For the last three months I’ve basically applied my makeup without being able to see properly. Okay, fine, I’m being slightly dramatic, but the lighting above my bathroom mirror was atrocious. It was one of those boring single light units that my ex-husband had fitted that cast horrible shadows under my eyes, making me look like an extra in a Tim Burton film.
Pale, unblended makeup everywhere. Anyway…the straw that broke the camel’s back was when I poked myself in the eye with my mascara trying to ready myself for work and get Amara ready for nursery. I was late as it was due to her deciding that today was the day she wanted to critique every.single. outfit I pulled out for her, and by the time I’d freed myself from the mass of mascara dangling from my eyelid I had to start all over again.
There and then I decided enough was enough, things had to change. See I’d been putting off doing this project for ages.
I’ve never been great with electrical stuff.
My dad drilled it into us as kids not to fiddle with electricity unless you know what you’re doing. And I most certainly do not know what I’m doing. Not to mention the fact that we’d already spent a small fortune fixing up the house, so adding another expense just felt excessive.
But that morning Liam had finally admitted to me that it was only a matter of time until I seriously injured myself. He helped me look into different lighting options one night whilst Amara was in bed. But to be honest, most of the bathroom inspiration photos I was finding on Instagram were beautiful, but belonged in homes that were way out of my budget.
I wanted bathroom lighting that would work for the both of us and our very average bathroom. What I did realise pretty quickly was that it wasn’t enough to just have bright lights, but where the light was coming from was important too. Our old light flayed across the bathroom leaving shadows all over my face except where I needed to actually see; the tops of my head.
The skin underneath my eyes for touch-ups seemed to be plunged in darkness. After browsing hundreds of pages of Google searches and guides,I’d resigned myself to picking something and just getting it over with. Then one night I found the perfect option.
A three light vanity bar that could be fitted horizontally across the wall above the mirror. Nothing too fancy, just straight lines and simple frosted light shades. Cost us around £85 which isn’t too bad when you think of it as an investment in your skin.
The next hurdle was finding someone to actually fit it for us. Through some mutual nursery mum friends I discovered that Sarah down the road from us had an electrician cousin who wouldn’t charge us any call-out fees. He came over one evening after Amara was in bed and had it installed within the hour.
I bought him dinner and let him drown his sorrows in one of the bottles of wine we’ve been saving for ‘best’. Pretty sure I got the best deal out of that trade. The overhead vanity light was definitely a step up from where we were before, but what really transformed the space was adding some LED lights behind the bathroom mirror.
I know it sounds super fancy-trousers and Liam was pretty sceptical when I first told him, but hear me out. Backlighting the mirror with those slim LED light strips eliminates all those pesky shadows that you don’t realise are even there until they’re not. You can barely notice they’re even there yourself but all of a sudden you can see every contour of your face that the overhead light might be missing.
LED light strips were also relatively inexpensive – I picked a pack up for about £25 which came with adhesive strips to stick them too, and a dimmer switch. Installation was… umm… enlightening to say the least. Let’s just say that I added a few expletives to my vocabulary that weekend.
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There was definitely some DIY Channel level cursing when it came to routing the wire through the wall. I’m sure our neighbours Mrs. Patterson thinks I’m doing drugs in there now.
The soft huffs of smoke you can here when she looks over are definitely my loudly swearing at another stubborn wire. What I didn’t expect was how important the colour temperature of the bulbs would be. I ended up ordering what I thought were ‘daylight’ bulbs at first, but they were actually way too cool and made the whole bathroom feel sterile.
Too white. The kind of white that makes your skin feel dull and lifeless. It actually made me not want to apply my makeup.
I eventually stumbled across some warm white LEDs for the main light, and kept the strips a slightly cooler temperature. Having a few differences in shade and temperature actually worked really well and gives you enough light without being too white. It’s honestly changed my morning routine.
I actually enjoy doing my makeup now because I CAN SEE WHAT I’M DOING. I no longer get to work and look in the bathroom wondering what I’ve done to my face. I even improved my skincare routine as I’d realised I was missing patches of skin when washing off my face cleanser.
The only downside? Now I can see every pore on my face and all the blackheads I’ve been blissfully unaware of for the last 25 years. It also completely changed the atmosphere in there.
Before it felt like you were just rushing around the room, but since adding the layered lighting it actually opened up the room. Not that our bathroom is huge, but it feels like it now. And there’s something super relaxing about those backlighting when playing around with skincare or washing your face in the evening.
My only regret is not getting the LED strips on their own plug. As of right now they’re wired into the main vanity light so it’s all or nothing when it comes to lighting. Would love to be able to turn on just that backlighting for evenings.
Those nights when you don’t want to be blinded by your overhead bathroom lights but still need to see what you’re doing.
Total cost for this whole project actually wasn’t too bad. The main vanity light was £85.
LED light strips were £25. And then I probably another £20 for bits and bobs like the wire and joining boxes. Get someone you know who works in electrics to do it and you’re looking at paying around £50-£100 for an electrician.
But when you consider how much better my mornings have been since I can actually see what I’m doing…. Totally worth it. Who knew that such a small thing could make such a difference to your daily life.
Honestly stands behind why you need to invest in the right lighting. Ever since we added better lighting to our bathroom my mornings actually feel like they start off okay. You don’t realise how much you take good lighting for granted until you don’t have it.
