I am the queen to put on my makeup in strange places with a time crunch. I’m quite literally (not literally) always doing my makeup on the go. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve furrowed my brows in the passenger seat of my friend’s manual Honda Civic SI, bumping around while shifting gears, waiting to pass the next set of lights to make sure my arches are even. Or how many times I spontaneously decided to go out, running to complete my winged eyeliner despite being in a garage without lighting. In the club bathroom, I’m the person using her lipstick as blush while clutching a tube of mascara between her teeth. At a festival, I’m constantly besieged by my ADHD-fueled time blindness, racing to get ready in my tent before we need to leave, using the mirror I smuggled in to make sure my glitter shines properly. I also gave a class to my WIRED colleagues on how to prepare in a time crunch. I am, for better or worse, that girl.
So it makes sense that my party goblin ways lead me to try the latest in That Girl innovation. I’m talking about lighted makeup mirrors. They shine a light on your face so you can see it from all angles (and in some cases, they have a magnification that will show you every pore, whether or not you want to see it). You can use the power of See Correctly to ensure a flawless finish, whether you’re going with a heavy contour, a smoky cut crease like it’s 2016 again, or you just want to make sure your overlined lips aren’t too much. obvious These are my favorites.
Be sure to check out our many other guides, including the The best hair straightenersu The best curling ironsand the The best beauty subscription boxes.
About CRI (Color Rendering Index)
Some lighted makeup mirrors have specific CRI (Color Rendering Index) measurements. It’s a way to measure how well artificial light can mimic natural light (like daylight). The scale goes from 0 to 100, with 100 being the perfect indication that colors look the same as natural sunlight. I think this is a great thing to know, but ultimately your environment will affect your makeup application more than a mirror’s CRI score (if listed). Placing your lighted makeup mirror in front of a window or in a well-lit area will give you a good idea of how your makeup will look in any room. Once my makeup is done, I usually cycle through the available lighting patterns of any mirror to make sure it looks good in all of them. So, in a nutshell, a high CRI is a good indication of the mirror’s color accuracy, but it’s not the only thing you need to care about.
I completed my top makeup (sparkly nude eyeshadow, winged liner, lots of blush and shimmer, painted brows, heavy mascara) using each of these mirrors at least twice – once in a dark environment, and once in natural light. . I tried every lighting mode and fully cycled through every battery at least once.
https://media.wired.com/photos/67708fd0e4f53368ba0be2da/191:100/w_2580,c_limit/Best%20Light-Up%20Makeup%20Mirrors%20Reviewer%20Collage%20122024%20SOURCE%20Louryn%20Strampe.jpg
2024-12-31 11:04:00
