A good makeup mirror is really a light source with a reflection attached, and that is how I shop for one. This edit covers the lighted vanity mirrors for a desk or dresser, the magnifying ones for close work, and the compact and tri-fold mirrors that travel.
A Better Makeup Mirror Starts With the Light, Not the Frame
Here is the thing nobody tells you when you buy your first makeup mirror: the glass matters far less than the light around it. Allure recommends lighted mirrors for makeup because overhead bathroom light or a dim bedroom can throw off the finished result, and many models offer modes that mimic office or candlelit light. I have walked out of enough apartments with one cheek brighter than the other to agree completely.
The first grid is the vanity group, the mirrors that live on a desk or dresser. Conair's Brushed Satin Nickel Lighted Fan Mirror comes from a company founded in 1959 by Leandro Rizzuto as a small hair appliance maker, so it has decades of bathroom counters behind it. Sharper Image's SpaStudio Hollywood Tiltable Vanity Mirror is the one that gives you the classic bulb-lined look, and the tilt lets you angle the glow to your face instead of the other way round.
simplehuman is a good story to know. Frank Yang founded the company in 2000 after first setting out to make a better trash can, and that tidy, fussy engineering shows up in the Sensor Mirror. The brand says its tru-lux light system has a color rendering index of 95 and is meant to simulate natural sunlight so colors read accurately. Pursonic's LED Lighted Vanity mirror is the plainer option, and Anna Sui's Rose Mirror is the pretty one, more of a dresser object than a tool.
Set any of them at face height, facing a window if you can, and switch the light on even in daytime. The difference between a lit and an unlit glass is the first thing you will notice, and it is the reason I would rather own one good vanity mirror than three decorative ones.
Get closer, see the details
Magnification is a different tool with a different job. I do not do my whole face in a magnifier, because at that size everything looks like a problem. I use it for the small, fiddly things: tweezing, checking a lash line, placing a tiny dot of concealer, or shaping a brow.
Cowin's 10x Magnifying Lighted mirror is the strongest of the group, so it is the one for precision work and not for a full look. simplehuman's 8-Inch Sensor mirror gives you 5x magnification, which is much more forgiving, and it is the one I would pick if you want detail without feeling like you are inspecting a leaf. Conair's Reflections 1x/10x LED Lighted Mirror in Satin Nickel gives you both views on one frame, true size on one side and close-up on the other, so you can flip it over halfway through. Impressions Vanity's Sweetheart 10x Magnified LED Mirror is the most playful shape in the set.
My habit is to do the whole face at 1x and then go to the magnified side only for the last check. Step back, look at your face from arm's length, and trust that view more than the close one.
Keep the glass clean too, since a fingerprint at 10x looks like a flaw in your skin. A soft cloth and a quick wipe before you start takes ten seconds, and it stops you chasing a smudge that was never on your face.
Small enough to carry everywhere
Travel is where a mirror earns its place in your bag. A hotel bathroom can be dark, a train seat has no mirror at all, and the small one in your pocket is often the only honest one you will get.
Conair's Reflections Lighted LED Compact Hollywood Mirror folds up small and gives you the bulb-lined glow in your palm. simplehuman's Portable Rechargeable Sensor Mirror is the smart one, since you charge it and then forget about the batteries. Pursonic's Tri-Fold Vanity mirror and iHome's Tri-Fold Travel mirror with lights both open into three panels, so you get side views as well as the front, which is useful for blending blush and checking your hairline. Machete's Circle Mirror in Tortoise Checker is a swivel-open pocket mirror handmade from Italian acetate. It has no light, but it is lovely to look at, and it is the one for a quick check on the way out.
What I would skip: relying on a compact with no light for anything detailed, and propping any mirror against a lamp so the glare hits the glass instead of your face. If you travel a lot, choose one with a built-in light or a charge that lasts a week, and pack it flat between soft things so the glass stays unscratched. A soft pouch is enough, and a spare cloth tucked inside helps too.
Where I would put it
Where you put the mirror decides how well you do your makeup. Near a window is best, and a lighted one is the next best thing on a gray morning or a late night.
I would pick one larger mirror for home and one small one for the bag, and skip the idea that a single piece has to do both jobs. Keep the glass at eye level, stand or sit so the light falls evenly across both cheeks, and do your final check in daylight if you can. If the result looks right in the lighted mirror and still right by the door, you have found your setup. If it only looks right in one of them, move the mirror before you change the makeup, because the light is almost always the culprit and the products almost never are.
