Archived Post
What type of light do you prefer to apply your makeup with?
I like a really well-lit room, mostly natural light but don’t mind daylight bulbs.
— Christine
Explore Temptalia
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Compare Any Two
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
32 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.
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!
My bathroom has a huge window that I intentionally left uncovered so I have great natural Floridian light during the day. The sun is to my back which prevents glare and the natural light prevents over or under applying .
The large mirror helps out my aging vision, lol.
As much as possible I like to use natural daylight. However, living in Montana in the winter time sometimes means that the only available light is a funny greyish color and putting on makeup in that light results in a not attractive look. Conversely, snow all around results in too much and too bright of a light so in the winter time I have to rely on artificial light. I prefer bulbs that provide a “natural daylight”.
Obviously natural light, but that’s kind of a luxury where I live, and I usually have to do my makeup at 6am, so that’s a couple of months per year that I can enjoy natural light while doing makeup. Yesterday I finally made up my mind and placed an order for the Simplehuman sensor mirror, I really hope the lighting is as close to natural light as they claim!
It is! :::huge smile::: You are going to love it!
Yes I do! It’s very blinding in the first few minutes after me waking up in the dark though, and I’ve seen some dry lines that I didn’t know I had in the magnifying mirror :/ But the ring light is indeed perfect for that precise makeup application!
A daylight lamp. Natural light is great, but often too bright and changing too quickly.
Plenty of natural light.
I have no choice but to use the light in my bathroom (south facing, very large window) with ordinary, energy efficiency bulbs.
I like my lit makeup mirror, going back and forth from normal to 10x. Then I check it all in natural light before calling it finished.
OMGG Linda I am just as crazy as you!!!! I use my vanity light and my makeup mirror. Then if I’m lucky and its getting light out, I go back and forth like a nut. Then I too check it in a natural light by the time I get to work. Its usually light by then. So here I am in the car, with my extra bag of makeup, retouching my makeup. The things we do to look good. LOL
Same, and that’s pretty much my setup (also, the light from the simplehuman mirror is awesome). But then I get to work and see myself under fluorescent bulbs and I’m like, WHAT HAPPENED??” ?
Lolololol I can spend so much time getting ready and one look in a mirror under fluorescent lighting and it all crumbles!
Natural light, but with some help.
Most definitely natural light. I sit in my bathroom window to apply makeup every morning. For evening, I try to apply it in the light closest to the light I’ll be seen in that night lol. If it’s dim lighting, I’ll just use my mirror in the regular bathroom lighting but I just do a more dramatic look. I’ve never had any mishaps where my makeup looked harsh in any light. 🙂
For now, my Conair basic lighted makeup mirror that I replaced the 2 incandescent bulbs with daylight bulbs so now all 4 bulbs are daytime. My room is pretty well lit, i suppose. But, if my room was laid out better, I would have my “space” directly in front of my bedroom window, as it is north facing, so it has soft, diffused lighting. Now that would be ideal!
My bathroom has a full-spectrum fluorescent light overhead, and white enamel walls. This is my best combination.
Morning sunshine steaming in on top of my daylight beauty mirrors.
I generally apply my makeup in our ensuite bathroom – the natural light isn’t really great, but the downlights are and it has a big mirror.
Lots of light from daylight bulbs. Used to use the GE pink light bulbs were my fave, sadly disc.
My bathroom window sunlight and the four bright. Bulbs above my vanity.
This is an important question for me, actually. I cannot do my eyebrows with overhead light. They are sparse and blond and if the light comes from above I can’t see them. At home I have a window to one side and lamps at head level on either side of my mirror. If visiting I often have to walk around the house looking for a mirror that allows me to do my eyebrows. I actually bought a freestanding lighted mirror for my daughter’s house (really for me when I visit).
I don’t have an area in my home where it would be convenient to use natural light. When I moved here I was having to fully Macgyver my makeup lighting everyday. After much trial, error and returning I finally spent the money and bought my SimpleHuman mirror. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! We were under flood evacuation warning last week and my SimpleHuman mirror was one of the things I sent away to safety. Think about that. It’s that good. I don’t ever want to be without one again! My sister had a birthday this month and I bought her one too because she fell in love with mine. I can’t speak highly enough about them. Once you look in one it’s like a fairytale though lol you become obsessed and no other light will do! Seriously though when you go into sticker shock I promise it’s worth every penny! A lot of people say a lot of things are worth every penny but think of this sampling here. Only a few people have commented so far. Out of that few though a disproportionate amount of us own, love and are recommending an expensive, can’t find at the local corner store lighted mirror. It really will change your entire self care life. Not only will your makeup look way better but I dare a stray hair or random long eyebrow to dare show itself to the owner of a SimpleHuman mirror! ? ? Ok maybe I was a used car salesman in another life but I get so excited over this lighted mirror and it’s not something you’d normally get excited for but daaaaaang it’s soooo goooood!!
Definitely natural light. I was gifted one of those mirrors that light up a while ago, but the white light kind of washes the makeup out in my opinion. It makes it really hard to tell how it’ll actually look when I go out, especially if it’s dark out and that’s pretty much my only light source.
My house lets in almost no light, it’s all wooden shutters and heavy drapes, but I use a swivelly desk lamp I can angle with a daylight bulb and another warmer, softer light next to that. If I’m leaving the house I check my makeup in daylight by popping my head outside, but I almost never leave the house so…
Since I am almost blind, I have to use 15x Magnifying lighted mirror to put on makeup. Everytime I reach for a different item,I have to put on my glasses.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried natural light! I pluck under eyebrows a couple of times a week in the window with a 10x mirror.
My bathroom has no window but I use a makeup mirror and a lighted 10 x mirror. I’m up for work at 3 am or earlier so light isn’t a consideration.
I may try it tho! I looked at the simple human but it had so many bad reviews I passed.
I’ll post a picture of it to my blog sometime, but my bed’s headboard is a book shelf. So I keep my everyday acrylic storage filled with my everyday products, and my cup of brushes on my head board.
SO I usually sit on my bed, and lay out my makeup on the mattress, and I’ll turn to the right and face my window. my bedrooms ceiling light is a LED, so It’s a very bright light as well.
I’v found this situation to give me the BEST and most colour correct results!!! 🙂
Natural daylight! The only great source of daylight I have comes through a second floor, huge picture window above my front door. So I end up doing makeup leaning over the bannister if my catwalk! Unfortunately I lose products dropping them on the hardwood floor below me.
I like natural light, makes it difficult during the winter, or if it’s naturally dark I have a bright warm light in y bathroom which is OK, but; sometimes when I apply my makeup there and I then go in to natural light I can get a bit of a shock – either look ghostly or too much blush etc.
I prefer daylight but I’m happy with daylight bulbs or soft white.
I prefer sun light. Lots and lots of sun rays I have a long high window in my bathroom there’s where I’ll put my makeup. Love our doors and lots of windows and clarity throughout my home in S. California.
Recently, I moved. I live in an apartment at the moment, so it’s difficult to arrange lighting exactly as I would have it. I have found, though, that the absolute best place to TRULY see what my face looks like is the car mirror! If I ever figure out how to make the lighting around my vanity as natural as it is when I look in the car mirror, I will be set.