We all want to look our best as we begin each day – and that begins with our morning rituals. Making sure your bathroom mirror is well lit is a great way to ensure you’re putting your best face forward. Here are the three most common don’ts of bathroom mirror lighting design.
1.Don’t place spotlights above the bathroom mirror. This lighting design is all wrong! When the light hits the face at a downward angle, the brow, nose and hair cast shadows across the eyes, mouth, and forehead, leaving you half in shadow.
2.Don’t place a light fixture in the middle of the bathroom ceiling.This design causes a back-light effect, illuminating the back of the head, while leaving the face in shadow so you can’t see yourself.
3.Don’t hang a light over the mirror. This design floods the mirror with light, once again leaving you in the shadows. Each of these don’ts result in us leaning in towards the mirror because the uneven lighting of these three designs means we can’t see our face well.
So what type of bathroom lighting serves us best?
Imagine the professional lighting of a theater dressing as the star gets ready for the show. You’ll immediately picture lights surrounding the mirror. The idea here is to light up the face uniformly without causes a blinding glare. The same rule applies in your bathroom. You can easily create the sense of a theater dressing room in your own private home by hanging a semitransparent light fixture over the sink. This will cast a uniform glow, illuminating your face so that your reflection is clear.
Another great option is to place two semitransparent lighting fixtures on either side of the mirror. This creates the same uniform illuminating effect by casting light 180 o . This lighting design that utilizes the light from two sources is optimal. In addition to light placement, consider the color of your bathroom lighting, especially if you use it for putting on your makeup. When applying makeup under fluorescent light, you’ll tend to use warmer colors to compensate for the cold lighting. When you step out into warmer light, your face will look too pink. A good rule of thumb is to put on makeup in the sort of light you’re going to be seen in. In most cases, a pleasant, warm light works better than a cold bluish light. The exception, of course, is if you’re going to a fluorescent-lighted office!
