This review comes straight from my wife. She passionately believes this mirror is excellent for the beginner make-up user or someone who just plain wants a makeup mirror at a great price. Her take: So I'm painfully new at makeup, and the idea of buying a makeup mirror was rather daunting. Do I go cheap or expensive? Will this be a bad investment in my morning routine? I heard great things about the Ottlite line, but I eventually decided to go with Conair after reading some third party reviews. In particular, I heard great things about the Conair Reflections series, as some of their other products have that cheapy feel to them. Reflections, for the price, is a cut above. I am extremely happy I went with this mirror. ••Batteries•• It does need 3 AA batteries, but I don't find this to be a negative. It might be a problem if we didn't live in the age of rechargeables, but we do... and the portability is a bonus. My vanity is rather small right now, and no plug/cord taking up space is exactly what I wanted. As well, if I need to transport it anywhere, it's as easy as grab and go. ••Brightness•• So this thing doesn't have bulbs that you have to replace. Rather, it has ringed LED light that won't need replacing. I admit, I assumed the batteries may not give the brightest light, but I was wrong. The mirror has 2 light settings: low and high. I use High all the time because the room my vanity occupies only has a ceiling light, and it's not that strong. In spite of this, it's easy to see how my makeup will look due to the lights from this mirror providing the right brightness. Basically, it's not super bright, but it simply doesn't have to be. In my photos below the review, I show all of the settings in order from left to right: off, high, and low. ••Weight and Craftsmanship•• The mirror is light, but it feels well-crafted. If you were to accidentally knock into your vanity or the mirror, it won't fall over easily. However, if you tried to club someone over the head in self defense, it would likely break. Basically, its light enough to lift easily but not so light you need to be dainty with it. The switch has a good feel to the click for turning off, low, or high. Also, when you're turning the mirror from 1x view to 7x view, it flips easily but not so easily that it will want to keep going. ••How I learned to love the Zoom!•• The 7x zoom is amazing. I wasn't aware how helpful it can be. You just need to lean in a bit, and you can highlight your eyes with ease. My eyeliner has been going on a LOT more evenly and smoothly, as well as my mascara. I find the 7x is perfect for getting used to a mirror with zoom. Also, I need glasses, but the 7x zoom does not bother my eyes at all, which I really appreciate since I can't wear my glasses while doing my makeup. ••Size•• The mirror is small enough that it won't take up too much of the vanity; however, the size is perfect in capturing your entire face without having to be too far back from it. ••Conclusion•• Overall, I'm extremely happy that this is my first make up mirror for my vanity. The Conair is perfect for the price point, and I am NOT planning on replacing it any time soon. Frankly, it beats out many other mirrors on Amazon, along with a handful of $100 mirrors I scoped out at Bed Bath & Beyond. I could see myself using this until the LED lights die, which per reviewers on Amazon.com, may take quite a while.
