In high school, I wore my sunglasses during class. Hidden in the back corner of the room, hidden behind my super dark-glass Ray-Ban Wayfarers, I tried to disappear. I recently got back into the habit – this time for a different reason. The colorful glasses from California-based Futuremood aren’t just for attention. Each model is fitted with a pair of chrome halo lenses made exclusively for the brand by the 175-year-old German optics company Zeiss.
Studies show that wearing these shades can help users change their mood, depending on the color you choose: green promotes relaxation, yellow improves focus, red increases energy, and blue enhances you. will make you feel refreshed.
Zeiss didn’t just select random colors to match different “outcomes” – humans have been interested in shades and symbolism since the publication of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Color Theory in 1810.
Years has been spent by the company, fine-tuning the exact shades of its halo chrome lenses to get the maximum benefit. The results are the first drop of Futuremood, the very first pair of mood-enhancing glasses.
It’s the perfect pick-me-up to test drive with the shelter-in-place first anniversary on the horizon, so I’m spending a stressful, snowy day at work in Brooklyn, trying out three different vibes and taking notes. Oh, and pictures. Here is what I was thinking – and most importantly – what I was feeling.
7:32 a.m.: A BRIGHT MORNING WITH BRIGHT LENSES
Do you remember what it was the first time you drank coffee? A little out of control, but also totally excited to do some work? It makes sense to me – yellow is such an uplifting color, and it’s a color that has always appealed to me because I love how much attention it attracts. After about 30 minutes with the yellow glasses on, I had another familiar feeling – this crash after coffee. In the future, I will not be wearing them for more than a few minutes at a time.
3 p.m. SLUMP: A WALK IN ALL RED AROUND THE BLOCK
It’s snowing – hard. And looking at him through my window makes me so … drowsy. For me there is only one way to get over my afternoon sleepiness, so in the snow I go. Red is by far the most confusing color when it comes to signage – it can be sexy, energizing, or scary. Zeiss’s shade of red focuses on the first two feelings, and as I walk around it revolves around my Park Slope block and the combination of all bright red – I mean, wow, when you see it through red lenses the snow is refreshing – and the fresh air wakes me up.
10 p.m .: GREEN MASK AND GREEN GLASSES
I started putting my phone in a different room while I was sleeping to prevent myself from doing parades, so I usually like to read a book to help me relax. Right now it’s Hamnet, and I’m multitasking with one of my favorite Maskne Battle Masks, Tracie Martyn’s Enzyme Scrub. The turquoise mask isn’t just perfect for an opp photo – it’s super active (there’s kaolin clay, AHAs, and kojic acid inside) so I can only leave it on for a while. about 15 minutes – which is perfect because I can’t read very well with those green glasses either. It makes sense to me that green undertones are the ones associated with relaxation. There are many studies on the calming benefits of the Japanese tradition of shinrin-yoku, or forest bath. And while these are certainly my aesthetic favorites, I’m not sure they do anything. After all, I’m already lying down, signaling my brain that it’s time to sleep naturally.
REVIEW OF A COLORFUL DAY
Everything about Futuremood’s glasses is fun – they brought joy back to my day and made me excited to dress up and attend different Zoom meetings. In my daily life, I am not used to choosing the energizing pair because who does not want a little boost from time to time. But when it comes to accessorizing an outfit? Glad to have three great options.
