Black & Lizars

Black & Lizars have been tending my eyes for many years, and one of the main reaons that I like them is that they seem to be quite innovative, and always have the latest special machines for looking at the back of your eyeballs or whatever it is that those machines do.
I find the opticians themselves really good, very competent as far as I can tell, and I’m confident that my eye health is being taken care of here.
The assistants in this shop are a bit variable. Some are great, and some of them are utterly hopeless. I must have waited about ten minutes once to get some contact solution because the girl couldn’t work out which key opened the cabinet. I’ve not seen her again though so maybe they have a really effective staff management protocol too.
I get my contact lenses from here and you can have them delivered to you, or pick them up in the shop. You get solution too as part of the deal. It’s probably not the cheapest deal I could find but as I’m happy with the care I’m getting, that’s OK with me.
One thing they could improve on is their range of spectacle frames. I have an unusually tiny head, and last time I got my specs renewed, I had to get a child’s pair. They actually fit OK, but do get a bit tight after a full day of wearing them, so I just never wear them. More recently, when I wanted a pair of dark glasses, I went to Specsavers to get frames, and I would probably do that again rather than trying on every pair in the shop in Black & Lizars. If you have a normal sized head you’ll probably be fine though as they seem to have some lovely designs.

My family first started using Black and Lizars up in Aberdeen about 15 years ago. Starting when my brother got his first pair of specs aged 3. After returning to the UK we were shocked to find they still had our records! So when I needed my eyes tested I chose to continue using them.
My last test was only last April which means I wasn’t due another free NHS test for another year. The staff were great in explaining this to me, but said if I felt my eye sight had detonated they would put it through as a supplementary test. I went in on Wednesday to book and was able to get a test the next day.
The optician was great. I explained how I felt my eyes were worsening and she went through the test. She was lovely and more than willing to switch between lenses when sometimes the changes didn’t seem apparent.
She gave me my new slightly worse prescription and said it would take a week to change the existing lenses on my current frames. I’m toying with getting more grown up frames. Aka not hot pink and the selection was great. I said I’d probably return with my Mum in tow as I need an honest opinion on glasses.

After my palaver with Optical Express, I immediately booked an appointment with Black and Lizars, which I should have done in the first place (silly me!). Now this is first class service, and you get what you pay for!
Maybe you don’t have such high maintenance eyes like I do (corneal ulcer that left a scar across my left eye — I was once a pirate ninja; dry eyes; nearsighted; slight astigmatism; and I constantly and lovingly gazing into a computer screen analyzing numbers all day), so perhaps you don’t need an optician who caters to you like B&L. I worked with my UHMAZING optician to find lenses that suit my eyes for long-​day wear, and trialed many brands over a few months until we found ones that were the perfect match. As with all (Scottish?) opticians, NHS vision tests are free, but contact lens fittings are an additional fee, with direct debit schemes costing from £20+/month (which include all followup appointments and 20% discount in-​store). I haven’t bought any frames/​lenses yet, though they do stock one of my favourite brands — Tom Ford. Overall, considering my first UK optician experience and this experience, Black & Lizars is the way to go for excellent eye care service.

I lived in Glasgow for 2 years and loved it. The people are fab, really nice and friendly and this opticians was full of great people who were extremely helpful. I recommend them to all. They’re not like D&A who seem to want to sell the highest priced designer glasses even if you dont want them, these people seem to really care. Great range of frames and coloured contacts. I did a contact lense trial and it was really useful. Funnily enough they also offer a wide range of binoculars and telescopes which i found wierd for an opticians but if you’re a professional or amateur they provide binoculars and telescopes for both.