Shaving mirrors buying guide
A shaving mirror is a small mirror on an arm that brings the glass to your face instead of making you lean toward the wall. For most people the practical call is a wall mounted arm mirror at 3x to 5x, with a flip side at 1x so one mirror covers both close work and a true-size check. Add a light if the bathroom is lit from overhead, and choose the power type that matches your wiring before anything else. Every mirror in this collection is wall mounted on an extending swivel arm. The sections below cover what they are, how much magnification to choose, light, power, size and reach, mounting height, finish and care.
What a shaving mirror is, and what this collection holds
"Shaving mirror" covers two different products. One is the wall mounted arm mirror, fixed beside or above the basin, that pulls forward when you use it and folds flat against the wall when you do not. The other is the small suction or adhesive mirror that sticks to shower glass or tile. This collection holds the first kind only. Every mirror here screws to the wall, and the extendable arm is the point of it. The arm lets you adjust the position instead of moving your head or body, it folds back into the wall to save space, and the magnified view helps you see detail.
The mirrors here are chrome plated brass, brushed nickel, brushed brass or matt black, in round and square shapes. The sections below use those mirrors for every figure about size, reach, light and power. If you want a larger lit wall mirror for general grooming, makeup mirrors covers the lit wall mirrors, and mirrors shows the whole range. For shower use, read the fog section before you choose a position near the shower.
Magnification: what each level does
Magnification is the main choice, and the levels are well established. The common levels are 2x, 3x, 5x, 8x and 10x. 2x is a minimal increase in image size, commonly used for shaving and quick touch-ups, and 3x is one of the most common levels, giving a clear view without zooming into small detail and suiting any eyesight. 5x is the second most popular level, used for makeup and for putting in contact lenses, and 8x and above gives a very close view for small details but needs the face quite close to the glass.
The case for 3x is simple. A 3x view shows every detail and helps reduce the risk of cuts. It is also gentle: you can see most of your face at a comfortable distance. At 5x you see roughly a third of your face, which is the point where the mirror becomes a tool for edges, brows and detail rather than for the whole job. For shaving the whole face, 3x is the practical level. For tidying a beard line, shaping a moustache or checking a small area, 5x is the sensible step up.
The trade-off between zoom and field of view is fixed. Working distances run from 30 to 45cm at 1x, 20 to 25cm at 5x, 12 to 18cm at 7x, 10 to 15cm at 10x and 7 to 10cm at 15x. A blurry image usually means you are too far from the glass for that level. Magnification comes from the concave shape of the mirror, a higher level means getting closer, and the image may distort until you are close enough. So a high-magnification mirror needs an arm that reaches your face. Reach, covered below, matters as much as the number on the mirror.
Eyesight matters as much as the task when you pick a number. The gradual loss of close focus, presbyopia, is usually noticeable from the mid-forties, and someone who takes their glasses off to shave may find a higher level does the close focusing for them. Younger buyers with sharp near vision are often content with 5x. For a wider choice of magnified wall and bench mirrors, see magnifying mirrors.
Lit or unlit
A lit shaving mirror puts light on the face, and that does two things. Light around the outside of the magnified surface shines onto your face, and it lets you see yourself in the actual light colour, whether warm and yellow or cool and blue. Lit mirrors help if eyesight is poor, but they need a power supply. If power is not available, an unlit mirror is the alternative. The trade-off is that a lit mirror is easier to see in and an unlit one is easier to install.
Power, wiring and who installs it
Read the wiring line on the product page, because it decides who can fit the mirror. The lit mirrors here are designed to be hardwired, with the wiring concealed behind the mounting plate, at 240V. Two lit models offer a second version with a 1.6m lead and plug that goes into a power point, which suits retro-fitting. The unlit mirrors need no power at all, and an unlit mirror can be replaced with a lit one at any time.
Hardwiring is licensed work. In Australia bathroom lighting is licensed work, and an electrician confirms the wet-zone boundaries on site. The lit mirrors carry an IP44 rating, the common bathroom benchmark: protected against splashing water from any direction. Where the mirror sits near a bath or an open shower, ask the electrician to confirm the zone before the wall is finished. The power point or the concealed supply has to be in place behind the mounting plate before the mirror goes up, so decide the position early in a renovation.
Size, arm reach and the basin
The sizes in the collection are compact on purpose. The round mirrors are 200mm or 250mm across, the square mirrors are 200mm by 200mm, and one hardwired model is 450mm by 340mm. Reach is the figure to check against your bathroom. The arm extensions are 320mm, 330mm and 390mm. A mirror that extends 330mm from the wall brings the glass to your face if you stand at the basin and the wall is close. A deep benchtop, or a basin set well out from the wall, may need the longer arm.
Stand where you shave and measure from the wall to where your face sits, then compare that with the listed reach. The magnification guide's working distances give the other half of the check: at 5x the mirror should sit about 20 to 25cm from your face, and at 10x about 10 to 15cm. If the arm cannot reach that far, the mirror will not focus properly, and the higher the magnification, the less forgiving that is. Because the arm swivels and tilts, the mirror can be set to the angle that suits each person, which matters in a shared bathroom.
Mounting height
The mirror needs to sit at the height of the face of whoever uses it most. Heights differ a little, and the differences are worth knowing. Centring a mirror at 1500 to 1650mm from the floor with the bottom edge 100 to 200mm above the top of the tap or splashback is one common set-up. Another puts the centre at about 1450 to 1520mm for an average adult. Average eye level runs from 1600 to 1750mm and households vary, so measure the people who will use it.
Mark the position before you drill. Hold a strip of masking tape on the wall at the height of the glass, stand at the basin and swing your head to where you actually shave. Check that the arm clears the tap, the basin edge and any shelf above it, and that it folds back flat against the wall when you are done. If the arm has to reach across the basin to meet your face, move the plate toward the side you stand on.
Finish and the rest of the bathroom
The mirrors come in chrome, brushed nickel, brushed brass and matt black. The brushed nickel finish is the match for brushed nickel tapware, and the same logic applies to the other finishes. If the tapware is brushed nickel, see brushed nickel tapware. For brass, brushed brass taps. For black, black taps. For chrome, chrome taps.
Fog, steam and the shower
Do not assume these mirrors stay clear in a steamy room. The lit models are rated IP44, which covers splashing water and has no bearing on fog. If you shave in the shower or want a mirror that clears after a hot shower, look at mirror demisters, which holds mirrors with a built-in demister pad. A separate product, the small adhesive or suction shower mirror, is built for use inside the shower, and it is not part of this range.
Care and cleaning
Wipe the arm and the base as well as the glass, and check the swivel through its full range after cleaning, so the head stays where you set it.
Clean a magnified mirror with a soft microfibre or lint-free cloth rinsed in warm water and wrung out well, then wipe gently with a soft dry cloth. Avoid glass cleaner, window cleaner and chemical agents, because they can damage the silver coating and leave brown marks. Wipe the surface rather than spraying it, keep liquid away from the edges and the switch, and dry the glass after use so that water spots do not set. For anything particular to your model, check the installation instructions in the box.
Putting it together
A short route through the decisions, with the reason for each:
- Daily shave, any eyesight: a 3x double sided mirror, because 3x shows detail without narrowing the field of view too far.
- Beard shaping, brows and detail: a 1x and 5x or 8x double sided mirror, because the flip side keeps a true-size view.
- Overhead light only: a lit mirror in the cool white or warm model, because it puts light on the face from the front.
- No spare wiring: an unlit mirror, or a plug-in version of a lit one, because both avoid new wiring.
- Renovation with an electrician on site: a hardwired lit mirror, with the supply concealed behind the mounting plate.
- Small basin or deep benchtop: check the arm reach against the distance from the wall to your face before you choose.
The final check is the same for every mirror: magnification against the task, reach against the basin, light against the room and the wiring line against your power. For related ranges see Thermogroup mirrors and wall mirrors.
