Why would you drop $300 on a makeup mirror when you can spend $15 instead?

There are a few key reasons why I have yet to invest in a fancy simplehuman makeup mirror. First and foremost, I have zero desire to see my pores at an intensified magnification. (If I don’t like what I see in the regular mirror—which is a much closer proximity than anyone other than my husband or child are getting right now—I can employ a variety of products, tools and techniques to make things better.) Running a distant second is the fact that I never actually sit down to do my makeup, so the ergonomics just aren’t there. I would need a super-tall makeup mirror or props for elevation to really reap the benefits—but to be honest, I’m not exactly required to get myself camera-ready these days. (Zoom meetings definitely don’t warrant the expense or effort.)

I did recently purchase a clip-on selfie light for my laptop to brighten things up a bit on my aforementioned Zoom meetings, which has proven to be a worthwhile purchase—and it came in quite handy last night when I felt a few stray hairs as I was washing my face. My office windows face west so my wall mirror is generally ideal for plucking during the latter part of the day, but daylight was already waning so I found myself in a pickle. Well, my clip-on light saved the day when I placed it on my mirror—and all of those almost-invisible stray hairs are history.

But perhaps the main reason I don’t own a magnifying mirror is because I’m a recovering pluck-aholic, and if not for electrolysis I’d still be fighting with my chin on a daily basis. (There’s definitely a genetic component to this issue, as my mom had the same problem—and she would even ask me to get a hair for her if her own attempts failed when I was as young as 10 or 11.) Fortunately those days are in the past, and I’ve gotten to a place where facial hair is somewhat at the bottom of my beauty-concern list (other than occasional DIY dermaplaning). But with this said, my ambience-enhancer for Zoom meetings definitely helped shed new light (pun intended) on those hair-to-get hairs I couldn’t see and could only feel—which not only helps prevent over-zealous plucking, but eliminates the need for me to get my reading glasses (because I try to avoid them unless absolutely necessary).