Lumos Optical: Affordable Eyewear in Downtown Boise, Idaho

Last summer, I finally got around to getting myself a new pair of eyeglasses! I had been wearing the same pair of eyeglasses for years; they have a really old prescription, and I only really wore them around the house. (I didn’t feel comfortable wearing them out and about because my eyesight had gotten worse.) Not wanting to spend an arm and a leg on eyeglasses at my eye doctor, I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered Lumos Optical right here in Boise!

I’ve had poor eyesight my whole life (can definitely thank genetics for that!), so I’m no stranger to the world of eyeglasses and contact lenses. I wore glasses from I believe 2nd grade through junior high, which is when I switched to contacts, and I’ve worn contacts daily ever since. I’ve kept a backup pair of glasses just in case, and I was in desperate need of an upgrade! My insurance pays a small portion of my annual supply of contacts OR a small portion of a new pair of eyeglasses but not both in the same year (lol, gotta love American healthcare), so I used FSA funds to pay for these glasses.

If you’re searching for affordable eyewear in Boise and want to learn more about the Lumos Optical experience, this post is for you!

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Lumos Optical: Affordable Eyewear in Boise

Lumos Optical is a locally-owned eyewear shop in downtown Boise offering a direct-to-consumer model much like Warby Parker (but better, because it’s local!). What that means is 100% transparent pricing! Lumos believes that everyone deserves high-quality glasses at a price point they can afford.

Their eyeglasses start at $99, $125, or $150 depending on the frame type and include the frames and single-vision prescription lenses with anti-glare scratch resistance and UV protection. Want a blue light coating, thin lenses (with a high prescription), and/or photochromatic lenses? You can easily add that on for an additional cost. Prescription sunglasses are also available!

You can even pay a small price ($45) for their in-house Smart Vision test if you need to update your prescription (this test doesn’t replace your annual exam with your eye doc, at which they check your overall eye health in addition to your prescription and that’s important to do regularly).

Optician Nastasia co-founded Lumos Optical with Matthew and Gloria; I worked with Nastasia during my appointments, and she is the brightest ray of sunshine and totally makes you feel welcome and relaxed! She will happily grab any and all lenses for you to try during your appointment and strives for your happiness. Plus, she gets my thick lens struggles as a fellow high-prescription lady. (You can see Nastasia behind me in one of the selfies I took below!)

I also loved supporting Lumos Optical because it is a Black-owned small business, and it’s important for me to support business with values that align with my own!

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT AT LUMOS OPTICAL

Due to the pandemic, Lumos Optical is currently open by appointment only. The first appointment you make is for picking out your new pair of frames! After you pick out your frames, they measure where your eye hits in the lens so they can shape the lens accordingly, and you pick out any add-ons (including blue light blocking tint) and pay for your glasses.

Depending on your prescription/add-ons, it may take up to a week or so for them to cut the lenses and put the glasses together. Once they’re done, you set up another (quicker) appointment to try them on and take them home! If they aren’t working for you (my thick lenses needed to be altered a bit after I picked them up the first time), they will work with you until you get them exactly as you need. You also have 90 days to update your prescription at no cost if need be; I ordered my glasses a couple of months before my annual eye exam and would have been able to update my prescription if my eye doc had changed it!

My EXPERIENCE at Lumos Optical!

I booked my first appointment at Lumos in June 2021 right before I had an eye procedure. I tried on so many frames during my initial appointment time! I was pretty open to trying a lot of new styles; my old pair of glasses are black and more rectangular in shape, and I wanted to try on all of the currently trendy styles/colors (round frames, cateye frames, clear frames, etc.) since it had been a while since the last time I got a pair of glasses. I wasn’t sure what I would like on my face!

I tried on a BUNCH of glasses but narrowed these photos down to only 12 frames here to try to keep this post somewhat under control, haha. Can you guess which frame was my favorite of the bunch? 🤓 I was surprised by the pair I liked best, too!

My lenses were $125 (acetate and metal), and I added on the “thin lens upgrade” (hi index 1.67) for $80 because I have a strong prescription and usually that results in thick lenses that distort the sides and my peripheral vision. The total cost of my new glasses was $205, and it was covered by my FSA (didn’t even need to submit a receipt!). Do note they are out-of-network with all insurance. As I mentioned above, I did need to go back once to have the lenses and frame adjusted and that process was super easy!

I recommend Lumos Optical to anyone in need of an affordable pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses! I had such a wonderful experience. Feel free to drop any questions you may have about Lumos Optical in the comments! 🤗

Visit Lumos Optical in Downtown Boise

ADDRESS
116 N 5th St
Boise, ID 83702

Lumos Optical is at the southeast corner of 5th and Idaho in downtown Boise. Note that 5th is a one-way street going northbound and Idaho is a one-way street going westbound. The paid parking lot is accessible from either 5th or Idaho; free parking is available in spaces 13, 14, and 15.

HOURS
Tuesday through Friday: 10am - 7pm
Saturday: 10am - 5pm
Sunday and Monday: Closed

CURRENTLY BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Book your appointment!