A lighted mirror is bought for the look and used for a task, and the specifications that determine whether it works for the task are rarely the ones advertised.
Colour Temperature
Light has a colour, measured in kelvin. Warm domestic bulbs sit around 2700K and cast a yellow light. Daylight is roughly 5000 to 6500K and much bluer.
Makeup matched under warm light looks too pink or too orange outside, because the yellow was masking the difference.
For makeup, light around 5000K is the usual recommendation: close enough to daylight to be honest without being harsh.
Colour Rendering
- The colour rendering index describes how accurately a source shows colour
- It runs to a hundred, with natural light as the reference
- A cheap source at 70 flattens distinctions between similar shades
- For colour work, look for 90 or above
- It is frequently not stated, which is itself informative
Mirrors offering several light temperatures, of the kind on the lighted vanities at thexixini.com, address the first variable; the rendering index is the one worth asking about.
Direction Matters More Than Brightness
A ceiling light behind you puts your face in your own shadow and creates dark areas under the eyes, nose and chin.
Those are exactly the areas people then over-correct, which is why makeup done under a ceiling light looks heavy in daylight.
Light should come from the front, at roughly face height, and ideally from both sides so nothing casts a shadow.
RGB Is Not Task Lighting
Worth separating. Coloured ambient lighting is a mood feature, and it is genuinely pleasant in an evening room.
It is not what you do makeup under. The two functions coexist on the same mirror and should be used for different things.
Dimmable Helps
Makeup for daylight and makeup for an evening are different, and lighting that adjusts lets you match the conditions.
Multiple temperatures are more useful than brightness alone.
Integrated LEDs
Practical point worth checking. Where lighting is integrated rather than using replaceable bulbs, the whole unit becomes disposable when the LEDs fail.
LED life is long, and it is finite.
Position by a Window
Natural light remains the best reference, with light coming from the front rather than behind.
The limitation is that it changes through the day and disappears in winter.
Check in a Second Light
A glance in a different room before leaving catches what one mirror cannot show.