For a hotel to be considered luxurious in my eyes, there are a certain set of requirements that it may have: the bed linen must be soft, crisp and fresh, there must be a decent hairdryer and, increasingly, the bathroom mirror should be flattering and well-lit. Call it my own beauty star system.
When it comes to the mirror especially, you know the sort: usually mounted on an extendable arm beside the sink, illuminated by a halo of light and with enough magnification to reveal every brow hair you’ve somehow missed at home. It’s the only time I ever feel as though I have 20:20 vision when it comes to applying make-up, plucking my eyebrows or assessing whether the BHA serum I’ve been diligently using has actually done anything for my pores.
Shop Vogue’s top light-up mirrors at a glance:
Admittedly, there’s an argument to be made that none of us needs to inspect our skin at 10-times magnification – most dermatologists would probably prefer we didn’t. Get close enough to anyone’s face and you’ll find pores, hairs and texture that you were blissfully unaware of from a normal distance – and which, crucially, nobody else can see either. And yet once you’ve applied make-up in really good lighting, it’s surprisingly difficult to go back.
The best light-up mirrors are designed to provide bright, even illumination, with many recreating natural daylight to give a more accurate view of how your make-up will look once you leave the house. Magnification is useful for everything from brow maintenance and eyeliner to inserting contact lenses, while adjustable light settings allow you to see your make-up in different environments.
There are now options for every kind of set-up, too. Large illuminated mirrors can take up permanent residence on a dressing table, wall-mounted designs offer the closest approximation to the hotel experience, while compact, rechargeable versions are useful for travelling.
Below, Vogue’s edit of the best light-up mirrors to shop now.
Best overall: Simplehuman Sensor Mirror Round
Simplehuman
Sensor Round Mirror
- Why it’s Vogue-approved: I’ve stayed in many hotels that use these exact mirrors, not only in the hotel en-suite, but in the spa changing rooms too. The 5x magnification is enough to make eyebrow maintenance infinitely easier, while the ring of light is bright, even and genuinely useful if you’re doing evening make-up. It also comes in brushed silver, rose gold, white and matte black, so it feels more like a considered piece of bathroom furniture than beauty tech. And better still, one charge lasts for up to five weeks.
- Magnification: 5x
- Lighting: Dual light settings; adjustable brightness
- Power: Rechargeable
Best for your dressing table: Beautifect Glow Mirror
Beautifect
Glow Mirror
- Why it’s Vogue-approved: If your morning routine involves a proper sit-down at a dressing table, Beautifect’s Glow Mirror is difficult to beat. The lighting technology has a CRI of up to 97+ and is designed to simulate different real-world environments, including daylight, bright sun and evening light. Translation: there’s considerably less chance of leaving the house believing your foundation is perfectly matched only to discover something very different in daylight. It’s rechargeable and cordless, too, which means no unsightly cable snaking across your dressing table.
- Lighting: Three lighting environments
- Power: USB-C rechargeable
Best for travel: Sensse Glow Up LED Mirror
Sensse
Glow Up LED Mirror
- Why it’s Vogue-approved: As much as I love a good hotel bathroom mirror, you can’t guarantee there’ll be one waiting for you – which is where the Sensse Glow Up Mirror comes in. At 27cm by 19cm, it’s bigger than a compact but still slim and light enough to pack into a suitcase. The protective lid doubles as a stand and can be adjusted to different angles, while three light modes – natural, cool and soft warm – mean you can adapt it according to where you’re going. It’s also fully rechargeable, so there’s no need to sacrifice another precious international adaptor socket while you get ready.
- Lighting: Natural, cool and soft warm
- Power: USB rechargeable
Best compact: LUNA London Compact 2.0
LUNA London
Compact 2.0
- Why it’s Vogue-approved: There are tiny handbag mirrors, and then there are mirrors you can actually do something useful with. The LUNA London Compact 2.0 sits somewhere between the two. At five inches across, it’s small enough to slip into a handbag or carry-on, but large enough to comfortably see what you’re doing. One side offers a standard reflection while the other has 7x magnification – excellent for eyebrows, eyeliner, contact lenses and false eyelash application.
- Lighting: Three dimmable modes
- Power: USB rechargeable
Best for your bathroom: Lusso Stone Lumiere Brushed Gold LED Mirror
Lusso
Lumiere Brushed Gold LED Mirror
- Why it’s Vogue-approved: If what you really want is to recreate the bathroom of your favourite hotel, skip the dressing-table mirror altogether and go straight for something architectural. Lusso Stone’s Lumiere is one of our favourite options: a large, wall-mounted illuminated mirror finished in brushed gold, with natural white LED lighting and an integrated demister. At 800mm, it’s a sizeable investment, but it immediately makes a bathroom feel more polished.
- Lighting: Natural white LED
- Power: Mains
Best affordable: No7 Cordless Illuminated Mirror
No7
Cordless Illuminated Mirror
- Why it’s Vogue-approved: You don’t need to spend £200 to drastically improve the lighting situation on your dressing table. No7’s illuminated mirror is something of a high-street classic, and the latest cordless iteration does away with one of my biggest bugbears: the trailing wire. The double-sided design swivels between a regular mirror and 5x magnification, while touchscreen illumination is designed to minimise glare and shadows. It’s USB rechargeable, too, so you can move it between bedroom and bathroom without searching for a plug.
- Magnification: 1x and 5x
- Power: USB rechargeable
Best for natural-looking light: Fancii Vera Lighted Vanity Mirror
Fancii
Vera Lighted Vanity Mirror
- Why it’s Vogue-approved: The true test of any make-up mirror isn’t how good you look while sitting in front of it; it’s whether your make-up still looks good when you leave the house. Which is where the Fancii Vera comes in. Its Tru-Glow system has a CRI of 95+ and three dimmable settings designed to mimic different environments: natural daylight for everyday make-up, neutral light for more precise work and soft white for evenings.
- Lighting: Natural daylight, neutral and soft white
- Power: Rechargeable