Business: Hair Salon
Myopic Mirror   (+2)  [vote for, against]
Safe haircutting for the shortsighted

As a spectacle wearer, getting one's haircut is a problematic affair.

I'm asked to remove my glasses so that the hairdresser/barber can get better access, or so I'm told.

The trouble with this affair is that I can't see the mirror, I can't see what they are doing until it's all too late.

"Its that ok for you?", they ask.
"About that much off, yeah?"

I've no idea. None. Nildo.

The myopic mirror comprises a standard wall mirror with two grips attached to each side. Into these grips, the hirsute individual installs their prescribed lens, holding it a set distance away from the mirror and parallel to it. This takes the reflected light from the mirror and distorts it perfectly so that the shortsighted individual can see their reflection.

The same technology could be used for shortsighted eye makeup wearers, who need their glasses to apply the makeup, but can't wear 'em because they get in the way of the makeup application. Or so I'm told.
-- jonthegeologist, Apr 23 2004

(?) Magnifying Make-up Mirror http://www.conair.c...ail.jsp?product=202
With a light, no less. [eyeguy, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

This speaks to me, because I’ve this phobia of looking into mirrors when others are around. It’s absolutely worst at the stylist, where I’m presented with the awful prospect of that huge mirror centered in front of me. So I defocus, I look to the side, anything but straight ahead. Afterwards, I pay and leave, thanking her for the excellent cut, hoping to god she hasn’t given me a mohawk.
-- ldischler, Apr 23 2004


idischler, don't look at your self in the mirror focus on her cleavage...
-- engineer1, Apr 23 2004


[Id] I'd watch that if I were you. Fear of mirrors is a vampire thing, isn't it?

Good idea, Jon. It would also work for shopping for eyeglasses. That's always tricky.
-- lintkeeper2, Apr 23 2004


Nice. Where were you when we were discussing coke can condoms?
-- FarmerJohn, Apr 23 2004


can't believe I missed that one, [Jean de la Ferme]
-- jonthegeologist, Apr 23 2004


what [lint] said - much simpler than the current digital photo / superimposition thing they do.
-- neilp, May 13 2004


As an amusing but relevant side-note, I once convinced my Wife that unscrupulous and cunning opticians used special glass to make their shop fronts so that passers-by looking in would see a distorted image, prompting them to wonder if they needed their eyes testing. She fell for it hook, line and sinker. Needless to say when I revealed my deception she declared me to be the most wondrously amusing and gifted husband and thanked me profusely for enhancing her life experience with my delightful japes (at least that's how I prefer to remember it).
-- dobtabulous, May 14 2004


The second half of your idea is baked as many female myopes already know, but I love the first half of the idea though I think it's important to note that in order to work correctly your lenses have to be a set distance from your EYES, as it is this Vertex Distance that determines whether you see clearly or not. Hyperopes will see a over-magnified image if set too far away from the eyes, while myopes will see a smaller and upside-down image if set too far away. The farther away you set the lenses from the eyes by the way, the stronger (and thereby thicker) the lenses will need to be for you to see clearly. The average myope would require a prescription lens 3x stronger if the lenses are set just 12" beyond their eyes. That's why opticians counsel severe myopes (concave lenses) and hyperopes (convex lenses) to get small, round "John Lennon" frames, in order to minimize the size and weight of the lenses by setting them close to the face (John Lennon, amazingly nearsighted, couldn't see clearly beyond the tip of his nose without his glasses).
-- eyeguy, May 14 2004


[eyeguy] thanks for the knowledgeable feedback. So you believe this could be done?
-- hazel, May 14 2004


// distorts it perfectly //

??
-- sweet, May 27 2004



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