Vanity Lighting: You're Not So Vain

Decorative lighting may dazzle the eye with suggestive shadows and cheerful glows, but nothing brightens your outlook quite like vanity lighting. Your vanity is the place where you shape the image you present to others. To put your best face forward, you need vanity lights that are warm, even, and true to life.

Friday Night Lights
Not all lights can be trusted. Bright bulbs may lie and tell you you're pale, while ambient lights, eager to romanticize every detail, will transform your vanity into a prop from a Rembrandt painting. When Friday night comes around and you're preparing for an evening out, your vanity lights must be trustworthy friends that tell you exactly who you are.

Simple, focused, and functional are the primary qualities of successful vanity lighting. In other words, your vanity is no place for vanity. Soft lights may be flattering, but they won't provide the clarity you need for personal grooming.

Don't rely exclusively on overhead lights. Multiple lighting sources will reduce shadows and contrast. A combination of overhead vanity lights and frontal vanity lights will provide consistent lighting across the entirety of your face.

Vanity Lighting Sources
Lighting strips are a classic source of vanity lighting. The multiple points provided by four or five bulbs offer diffuse and natural illumination. Complement your vanity lighting strip with wall sconces mounted on either side of the mirror. A small table lamp also might be added for fuller, rounder vanity lighting. Recessed ceiling lights would bring an entire bathroom vanity vividly to life.

It's also best to set up your vanity in a room with adequate general lighting. A dark room certainly won't brighten your outlook. A large window might interfere with vanity lighting as well by increasing glare and altering colors.

To really brighten your outlook, remember that vanity lights need to look good too. Attractive lighting fixtures will transform your vanity into an oasis of light and beauty.