speaking of UV rays
 

how can you test your sunglasses to make sure that they actually protect you from the sun's harmful rays?

I saw a great high school science fair experiment where a person was testing different brands of sunscreen. The girl made bacterial cultures in petri dishes, then smeared half of the cover with sunscreen and baked them under a UV light. She then counted the remaining bacteria to determine how effective the UV blocking was.

That's probably more complicated than what you are looking for. :D You could check the brand name and search Google for it, or check at your local sunglasses vendor.

Sorry taboo I dont mean to hijack your thread, but I got a question too.

Ive have been going tanning for the last couple of weeks, and remember when I signed up, they asked we if I wanted the goggles or the tape. Have any of you used the tape or sticker to put over your eyes, and does it give you the same protection?

It appears that there is a device called a UV photometer that some opticians have. You might ask your local optician. I still think that you can trust the advertising for whatever brand/model you have.