Archived Post

Do you use a makeup or magnifying vanity mirror?


Do you use a makeup or magnifying vanity mirror? If so, what kind, what are its features, and what do you like about it?

Nope, I don’t!  I just use the bathroom mirror.  I have Kichler lights above, because they light up the whole room a ton, but they are SUPER hot. Edited — I DO use a small compact magnifying mirror for my brows 🙂

Thanks to Kafka for today’s question!
Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.

43 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
Miss J Avatar

I have a dual sided makeup mirror with one regular mirror then the other side is a magnifying mirror. I sit in my living room and do my makeup in the morning because of the huge picture window. I like to sit when applying makeup, but I don’t have a vanity, so I do it at the coffee table, lol.

xamyx Avatar

I only use a small magnifying hand mirror for tweezing, but for applying my makeup I just use a regular bathroom mirror. If there are a few flaws, then so be it; it’s not like I’m trying to hide the fact I’m wearing makeup.

jewelz101 Avatar

I love using a makeup mirror, my last one was a Vidal Sassoon, lighted with different effects of lighting, so I didn’t go into work looking like a clown, or use bright colors that just washed out in the sunlight! It is a 3-way mirror for the face, and you could tilt the front mirror up flat like a table so you can magnify and eyeline in perfect detail! I miss it and want another!

Jasmine Valistreri Avatar

I hate those magnifying mirrors. They make me less happy in the morning (think you’re looking good… well think again! Muhahaha!), when I specifically have makeup time designated as happy time, so they are pretty counter-productive for me.

Marie Avatar

Oh god no! I’m pretty OK about my skin, but the only time I used one, I felt like my skin was the most horrible ever! It sets an impossible standard for perfect skin, so I just use a regular mirror. People don’t look at you through a magnifying lense, so I don’t look at myself through one either.

Mariella Avatar

I’m so short sighted that I need a mirror that I can pull close to my face so I use a swing out mirror (it’s mounted to the wall beside my sink) that is regular on one side and magnifying on the other.  And as I am so short sighted, I do use the magnifying side a lot, particularly to check that my foundation is applied evenly and blended well.

wwendalynne Avatar

Oh man, I need the magnifying mirror ~ 😛  I have better than 20/20 vision for distance, but I can’t see squat in front of my face.  Oh, and for the young ladies a little treat of things to look forward to as you age.  Weird hairs sprouting out of your face in the oddest of places!  Not enough to warrant a major intervention, just about 3 or 5 .. one out of my chin, one on the side of my freaking face, one in my neck! and two under my chin.  I can’t see the little suckers without the damn magnifying mirror and no way in hell am I going to walk around with hairs sprouting out of my face and neck.  Special features = none, just a regular mirror on one side and magnifying on the other and I flip back and forth.  The lighting in my bathroom is good and I can have as much natural light as I dare with windows on every side and front where I do my makeup.

Veronica Avatar

I just use my bathroom, semi-decent lighting and all.  The problem with enlargement mirrors is that they don’t really give you a chance to ask yourself, “Do I really want to see my pores up that close?”  You just look, and then THERE they are, and you can never can unsee it.

Kafka Avatar

 @yellowlantern  I laughed and laughed at your self-esteem comment. I so relate! 🙂 I do use a magnifying one but it’s not super-powerful. When I *have* used one of those, it’s depressed me for days. LOL!
 

Liz9969 Avatar

Well, I inherited an antique vanity with a mirror from my grandma. I have a magnifying mirror on top of the vanity.  I go back and forth between looking in the main mirror and the magnifying mirror.  I’m actually in the market for a new magnifying mirror because the plug broke.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Fitrah Avatar

the first mirror i used for makeup was a magnifying one, but i found it gave a false impression of how my makeup actually looked, so now i use normal mirror and find its much more helpful.

Deb Avatar

I use one of those mirrors that swivels out from the wall. It’s a regular mirror on one side and magnified on the other. I first put it up for tweezing, but somewhere along the line (right about the time Mother Nature decided to require me to wear reading glasses) I think it became necessary. I hadn’t really realized it until we stayed in a hotel with dim vanity lighting and I realized that I just couldn’t see the way I could at home.
 
Enjoy your bathroom vanity only days; it never occured to me (until I hit my 40s) that they were numbered!

AmandaElisabeth Avatar

I have one of those lighted 3 mirror makeup mirror.  It’s pretty nice.  It has a regular mirror in the center that you can flip over for a magnified mirror that’s great for doing your eyebrows.

ZulaikhaMuddassir Avatar

I have a full length mirror in my room so I stand and do my makeup. And I own a small magnifying mirror in a red case so I keep it in my purse. I like the round, mobile makeup mirror too, I should buy one.

JessicaW Avatar

I have the little double sided vanity mirror from Ikea. I use the magnifying side occasionally as I’m very short sighted and sometimes need a little magnifying to see what I’m doing to my face. I try not to inspect my face too closely when I use it. No one will ever look that closely at my face that they could see what the magnifying mirror sees.

meemah Avatar

I have a makeup magnifying mirror (but I only use the normal side hehe, the magnifying side gives me headaches) but I only use it if Im home and I have the time to do my makeup sitting down, on my coffee table, in front of the TV and I can take my time. Otherwise I do it in my bathroom and use the huge mirror in there. The lighting in there isnt the best though, so I cant test out new products in there.

t_violet Avatar

I’ve got the classic rectangular countertop Jerdon mirror (it looks kinda old lady’s vanity-ish) that’s magnifying on one side and a regular mirror on the other with illumination.  It’s great because I can use either side and the extra lighting helps a lot.  I always use the magnifying side for my eyeliner but always step back to see the overall picture in a regular mirror before I leave the house.

Mel Avatar

I use a magnifying mirror. My bathroom’s too small to do my make-up there, so I created a little dressing table area in my bedroom with proper lighting. Thing is, I wear glasses and am pretty much blind without them, so I really need that magnifying mirror when I wanna do my makeup…

beachgal Avatar

I use one to check the back of my hair only. It’s scarry when I look at the 10X mag. side…however if I had better lighting in my house I would use it to check those few eyebrow hairs that need to come out – getting older now and those are far and few between. I used an early lighted vanity mirror when I was in HS way back when in the 60’s – think it was the first one that came out – ugly lights in it that made me look green when turned to the florescent setting.

annedreshfield Avatar

I have one of those magnifying mirrors, but I rarely ever use it — I’m usually at my bathroom counter, unless the lighting is so poor that I have to use the magnifying mirror and its light. 

Espe1963 Avatar

Yes, I always have used a magnifying mirror since I was a teenager. I love makeup and in every place I live or visit I create my little vanity area where I sit all surrounded by my makeup, creams, tools, perfume, brushes etc…I just love the whole luxurious experience and feel so feminine. My husband just stares at me and loves how I doll myself up in front of my vanity mirror! I do agree however that magnifying mirrors magnify all our pores and flaws

Twirly Girly Avatar

Because I am a wheelchair user, I cannot see into my bathroom mirror (too high!). So, I use a small vanity mirror that has a magnifying side. I wear contact lenses for distance, so close-up vision with my contacts in is blurry. I could take out my contacts before applying my makeup, but it seems every time I do that, one of my eyes will begin watering when I put the lenses back in – ruining my makeup!

Andie Vecchione Avatar

Not a magnifying mirror, but I use a makeup mirror pretty close to my face because I’m near sighted. I really don’t need to see my face larger, I just need to see it to begin with.

Pamela Heinbaugh Avatar

Yes, I use one of those that have the different light settings & magnifying mirror. I have to remove my glasses for eye makeup & there’s no way I could apply it w/o it.

Shauna Connelly Avatar

I have both, don’t use either:p I use a regular mirror that I hold that used to have a part that folded so you could sit it on a surface but that part broke. I use whatever light is in my room, often whatever light is coming from my computer. Aside from youtube videos I’m not a big makeup person in everyday life.

Michelle Lyn Morgan Avatar

I use a lighted oval mirror with a magnifying side to it. I don’t ever use the magnifying side except for when I tweeze my eyebrows. I prefer good lighting too, so I can see things true to color, some of those lighted mirrors have horrible lighting. But I do also use a vanity mirror to see my face from a bit further of a distance.

Katherine Sheridan Avatar

I have very poor eyesight without glasses. I use a lighted mirror for general face and flip it to lighted magnified for eyes. I do add light with window light and room lights but I like how the mirror provides flat light, I.e. no shadows. Only window light has natural color but often I skip makeup during the day so obviously it’s not practical for an evening look. I do not recommend staying your face in a magnifying mirror unless your plucking, it is unreal!

Kafka Avatar

I use a small, round magnifying mirror on a stand and with a long neck (if that makes sense). I also have the Kichler lights but I like the magnifying mirror to check my eye makeup up close, to tweeze, fix any stray mascara flecks, and to check out potential spots. lol. It’s not a very strong mirror so I was hoping to find suggestions here for another one, preferably also with a stand and a flexible “neck.”  Mine has about 3x or 5x magnification, I think, but the mirror itself is far too small for my liking.  I’ve used on occasion the huge magnification (x12 or x15, I think) that my mother has and that is TOO powerful. Totally freaks me out by revealing *every* possible imperfection.  Bloody depressing, actually. Anyway, if anyone has the name/brand of a tall magnifying mirror (on stand) that they really like, I’d be very grateful.

MizLottie Avatar

I HAVE to — getting old, going blind.  I have a round, lighted 10x magnifying mirror with a regular mirror on the other side.  I used to use a 5x mirror and found it wasn’t enough for doing eyebrows or anything precise but the 10x shows every.  damn.  pore.  and.  wrinkle!!!!!!

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!