We Tested 11 of the Best Lighted Makeup Mirrors, These 6 Are Key to Achieving Flawless Makeup

The Glamcor Riki Skinny Smart Vanity Mirror with HD LED shined in our testing

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InStyle / Tamara Staples

Finding beauty products you actually love is only half the battle. If you really want to perfect your makeup application, you have to make sure you're applying it in the right light. "Proper lighting is everything for a flawless look," celebrity makeup artist Janice Kinjo tells InStyle. "With the right lighting, you can even out, blend, and match foundation to your skin tone." However, with so many options on the market, it can be hard to tell which mirror is worth buying. With that in mind, we set out to find the best lighted makeup mirrors. To do so, we enlisted the help of a handful of reviewers to research the most popular mirrors and test them out firsthand to see which actually live up to the hype.

After thoroughly testing 11 top-rated mirrors — taking into account the mirror's lighting capabilities, clarity, stability and design — we determined the top six lighted makeup mirrors. In the end, the Glamcor Riki Skinny Smart Vanity Mirror with HD LED came out on top thanks to its size and high scores in all of the aforementioned categories. Ready to uncover the other five winners?

Keep reading for the best lighted makeup mirrors, according to InStyle testers.

Our Top Picks
Best Overall:
Riki Loves Riki Skinny Smart Portable LED Vanity Mirror at Amazon ($230)
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Best Value:
Flymiro Tri-Fold Lighted Makeup Mirror at Walmart ($59)
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Best High-Tech:
HiMirror Mini Premium at Walmart ($250)
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Best with Organizer:
Fancii Vanity Makeup Mirror at Amazon ($40)
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Best Compact:
Impressions ChargeUp Compact Mirror at Walmart ($30)
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Best Bluetooth:
iHome Hollywood Pro Vanity Mirror at QVC ($250)
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Best Overall

Riki Loves Riki Skinny Smart Portable LED Vanity Mirror

Glamcor Riki Skinny Smart Vanity Mirror with HD LEDs, Magnifying Mirror Attachment, Phone Holder and Bluetooth Control (White, 10X Magnification)

Amazon

View On Amazon $230 View On Nordstrom $230 View On Walmart $230
Our Ratings
  • Design
    3.5/5
  • Quality
    4/5
  • Durability
    3.5/5
  • Lighting
    5/5

What We Love: You can use this mirror to take the perfect selfie with the help of the included magnetic phone clip.

What We Don't Love: The charging cord can be difficult to connect to the mirror.

You've probably seen this lighted makeup mirror before, whether on your Instagram feed or IRL at department stores. It's popular among celebrities and makeup artists, and according to the brand, both Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez are fans.

The LED lights have five brightness levels and the mirror itself has a retractable stand and charges via USB. "The lights surround the mirror, which aid in lighting up all areas of your face, making it great for makeup application," our reviewer reveals. "Thanks to the different brightness levels, I would have no issue doing my hair or makeup in a darker room with this mirror."

The lighted makeup mirror also comes with a magnetic magnifying mirror in both 5x and 10x options to really get an up close and personal look at your face. "I'm able to see my pores very clearly, which is useful when blending in foundation or tweezing your brows," our reviewer notes.

The best part is, the magnetic phone clip, when attached to the mirror, provides picture-perfect lighting for selfies.

Size: 13" x 9.5" | Magnification: 5x or 10x | Features: Magnetic phone clip

Best Value

Flymiro Tri-Fold Lighted Makeup Mirror

Flymiro Tri-Fold Lighted Vanity Makeup Mirror

Amazon

View On Walmart $59
Our Ratings
  • Design
    4/5
  • Quality
    4.5/5
  • Durability
    4/5
  • Lighting
    4.8/5

What We Love: The three-sided mirror offers a view of your face at various angles.

What We Don't Love: The mirror doesn't offer the option to adjust the brightness

The Flymiro Tri-fold Lighted Vanity Makeup Mirror boasts three magnifications at four different angles. The true 1x mirror sits in the middle and on the left side while a split view 2x and 3x mirrors are on the right side. "The side mirrors magnify close up and provide different views of my face at once," our reviewer says. Plus, the mirror's body can be rotated 180-degrees to help you adjust your vantage point.

The mirror's three panels can be folded closed when not in use, making it ideal for smaller spaces. "I like the fact that the doors shut to avoid damaging or dirtying the glass when [the mirror] is not being used or is being moved to a different location," the reviewer says. She also noted that the mirror is lightweight but stays put when placed on a flat surface.

It's worth sharing that this mirror is available in six colors, such as gold, rose gold, pink, black, green, and white. The sleek, modern design pairs well with any vanity. "I love the design of this mirror — it's aesthetically pleasing and would look nice in any room," she adds.

Size: 9.5" x 7" | Magnification: 1x, 2x and 3x | Features: 180-degree rotation

Best High-Tech

HiMirror Mini Premium

HiMirror Mini Premium

Walmart

View On Walmart $250
Our Ratings
  • Design
    3/5
  • Quality
    5/5
  • Durability
    4/5
  • Lighting
    5/5

What We Love: This smart mirror allows you to stream tutorials on-screen while you get ready.

What We Don't Love: The instructions can be confusing for some users.

The tablet-mirror hybrid takes getting ready to a different dimension. In addition to three digital magnifying options, the mirror helps you try on new makeup looks with an augmented reality feature and of

fers the ability to stream YouTube tutorials to follow along in real-time. The mirror also comes with a skincare analysis component that assesses your skin for wrinkles, fine lines, dark spots, roughness and pores, and monitors the changes in your skin over time to help you stay on top of your skincare goals. Then, it recommends the best products for your skin, based on the assessment as well as environmental factors, like the weather conditions in your area.

The lighting comes in five different setting options modeled after real-life scenarios like Sunny Day, Bright Office and Party Room, so you can test out your look in any situation. "I like how you can make the light brighter or darker as well as warmer and cooler," our reviewer says. "The mirror would be bright enough for all settings without being too harsh."

Best of all, the mirror is adjustable. "It's versatile and easy to change the height" our reviewer shares. The mirror can be moved horizontally and vertically for visibility at every angle.

Something to note: Despite the high-tech features, our reviewer found the mirror a bit confusing at first. "I wish there were more detailed instructions," she notes. "I found some of the features unnecessary."

Size: 9" x 6.73" | Magnification: 1x, 2x and 3x | Features: Amazon Alexa compatible

Best with Organizer

Fancii Vanity Makeup Mirror

Amazon Fancii LED Vanity Makeup Mirror with Cosmetic Organizer

Amazon

View On Amazon $40 View On Planetbeauty.com View On Macy's $65
Our Ratings
  • Design
    4.5/5
  • Quality
    4.5/5
  • Durability
    3/5
  • Lighting
    4.5/5

What We Love: The storage shelf keeps your tools organized.

What We Don't Love: We wish there were more lighting and magnifying options.

A mirror with an attached storage shelf may not have been top of mind, but our reviewers found this all-in-one product to be a great buy. The mirror's sleek base has five compartments to carry makeup, cosmetic tools, and jewelry, which our reviewer found helpful to keep everyday items at hand when getting ready.

The mirror is sturdy but still swivels with ease. "The mirror rotates 180-degrees and smoothly shifts from vertical to horizontal," our reviewer shares. The mirror itself is 1x, but it comes with a magnified 10x mirror that slides out of the side. "I do wish the slide-out mirror could come completely out so you can hold it and use it up close," she noted.

The lighting options are bright, cool-toned, and designed to mimic soft natural sunlight. Our reviewer also added that the brightest option offers the perfect amount of light, but she wishes that the light could be made warmer or cooler.

Size: 15" x 7.3" | Magnification: 1x and 10x | Features: Built-in organizer

Best Compact

Impressions ChargeUp Compact Mirror

Impressions ChargeUp LED Compact Mirror & USB Power Bank

Amazon

View On Walmart $30 View On Impressionsvanity.com $39 View On Wayfair $47
Our Ratings
  • Design
    5/5
  • Quality
    5/5
  • Lighting
    4.5/5

What We Love: It's great for traveling.

What We Don't Love: We wish it had the ability to adjust the brightness.

If you're looking for a lighted makeup mirror that you can quickly throw in your bag while on the go, then this compact pick might be exactly what you need. In addition to a distortion-free mirror and a 5x close-up mirror, this compact doubles as a power bank to charge your phone.

Our reviewer found the compact mirror small but mighty. "The light on this mirror is surprisingly strong for the small size," she says. "It's lightweight, but doesn't feel flimsy."

The one thing we wish we could change about this compact is the lighting features. It offers a neutral light that works well in dim settings, but the brightness can't be adjusted to suit brighter settings.

Size: 3.5" in diameter | Magnification: 1x and 5x | Features: USB power bank

Staged photo of Impressions ChargeUp LED Compact Mirror & USB Power Bank

InStyle / Tamara Staples

Best Bluetooth

iHome Hollywood Pro Vanity Mirror

iHome Hollywood Pro Vanity Stereo Speaker Detail Mirror

Amazon

View On QVC $250 View On Walmart $151 View On Staples $273
Our Ratings
  • Design
    4/5
  • Quality
    5/5
  • Durability
    5/5
  • Lighting
    4/5

What We Love: You can play your favorite songs while you do your makeup.

What We Don't Love: It's not portable and requires a bit of space.

Spending $239 on a mirror might seem like a lot, but as far as lighting and clarity are concerned, our reviewers agreed that this one is well worth the splurge. With a variety of lighting settings and sharp imagery, one reviewer explained that the mirror is high quality and offers a large surface area to see yourself at every angle. "The mini magnifying mirror is very clear and really amplifies my features, which was great for plucking eyebrows," she added.

Finishing your makeup during your 9am work call? We won't tell if you don't. It's never been easier to listen to music or connect to your phone thanks to the mirror's built-in bluetooth speaker. "I always play music when I'm doing makeup, so I loved that this mirror let me stream through its included speakers," our reviewer says.

One downside of this mirror is that it's bulky and somewhat heavy, making it hard to move around. Our reviewer noted that it would be best for someone with a designated vanity area.

Size: 16" x 12" | Magnification: 1x and 10x | Features: Bluetooth speaker

Our Testing Process

To kick things off, we spent about a week researching the top-rated lighted makeup mirrors on the market. After honing in on online ratings, we spent a combined total of 48 hours putting the 11 most popular mirrors to the test. We had each of our testers try the lighted makeup mirrors so that they could analyze the performance of each one and write down their insights in the process. In doing so, our testers rated each mirror on a scale of 1 to 5 for four key categories: lighting, quality, design, and stability. Once all the data was collected, we were able to narrow down the original pool of products to the top six lighted makeup mirrors.

What to Keep in Mind

Lighting

When you're shopping for a lighted makeup mirror, there are a few specific things to look out for if you want a high-quality option. "Important features are dimmable function for brightness and a function to change color temperature from cool to warm orange hues," says Kinjo, whose celebrity clients include Mindy Kaling, Mary J. Blige, and Uzo Aduba. Our Best Overall pick, the Riki Skinny Smart Vanity Mirror, has five brightness levels to light up all areas of the face.

"For deeper skin tones, a cool white light is horrible lighting and makes skin tones look overly light and ashy," she explains. "Therefore, it is important to have some orangey tungsten hues to warm up the white light. A lighted mirror where you can control the color warmth and get the ideal combo of cool and warm lighting is the right lighted mirror for all complexions."

Even if your bathroom or vanity area is already bright, you might still benefit from a makeup mirror with lights. "[A lighted makeup mirror] allows you to see yourself clearly when applying makeup without the cast of shadows typically caused by overhead lighting," says celebrity makeup artist Steve Kassajikian. "This way you always get an even application and blend."

Magnification

Keep in mind that a typical mirror is 1x, so when perusing makeup mirror options, consider how close up you want it to be. Most makeup mirrors come with some level of magnification like 3x or 5x, which make an object appear 3 times or 5 times larger, to help amplify harder to see areas. If you'll be using your mirror to do some detailed work like plucking hairs or putting on false lashes, look for higher magnification like 10x.

Extra Features

While your initial desire for this product may just be a lighted mirror to get ready in front of, the bonus details will seal the deal. Many mirrors come with extra features like USB ports for charging your phone, speakers for playing music, or smart features (like the streaming feature in the HiMirror Mini) that make for the ultimate primping station. If you know you'll be taking your mirror on trips, look for designs that are portable enough to travel with and can be mounted in different locations.

Your Questions, Answered

Are LED lights best for applying makeup?

The short answer is yes. "LED lights are best because [they] will give you a more natural reflection without washing you out," says Kassajikian. Many lighted makeup mirrors on the market use LED lights, but you'll occasionally find some models with fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. LED lights are also more energy-efficient than other types of lighting, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Plus, they might actually keep any makeup that's nearby safe, too. "LED bulbs don't emit heat and cool to the touch, so makeup placed by the mirror won't melt," Kinjo says.

What is InStyle Picks?

Did you notice the InStyle Picks seal of approval at the top of this story? That means our team of testers has reviewed every product on this list using a unique methodology to ensure it's really worth your time, money, and attention. We may get samples for free to try but we never promise positive (or any!) coverage in exchange. Put simply: InStyle picks are products we love, and we've put them to the test to be sure you will too.

Want more product recommendations? From best-in-class concealer to the black pants you need for work, check out all of our InStyle Picks content.

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