The Costa Anaa Women’s Sunglasses are inspired by a pristine white sand beach in Tahiti, which to me seems like a fairy-tale world far away from the cold, snowy, slushy, slidy winter we’ve been enduring in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Longing for warm sand, sunshine, and flip-flops is probably why I was immediately attracted to the Anaa’s fun shape and contrasting frame colors.
My first factor in picking out sunglasses is finding a good fit. The Costa Anaa Women’s Sunglasses have a slightly-sporty-yet-feminine average fit that I imagine would work for a lot of women’s face shapes and sizes. I have a medium-width face and shallow nose bridge, and thought that the sunglasses provided a good amount of coverage and fit my face well.
The second factor is comfort. I wore them on a road trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, through changing light and weather conditions. Six and a half hours later, my temples, tops of ears, and nose bridge were still happy thanks to the frame’s extremely light weight, the slight rubber padding under the nose bridge, and the Polarized Plastic lens option.
The final factor for me is lens quality, which Costa is well-known for, especially in the fishing and water sports worlds. I chose the Gray lens option for all-around light conditions and natural contrast, which for me was perfect because mountain weather is so variable. I went skate-skiing for several hours in the bright Colorado sun, bootpacked in a snowstorm for some backcountry skiing in the Tetons, and stared at a semi-frozen river while tracking trout wintering locations for a research study. At the end of each of these outings, my eyes felt great and not tired by the sun, thanks to the Costa lenses’ 100% UV ray blocking and 100% polarization super powers. I can’t wait to try them on the river when spring finally arrives!
The Costa Anaa Women’s Sunglasses are available in Matte Caribbean Fade, Matte Coconut Fade, Shiny Black on Brown, Shiny Black/Crystal/Light Blue, Shiny Olive Tort on Black, or Shiny Retro Tort/Cream/Mint. Costa offers a Costa 580-technology Polarized Plastic or Polarized Glass lens in Blue Mirror, Green Mirror, Silver Mirror, Gray, or Copper, depending on weight, clarity, scratch-resistance, and light condition preferences. Those feeling the USA pride can check out the Costa Anaa USA edition in USA Blue or USA Teak, which come with a red, white, and blue themed hard case, cleaning cloth, and bonus sun-protecting neck gaiter.
Bottom Line: High quality, beach stylin’, lightweight eye pro for medium-width faces.
Manufacturer’s Site: costadelmar.com
$149 – 169, at Cabelas.com and Amazon.com