I have had both and find that I prefer the kind with a built in nose pad. I was forever replacing lost foam pad covers for my wire framed glasses. When I switched back to the plastic frames with the nose pads built in, I found them more comfortable and trouble free.

The built-in nose pads didn’t work for me. They don’t keep the glasses in place quite as well, and with a correction for an astigmatism that made a difference. I wish the optician had told me that before I bought them instead of the next year.

I prefer plastic frames with built-in nose pad. My issue with wire frames is that the nose pads get out of alignment super easy, leaving my glasses visibly askew on my face. But I might be rougher on glasses than most, because I don't see other people with that problem.

The thing about nose pads is of course that they're adjustable. And they should be adjusted when you get them and anytime you think they've moved. The adjustments can move together and apart, and twist, to place the glasses in the right spot on your nose for optimal function and comfort.

Everyone's nose is a different shape and size. Adjustable nose pads can be shaped to fit, the non-adjustable ones will come to rest where they come to rest. And will slide when you perspire. Adjustable nose pads, which are normally silicone and not foam, are available on better quality non-metallic frames as well as on metal frames.

The non-adjustable ones have become more common because they're cheaper to make.

I have had both regular and adjustable but never foam adjustable's. You may need to try the various shapes of adjustable's. I found that the round ones worked better on my nose than the longer ones but are/were hard to find the last time I had them changed. Something that I found about slippage is that makeup and some moisturizers cause problems. It may not be the glasses but the facial products that you use. Take your glasses off and look at the eyepiece. If there is something on it that may be your problem.

I prefer the built-in nose pad as I take my glasses on and off all the time (I have to take them off to see near) and I tend to park them on top of my head. The separate nose pads would always get tangled in my hair and sometimes rip some out when I went to take them off my head. Ouch!

I prefer adjustable. I find the built-in slide down my nose more and seem to rest heavily in one spot.

If you have ever used one of those companies where you order eyeglass frames online, you will see that one of the measurements is the nose bridge. I'm thinking that a small bridge measurement error could result in the built in pad not resting where you want it to.

I've had plastic and wire rim glasses over the years. My favorite is the ones I've had for many many years. They are rimless and the ear and nose piece is made of titanium with silicone pads. They are very light and don't slip at all. I just keep on getting the lens changed out as my script changes.

I prefer the built into the frame kind...the other ones never felt as comfortable

to me.

My lenses are quite heavy and thick, even though I get the lightest type of lens product available. So for my own needs I tend to go strictly with the adjustable nose pieces. The plastic frames with built in plastic nose bridge just don't do a good job of keeping the glasses in place. They slide down which is very bad since I have bifocals. It's essential to keep the bifocal line in the right place.

What Annie said. I only wear mine for reading and I despised the nose pads getting tangled in my hair. Yes, the plastic ones may slide some on occasion, but overall and with my narrow nose bridge, they are much more comfortable and a better fit for me.

Wire glasses with adjustable nose pads need frequent adjustments , not to mention the pads themselves wear out or get discolored. I’ve switched to plastic frames for the last couple of pairs of glasses. You would think they would have improved nose pads over the years! I wouldn’t rule out a pair of wire glasses if I liked them though. I’ll try on both the next time I need glasses. I wonder if they wipe each frame you try on nowadays. I bet they do!

I always get the air pads and replace the pads that come with the glasses. The ones on the glasses are usually pretty low quality. You can ask them if they have better quality pads especially the air pocket pads. Many times they do you just need to ask. If they don't you can order them. I have been ordering from various sources including Amazon, ebay, and some optical stores. Once you have tried the air pocket replacement pads you will be much happier with the glasses. Once I get the good pads and have my adjustments made I don't have to worry about adjusting them any more.

https://www.amazon.com/GMS-Optical-Chamber-Silicone-Eyeglasses/dp/B00C32DFJQ

Also there's a product called nerd wax in a chap stick style tube that can be used to help glasses from sliding.

"Wire glasses with adjustable nose pads need frequent adjustments"

I've worn regular glasses and sunglasses with nose pads for decades and haven't experienced this at all.

My wife has though with rimless glasses - if you put your head on a pillow, or fall asleep with your glasses on, I promise you will move the nose pads out of position and also bend or break your frames.

I've always found the store where I've purchased glasses are always willing to replace uncomfortable or discolored nose pads for free. If you buy your glasses via mail order, you'll still benefit from having an optician adjust them for you and that's a place you can return to for new pads and/or readjustment, if needed.

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The nerd wax product sounds like something that when used could result in having wax rub off glasses and onto the bridge of one's nose? No thanks.

My experience has been that buying frames is like buying men's shirts. With a shirt, if you change from a 17 inch neck to a 16.5 inch neck the chest size gets smaller. And the other direction, the chest gets larger. No choice of variable chest size with a given neck size.

When frame shopping, for a given style and lens size, better brands may have variable temple sizes but they don't have variable bridge sizes and many don't even offer variable temple sizes. I bought an inexpensive backup set of glasses just a few months ago at Costco. Nothing but the Extra Large size fit my head (lens size wise) and while the temple size was larger than the other models, the frame model I liked only came with one temple size. And one bridge size. But fortunately, it was a model with nose pads.

With nose pads, any bridge size is the right size because they're adjustable. I get they're not comfortable for some. I don't have the problem with them getting stuck in my hair, I don't put my glasses on top of my head AND my hair is short.

PS - in the two photos above, I question whether the one on the right has too small of a bridge. If that women's glasses were much lower, the top of the frame would be very close to her pupils, as with the exaggerated photo on the left.

I wear 'Asian fit' plastic frame glasses. I've worn both metal frame and plastic frame glasses over the years, and found plastic frames lighter and more comfortable, with a better variety of colours and shapes. But they always tended to slip down my nose. Then I learned that Asian fit glasses (plastic frames) have slightly larger built in nose pieces, to accommodate those who need a better fitting grip at the bridge of their nose. Now they're the only style I wear, that has a comfortable nose grip that doesn't slip. I don't know if Asian Fit frames are available everywhere though, as I live in a very large, ethnically diverse city.

Mine plastic with the built in nose pads. I did have to get some rubber nose thingies to stick on though as they slid down slightly.

I just went for new glasses today. Mine are metal with adjustable nose piece