I haven’t tried an extensive amount of them. I really love everything about the simplehuman mirror in terms of lighting/mirror quality, but I wish it had a steady on feature.
Thanks to Nell for today’s topic!
— Christine
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I really love my lighted makeup mirror I bought at Costco. One side is zoomed in and I use it to clean up my eyebrows, plucking stray hairs.
I absolutely love my simple human one! I do wish it has a constant on feature but other than that I love everything about it.
Amen to that! I love mine, too, but it really needs a constant on setting.
You can use a piece of masking tape by placing it over the sensor when in use. I use an empty flip cap eyeshadow pot and hang it upside down…..lid facing the back side of the mirror and other side of the pot on the front of the mirror. .If that makes any sense lol.
I have a Conair double sided lighted mirror that shows more than enough! I will go for one that uses batteries next time. I like this mirror because the bulbs are easily replaced. Just call Conair.
Any mirror that you can pull in front of a window facing North. What matters is the light really, not the mirror, and indirect natural light is the best thing you can get. Ikea sells round mirrors on an extendable arm, that’s perfect to place just next to your window.
That is true. But I when I put my makeup on, it is still dark outside.
It was by Revlon, it was lit with halygon bulbs that were sandwiched between the two mirrors, one magnifying and one regular. It was an ultra bright circle light, so getting everything perfectly even was a cinch! Got it in very beginning of Sept. 2001, it lasted until 2010. Cannot find a replacement anywhere! Now using a Conair square one with the 4 light settings. I modified it by taking all the regular bulbs out, and putting in all the bluish “daylight” bulbs in. Still want my old Revlon one back, though!
Thought I’d share mine, I love it and it came from a recommendation from redheadphd who also loves it.
It’s the Conair 1x/10x natural daylight mirror from amazon. I’ve bought smaller makeup mirrors before and returned them- but this one gives off a lot of light which is a must for me because the room faces north and doesn’t get a lot of sunlight 🙂
I really haven’t tried any in a very, very long time. I use a large regular mirror with a magnifying mirror suction cupped to it. I have my daylight mimicking lighting over the mirror.
I just have a basic one off of Amazon with no lights and it works just fine as a mirror. If I had the money though, I’d totally splurge on the simplehuman one! I hate doing my makeup in anything but natural light, so I think that’d be great to artificially create natural light instead of these horrible dormitory lights we have here.
I’m seconding the Simplehuman mirror. I got mine last Mother’s day. I took some getting used. I can literally have the other lights in the room off and my makeup will turn out fine which is great because I was getting ready to rewire my old house because the lighting is awful and you can only have so many lamps! I had tried several prior. I don’t recall all the names. But,many form adjustable lighting to non-lighted. This one tops them all. It’s pricey though. So, save up, reward yourself, or ask for it as a nice gift!
Nicole, which Simple Human mirror model do you have? I use my bathroom sink mirror, which gets decent natural light, but during the fall/winter, it’s too dark
I have the 8 inch standing sensor mirror. It’s about $200. They do have a smaller one that I think would work just as well (6.5″). The But,the store did not have it in and mine was a gift so I went for the big guns,lol. I also noticed a new version out with mirrors on the side for a whopping $400! But, I just read the reviews and it has no magnification. So, I see no use for that! Valentine’s day is Sunday Katherine! Hint ,Hint to your hubby!
LOL I don’t even think he knows $200 mirrors even exist! But he gave me some Amazon giftcards, so that can go towards the mirror come fall/winter, might catch some holiday sales too. I’m worried I’m piling on too much makeup in the dark. Thanks for the rec !
Sounds like a plan! Yeah, I was a bit staggered by the price honestly. But they are pretty cool. You will have to put it somewhere that people are not constantly walking by or it will go on and off and run the battery down. If you buy from Amazon, check out the seller and make sure they are generous on returns (at least for the initial period). I was telling Wendy, the first one I had would not hold the charge. I had to exchange it. I’ve had no problems since. LMk if you have any other questions on it. Happy to help ya out! 🙂
Hey Nicole: count me as a second person looking for your guidance. Is your model two-sided or is it just a one-sided magnified mirror? What level of magnification? Sorry for all the annoying questions.
I have a very dark bathroom and I have trouble getting my makeup right if I am applying in the wee hours of the morning. I purchased a OTT light mirror (OTT not to have bought..surely..) and it sucks so very badly; the magnification side of the mirror looks like a funhouse wavy mirror.. horrid, and the lighting is completely useless. It wasn’t cheap either so I’m gun shy and looking for a better performer. Right now I’m using a cheapie without lights and it works great..as long as I have daylight to help me.
Found the answers below and after doing some research: basically two freestanding options
the smaller size but higher mag 10x mirror = 6.5 inch diameter
or the bigger size but lower mag 5x mirror = 9 inch diameter
How I wish I could get both magnifications in one!
Hey,Wendy. I was just getting ready to reply and saw you must have figured it out for yourself already? Sorry, I couldn’t get to you sooner! I have the larger,5x, and it is more than sufficient. Along with the light it provides, you will have to relearn a new way to look at yourself. When I first got mine, I went from regular magnified to it. It was hard to not want to pluck every hair off my face which would have taken five years! I just think anymore mag. would be too much.
I would suggest trying to get it somewhere that accepts returns. I did have one that would not hold a charge. But, they do come with a 5 year warranty from the manufacturer as well. Another issue I have, which is not huge, is the mirror only shortens to roughly 15.5 ” tall. You can extend the neck and make it taller. But,my vanity chair sits low. So, right now,I have a pillow on my chair. I gotta go buy a new chair!
it’s a lot of $. Think on it.
Let me know if you have any other questions..happy to help! 🙂
Every bit helps. Thanks Nicole. I know exactly what you mean about the magnification. I have a 5 and 10 times cheapo mirror and the 10 times is far too much information and stimulates this pick and poke mentality within me. 😀
I really like the Conair oval double-sided one. The light is quite good, and I like having a regular mirror side for most of the time and an up-close mirror side for checking for things like stray eyebrow hairs. I’ve had it for a while and have yet to need to replace the lighting which I think is a bulb or something. I’ve heard good things about the SimpleHuman one too but haven’t tried it myself as it’s $200 while the Conair one is between $25 and $50 depending on where you look and the finish you want. If people are interested in the Conair one I find it’s cheapest on Amazon.
That’s my only complaint about Simple Human as well. I was given the original Simple Human mirror a couple years back for Christmas and it’s amazing, the lighting is great and if I like how I look in that mirror’s magnification then I KNOW I’ll look good at the normal distance that another human will see me lol. A lot of my friends don’t like it because you can see every single flaw with these mirrors but I enjoy it.
I use the Floxite 15x lighted, electric mirror for close up work. Also have a flip mirror, 5x and regular, beside it. Not only do I need good lighting, but also require greater magnification. I have used the small 15x suction mirror attached to the large mirror. Being able to use natural lighting when available is nice, but early morning or early evening here requires extra electric lighting.
The Simple Human would be great for me if it had a 15x magnification. I just don’t want to spend that much until they make what I need.
Can’t wait to see what others say.
Thanks Christine for using my questions, you are a doll, as always!
I love superhuman too. The only problem is that I bought the smaller one which is 10X! It’s great for tweezing, but, too magnifying for makeup. I may buy the 5X later this year.
You won’t regret it!
Libby, if just buying 1, which simplehuman?
The 5x magnifier. It’s $200 but worth every single penny. the mirror itself is big enough to see your whole face in it and it magnifies enough to see the details stuff without being too up close and in your face if that makes sense. The light is honestly the best and closest to natural light you can get in a mirror. That’s why I picked it, I get up at 5 am so the sun is not usually up wine I do my makeup. It runs $200 but it’s worth every penny
Thank you very much Libby! You make sense. Appreciate it. When time comes I will def get that one. Perfect! 🙂
Thanks for these details!
I highly recommend that if anyone is planning on getting a SimpleHuman Mirror, they get it at Bed,Bath and Beyond. BB&B sends out store coupons constantly, and you can save a lot of money. I think I only ended up paying $160 for my Simple Human mirror that way.
people seem to love the simple human one, but I haven’t tried it myself.
The simple human mirror I find best. I wear glasses and the magnification and daylight lighting is the best I have found so far. Not perfect but pretty good.
I’ve used a con air one. Bathroom mirror. Sephora stick to mirror round mirror like tweezerman. Nothing beats natural light and clean mirror. Want to look into simple human for vanity.
I just blogged about my mirror, which I bought from Passun Lighting. it has LED lighting. I love it. Check my link if you are interested to see it. 😀
I second the simplehuman mirror suggestion. I have the 8″ mirror with 5x mag which is just the right amount of magnification to help with up close eyeliner application and whatnot. The lighting is great quality and I love that it can be recharged with a micro usb cable. Same little critique as Christine, though, I wish that there was a button to press for a steady on mode instead of just the sensor on/off. Otherwise, no complaints and I find that to be a really minor issue.
I ADORE my lighted two-sided make-up mirror by OttLite. Lightbulbs by OttLite do not distort colors like other lightbulbs do. Sooo…that means my reflection is oh-so-very “real”. You can’t hide a blemish from this mirror! Lol. It’s a very stylish unit at an affordable price. Here’s a link just in case you want pics and detailed info: http://products.ottlite.com/search.aspx?searchterm=Makeup
I always do my make-up in front of our bathroom mirror and I don’t own a special make-up mirror, so I wouldn’t know! I’d like to try the one from Babyliss though, with the light.
I just use my ensuite bathroom mirror, it’s big and has the window next to it, so plenty of natural lighting. For closeups and to check for foundation lines or blending errors, I have a cheap magnifying mirror. I find a small mirror is too small for doing my foundation and cheek products properly as you don’t get the overall look. For evening time, I use the other, bigger bathroom as it’s got better artificial lighting (the first bathroom only has halogen spotlights which look nice but are a nightmare to apply makeup in with all the shadows!), and the same big mirror.
Nothing tells the truth like the visor mirror in the car!
I got the Simple Human wide-view sensor mirror for Christmas and I love it! I originally had my eyes on one of the smaller mirrors and thought I would miss the magnification feature they offer; however, because of its wide orientation, the angling features and the lighting, it works quite well for me.