Okay so first bit of slightly TMI before we dive in: I checked my smart home hub app out of sheer curiosity last night and realised I’ve changed the lighting in my bathroom sixty-three times in the past three months. SIXTY THREE. To put that in perspective, that’s more bathroom light adjustments than I’ve made to both my living room AND bedroom lighting combined, AND I have an excessive amount of fairy lights over my bed. For reasons unknown to me even my own tiny self, the bathroom is the room in my flat that I absolutely cannot leave well enough alone when it comes to lighting. But then I sat and thought about WHY I change it so much, and after a moment of realization… it totally makes sense. The bathroom is the only room I do three different activities under the exact same four metres squared.
Lets run through those activities: 1) Applying makeup. 2) Standing half naked in the shower sobbing quietly into my shampoo at 7am.
And 3) Relaxing in said bath trying to mentally spend hundreds of pounds on a “spa experience” at 9pm. No one colour temperature is versatile enough to do all those things adequately. I learned that lesson myself twice. Once with a cool white bulb that made my skin matte and chalky, and again with a warm bulb so red it seemed infrared and I once put on foundation that was two shades too dark for my skin before realizing under regular light.
I’ve learned since that there’s no singular “best” colour LED light for bathroom because the bathroom serves too many purposes to narrow it down to one. So this is the part nobody tells you when you’re staring blankly at the 100 bulb options in the lighting aisle at B&Q, scaring yourself a little: bathroom lighting colour temperatures aren’t one decision, they’re at least three, maybe four if you’re weird about vape clouds like me. Here’s what I learned from a year of adjustments what actually stuck and what my flat mates had VERY strong feelings about.
[Led Light Is Best For Bathroom]
Warm White (2700K) For Anything That Isn’t Task Lighting
I’ll start with this one, because it’s the obvious “go to” for most lighting: warm white. Warm white is the easiest default because frankly it just doesn’t look cold or clinical. Honestly fair play to 2700K bulbs for just how cozy they can make a room feel. 2700K to be technical (and is basically the colour temperature of a candle, give or take) and it’s what makes any bathroom feel less like an institute and more like home. I have warm white ceiling lighting in mine, and while it’s not great for the “getting ready” side of the bathroom it’s LOVELY for baths. Just baths, friends. I’ll talk more about lighting for actual doing stuff in a second. But for wanting to relax under some steam and melt into your tub? Warm white is perfect. It even photographs really well too, which isn’t strictly speaking important but everything looks better and more luxe under 2700K in photos.
HOWEVER. And yes, this is a big however, I spent a good two months trying to use only warm white lighting last year and it broke my skincare routine. You just CANNOT see details on your skin properly under yellower lights. Sent a pic to my flat mate asking if I broke out and got “babe thats the lighting not your skin” followed by the chats respectful silence from the other two (read: they all thought it was fucked) and that was pretty much the end of that experiment. Save warm white for when you’re actually relaxing and trying to unwind. Warm white is all mood and a total lie when it comes to how you actually look under it. Know that going into any skincare routines you try under it and you’ll save yourself a lot of monthsabe and futile�.skin checks.
[Warm White Bathroom Lighting]
Daylight White (4000K – 5000K) Around The Mirror For Task Lighting
This ones my answer to “what colour LED light should I buy for bathroom?” if what you mean is “what colour looks the most realistic so I don’t leave the house with mascara on my teeth.” Daylight white anything, ideally between 4 and 5000K, is your best bet if you want to actually be able to apply makeup and/or see what’s going on under your skin. Daylight white at 4500K is essentially a imitation of midday sun indoors, and it is by far and away the best colour temperature for doing vs. relaxing.
I run a daylight LED strip around either side of my mirror now, not overhead because trust me when I say your eyes do dirty tricks with shadows and face creams at ANY temperature, but side-mounted daylight white and it’s like someone threw VanFacing makeup artist levels of lighting into my bathroom. Did a full get ready with me vid tutorial under it and my flatmate almost knocked herself over coming to see what the hell I did to my face that day. It was that mesmerizing. The caveat is that you do NOT want full daylight light anywhere else in the bathroom. Day lighting white overhead at 5000K when it’s still literally morning outside? Freakin’ blinding every time. Just for grooming. Truly. And if you can afford it? Get the higher CRI bulbs for this bit. They’re worth it.
[Daylight White Vanity Lighting]
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Tunable White Bulbs And Strips For The Best Of Both Worlds
This was my solution once I realised I liked warm lighting but hated, quite frankly, everything about daylight for relaxing. I didn’t want two sets of light switches or to have to rewire the hell out of my flat just so I could have the best of both worlds. And that’s when I discovered tunable white LED bulbs and strips. They don’t all come with smartphone controls unfortunately but the ones that do let you slide between warm and cool white on a scale with the touch of a button.
In other words, you can have one light fixture set to 2700K at night, and have it automatically warm or cool itself brighter (higher kelvin) in the morning without rewiring your entire life. I’ve put mine on a schedule now so it automatically dims itself after 8pm. Sounds crazy specific but trust me it’s done wonders for not wanting to sit there scrolling under full daylight bulbs at midnight. Added bonus? They LOOK freaking awesome. Downside? All of the cheap ones flicker ever so slightly when they’re changing temperature, which doesn’t bother you…but if you’re filming yourself it will look like MORNING GLORY coming through your camera. Don’t learn that the hard way like I did. Go the extra mile for these ones.
[Tunable White Bathroom Lights]
RGB Strips If You Actually Have A Bathtub
We’re not talking practicality now, we’re purely throwing shades around for vibes. But if you’ve got a bath (or just want one) coloured LED strip lighting is the newest obsession in my flat chat. Specifically ones you can stick around the edge of your tub or along your bathroom skirting. I picked up a cheap ass RGB strip ages ago and stuck it under my bathroom cabinet with some 3M tape, terrified of DIY because my landlords reaction to the word “wiring” is basically “no” before I even ask. But holy shit. These things are a game changer if you actually have a bath you can enjoy with them on. Just bath vibes. I’ve got mine set to a nice rotating pink-purple haze that makes drawing bath time into my schedule feel LIKE ACTUALSELF CARE.
Sent them a video of it cycling through the colours and got “OBSESSED” followed by the other flatmate yelling “actual hotel vibes but good” through the kitchen. Sold. Don’t use them as practical lighting, full stop. They’re vibez. Just cheap ones like I did. And for the love of all that is holy DO NOT use RGB lighting as your only light source if you have to shower in there too. Nothing blends together quite like every item in your bathroom being the exact same shade of hellish green. Save the fancier colours for bath time when you’re actually taking a breather. Got it?
[RGB Bathroom Lighting]
Wait But What If The “Wrong” Bulb Was Right All Along?
I know, one more notes. But hear me out, this actually changed everything for me. So I bought a dirt cheap daylight bulb the “right” 5000K temperature but it STILL looked WRONG. Sort of dull and lifeless compared to my warmer bulbs. It took me a full THREE LIGHT BULBS before I realized that yes, COLOR TEMPERATURE IS IMPORTANT but NO, it’s not the only factor that matters.
The CRI matters equally. There’s a reason those dodgy bulbs feel “off” but you can’t pinpoint the temperature they’re wrong. Low CRI bulbs can be 5000 kelvin AND make your skin look…asparagus green? Grey? God I DON’T KNOW. There’s a term for it but unless you TSSI in lighting you probs don’t care. Long story short it wasn’t showing me the full colour spectrum properly, just the temperature. Swapped to a high CRI bulb at the SAME temperature and my god did it make a difference. Like, seriously, if you’ve run through every.single.bulbtype under the sun and nothing feels “natural”? Try looking at the CRI as well as the Kelvin before you try out another dozen bulbs that 100% will not fix the problem.
[High CRI Bathroom Lighting]
Wrapping It All Up
If you had to take away one piece of knowledge from my literal bible on bathroom lighting let it be this: your bathroom passes THREE DIFFERENT roles throughout the day and each of those benefit FROM DIFFERENT colour temperatures.
Warm for baths.
Daylight for grooming. Tunable if you hate having two light switches and CAN’T DEAL WITH STRIP LIGHTS. And seriously, RGB if you want to play with it. None of it was difficult to install. Most of it didn’t require my landlord’s blessing, just some double sided tape and a can-do attitude. And if you ever have to move houses again, it all pulls RIGHT OUT. So pick the temperatures for what you NEED that space to be when you’re using it, not based on Pinterest colours or whatever aesthetic you saw in a magazine. You’ll stop doing what I did back in 2021 which was blaming my skincare routine for issues that were 100% my lighting whispering sweet low CRI nothings in my ear.
