How To Find The Best Bathroom Vanity Lighting

Bathroom Light Bulb Styles

Vanity light bulbs come in all shapes, sizes, and styles so you can choose the best look and shine for your space. Some of the most common light bulbs for bathroom vanity lighting include:

• Edison: Edison light bulbs have a historic, vintage feel. The term Edison bulb can be used to describe two styles of bulb. Traditionally they have a distinctive tapered bulb shape, usually with a visible coiled filament in the center. Because this coiled filament is such an attractive and popular look, you can now find this feature in other styles (like tube or globe shaped bulbs). Both types of bulb — those with the historic tapered shape, and those featuring visible filament coils — can be referred to as Edison Bulbs.

• Globe: Globe light bulbs are a fun and stylish option for fixtures with exposed bulbs or clear shades; they also look great peeking out from under translucent or opaque shades in fixtures mounted above the mirror. They’re perfect for creating a unique look, and accenting any geometric features in your bathroom, like a round mirror.

• Halogen: Halogen light bulbs, a longer lasting alternative to traditional incandescent bulbs, are sometimes used in slim vanity fixtures, so check your light’s specifications to see if one of these is required; while halogen bulbs are offered in standard medium base or candle base arrays, it’s more likely you’ll find this bulb technology used for more specialized bi pin or wedge lamp bases.

• Incandescent: Incandescent light bulbs have been a vanity mainstay for decades. These classic bulbs are available in the widest array of shapes and styles, but may not be as long lasting or as energy efficient as their LED counterparts.

• LED: LED vanity bulbs may be the new kids on the block as far as bulb technology is concerned, but they’re certainly here to stay! This highly versatile tech is long lasting, energy efficient, and allows for a range of color temperatures and brightness so you can truly customize your space. While many vanity fixtures now include permanent, integrated LED arrays, any medium or candle based fixture can be updated and modernized by selecting LED light bulbs.

Light Bulb Color Temperature

The color temperature of a bulb can often be referred to as 'mood lighting', as the atmosphere of a space can have a psychological impact. If you are designing your bathroom fixture with a certain tone in mind, it's important to consider color temperature when choosing your light source.

• Soft white: 2,700-3,000 Kelvin provides a yellow, warm tone, creating a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. This color temperature is perfect for ambient light, and can be best found incandescent light bulbs and Edison bulbs.

• Warm white: 3,000-4,000 Kelvin provide a yellow, white light. While they have warm tones, they are less warm than soft white. This color is preferable for bathrooms, as it provides a relaxing tone while giving sufficient lighting. This color temperature can be found in LED bulbs.

• Bright white: 4,000k-5,000k Kelvin provides a neutral white light and can have more blue tones, which is perfect for lively, bright light. This color temperature can be found in halogen and LED bulbs.

• Daylight: 5,000+ Kelvin is considered daylight lighting, and has bright white and sometimes cool, blue tones. This color temperature is perfect for high detail visibility and can be found in LED bulbs.

Best Bathroom Vanity Lighting For Makeup

For those looking to create the perfect vanity for makeup application, a few special considerations should be taken into account:

Enthusiast makeup artists won’t find professional makeup vanity with lights on ShadesofLight.com, but for hobbyists, a general LED Lighted Mirror might be just the ticket! The most important factor to consider when designing bathroom lighting for makeup is to ensure your face is lit evenly and there are no harsh shadows under your eyes, cheeks, or chin, which can make it difficult to blend makeup properly. Ideally, makeup enthusiasts will use light on either side of the mirror, as above-mirror lighting or overhead lights can sometimes create shadows that make makeup application difficult.

The best lighting for makeup is natural light, so take advantage of windows or skylights when designing your vanity space! When that’s not possible, either due to the architecture of your space, or the time of day, choosing LED fixtures or vanity bulbs without any colored tint is the next best option.

Chose bulbs or LED fixtures that emit bright white light with a high CRI (around 90-100) for the most accurate colors. Bulbs in the ‘soft white’ range of 2700K – 3000K are recommended for general bathroom use, and makeup application in particular.

Vanity Light Size Guidelines

Vanity fixtures are available in a range of sizes and lamp arrays so you can choose the version that best suits your space. Single vanity light fixtures (which may also be referred to as bath sconces) are ideal for smaller spaces and narrower mirrors. Bigger mirrors and longer vanities might call for two, three, or four lights. Pay special attention to the width and height of your chosen vanity light, as well as the number of lamps per fixture, as these specifications will help you determine if the light in question matches your space.