and holding them, the difference in quality is quite dramatic.

The stylist was very patient with me, as I was not really sure about the flared out style of the New Rose frames. They were my favorite, and were also the stylist’s #1 recommendation. I sent my try-on set back and marked them “save for later.” After some emailing, they sent me another try on set, and included the New Rose again.

In the end, that’s what I went with! The glasses came quickly, in a nice cork case.

They also included a cleaning cloth.

When you order, you can include your PD (distance between your pupils) which I did, or you can take a frontal photo of yourself wearing the glasses for the company to measure. I recommend doing both. I did a good bit of reading about programs and methods to measure PD, and none are as accurate as the way an optician’s office measures. However, where your pupils sit in relation to the lenses/frames is also important. When I received my pair, the focal area wasn’t quite right for me, since my eyes look through a higher portion of the lens than is typical. I took a photo, sent it over, and they quickly remade them just right for me.

I’m pretty happy with the glasses and I’m very impressed with the process and service. I enjoyed being able to take my time and decide, without the pressure of a salesperson watching me. For me, glasses are like everything else. I know pretty much exactly what I want, it’s just a matter of finding it. I don’t like the long, drawn out process – I just want to get them and get out, which leads to problems like ending up with something I don’t really like in the end (like my last pair!)

To seal my spot as “worst customer ever” I pointed out that in the replacement pair, the translucent portion was just so that you could see the screws through one side and not the other. Not looking for a replacement, just expressing a little disappointment. To my surprise, they asked me to send them back along with the pair with the not-quite-right lenses. At the same time I’m going to ask them to loosen the ear pieces a little bit. The cards from the try on set asked if they were too tight, too loose or just right, but I didn’t realize they were too tight until I’d worn them for a few hours!

In any case, if you’re looking for a great pair of glasses, I definitely recommend the David Kind try on!