Illuminated Mirrors Blog

Why opt for a bathroom mirror with a built-in wireless Bluetooth speaker?

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There is a lot of scope for customisation with the illuminated mirrors that we offer for bathrooms. We can make you an illuminated bathroom mirror with the lights arranged in a dotted formation, while you can also specify what dimensions you desire for the mirror to enable it to fit “just right” in your space.

What you might not have realised, though, is that we can even equip your new mirror with a wireless Bluetooth speaker.

Would this add-on prove something of a gimmick? Not necessarily in your case! Here are several reasons why you could reap significant benefits from it.

Bluetooth is a mainstream, widely adopted connectivity standard

You probably already use Bluetooth quite a lot to connect your smartphone, iPad or even laptop to wireless accessories, including headphones or earphones.

So, once your Bluetooth-compatible mirror has been installed, you shouldn’t struggle to set it up with your device. You will also be able to play audio from online platforms that you may already be accustomed to using, such as Spotify and Audible.

You can enjoy listening to music while washing yourself

For many of us, bathing or showering can be a soothing experience. Unfortunately, though, we have to emphasise the “can be” part.

Washing oneself can be such a routine process, you might do it without a lot of conscious thought. This situation, in turn, can leave your mind with something of a vacuum it desperately needs to fill.

Have you often found yourself fraught with worry while in the bath or shower? If so, you could pleasantly distract yourself by playing music out of a Bluetooth speaker affixed to the mirror.

Why not catch up on your ‘to read’ pile of books as well?

What if you usually like to read but often lack enough free time to do so? If this sounds like a present dilemma of yours, you could consider consuming more of your books in audio form. That way, you would be able to “read” (we should really say “listen to”) them at times when you are typically too busy with other things.

Those “other things” could include bathing and showering, as any audiobooks that you own on platforms like Amazon’s Audible and Apple Books could be played via the Bluetooth speaker.

Even ‘water-resistant’ phones aren’t always safe in the bathroom

At this point, you might be wondering: “Couldn’t I just do all of these things with my phone?” After all, many smartphones are now water resistant as standard. Nonetheless, it’s important to pay close attention to the term “water resistant”, as it does not mean exactly the same thing as “waterproof”.

There will be specific circumstances in which a water-resistant smartphone model can withstand water damage — and those circumstances may be more limited than you imagine.

Conversely, a bathroom mirror — even one with Bluetooth connectivity — is specially designed to be used in the bathroom.

To learn more about how an illuminated bathroom mirror could enrich your bathroom routine, please reach out to us today.

5 reasons why a lighted mirror can make your bathroom more eco-friendly

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According to data collected by the Office for National Statistics in the summer of 2023, almost 90% of adults in Great Britain have made at least some eco-conscious changes to their lifestyles.

You may be surprised by how easily you can “green” your bathroom when you know how. Have you considered switching to recycled toilet paper, cleaning the bath, toilet and sink with biodegradable wipes, and using soap bars rather than liquid soap from plastic bottles?

Doing your bit for the environment doesn’t have to deny you a lighted mirror in your bathroom, either — as the following points show.  

Our products are truly built to last

10-year warranty across our product catalog

We select only high-quality components for inclusion in the bathroom mirrors we offer, which we make by hand to ensure we can keep watch over every stage of the assembly process.

This leaves us with so much confidence in the build quality of our mirrors, that most of them come with a 10-year guarantee.

We wouldn’t want you to have to replace a bathroom mirror only a few years after buying it — especially if it could risk ending up on a landfill as a result.

We use easily recyclable materials as standard

Once we have provided you with an illuminated mirror, your household will hopefully enjoy using it for far longer than even the 10-year guarantee period.

Nonetheless, if you decide to replace this mirror sooner (for example, because your aesthetic tastes change), it will be perfectly possible for many of its materials — including aluminium, electrical components, and the reflective glass — to be recycled via a recycling facility near you.

Our bathroom mirrors consume energy efficiently

Why is this the case? Well, the illumination on these mirrors comes from LED lights, which use 90% less energy than conventional incandescent lightbulbs.

Also, we equip all our LED mirrors with infrared on/off sensors. So, you can switch the lighting on or off just by waving a hand at the sensor. It’s all so easy that you are less likely to overlook switching off those lights before leaving the room.

We are sourcing more and more components locally

We have long relied heavily on Chinese parts due to their impressive quality. Over time, however, we have also established relations with more British suppliers.

Naturally, those components that we do order from the UK & European markets don’t have to be transported over as long a distance in order to reach our workshop. This all bodes well for our carbon footprint — and by extension, your own when you buy a bathroom mirror from our team.

We take a bespoke approach

When you initially ask us for a lighted bathroom mirror, you can specify the design you want for it. When we have this information at close hand right from the start of the manufacturing process, we can save ourselves from using more materials and other resources than strictly necessary.

To learn more about the green benefits you can reap from adding a lighted mirror to your bathroom, please contact us.

5 Features You Could Have Incorporated Into Your Next Bathroom Mirror

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A bathroom mirror doesn’t have to be a basic and merely “utilitarian” item – it can “reflect” the highest aspirations you have for your interior space, in more ways than one.

For a demonstration of what we mean, you might consider some of the features we can build into an LED mirror that we hand-craft for you. Whether you are a homeowner carrying out bathroom remodelling, or a trade customer, you will hopefully be inspired by these possibilities.

CCT LEDs give you the flexibility to switch between cool and warm lighting options.

CCT LED lighting

Did you know that all our mirrors now use CCT LED strip? This enables you to achieve cool and warm lighting on a single strip, as opposed to the previous situation with our backlit mirrors, where we had to ask customers to select either warm or cool lighting.

So, at any one time, you can take advantage of the more flattering warm light (which is great for selfies), or the more practical cool light, which gives truer colour in the reflection. The latter is perfect for the application of makeup, as what you see in your reflection in the cool light will be what others see when they “check out your look” in the street.

Rigel Shaver Edge Mirror
Bathroom mirrors with integrated shaver socket

A shaver socket

Achieving an immaculate shave will be important to you in a wide range of scenarios – whether you’re looking to make the best possible impression at that job interview, or getting yourself more than presentable for your son or daughter’s wedding.

Yes, an LED mirror from us can incorporate a discreet shaver socket for your utmost convenience.

Ambient K36s Shaver
Aura ambient underlighting/downlighting

Aura underlighting

It is a feature that you might not give a great amount of thought to including in your next bathroom mirror, until you realise just how profoundly such ambient illumination can infuse this part of your home with atmosphere.

With Illuminated Mirrors, you get eight different lighting colours to choose from. This enables you to bring to your bathroom the same pleasing vibe from the “mood lighting” you might already have installed elsewhere in your house, cultivating a sophisticated, “spa-like” environment.

Leon Audio Shaver
Play your favourite playlist directly through your mirror or cabinet

Audio Bluetooth capability

Once upon a time, if someone had suggested to you that your bathroom mirror could play your favourite music while you enjoy an evening soak, or even play an audiobook, you might have thought that person was referring to something they’d seen in The Jetsons.

Times change, of course; the next LED mirror you invest in for your bathroom could easily give you such multisensory experiences via a Bluetooth-connected device.

Creative engraving

You might have a vague familiarity with crude engraving, but we aren’t referring to that here; we’re talking about high-tech laser engraving.

Nothing less than the very best, most accurate finish is acceptable when it comes to etching a pattern onto the glass of an LED mirror for our latest customer. We can even incorporate optional coloured backlighting to maximise the visual impact of your bathroom mirror’s engraved design.

If any of the potential bathroom mirror features outlined above have got you thinking about how we could realise the perfect LED mirror for you, now might be the time to email the Illuminated Mirrors team to begin the discussion. You can also call us on 07893 952 606.

Tips If You Are Looking To Upgrade Your Bathroom’s Electrics

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As the familiar saying goes, water and electricity don’t mix. This is why, when you want to switch the main light in a bathroom on or off, you would typically do so by pulling a cord rather than pressing a standard switch.

However, what if some of your bathroom’s electrics need upgrading? Perhaps an electrician has advised you that an electric shower you have long had in the space should be replaced, or you want to add a light-up bathroom mirror?

Here are some tips that can help you to avoid nasty shocks — of the electric kind or otherwise.

Keep an eye out for IP (Ingress Protection) ratings

Of course, before adding any electrical fittings to your bathroom, you need to decide exactly what those fittings should be. Any that you do choose should come with what is known as an IP rating. The initialism stands for “Ingress Protection” and, in the rating, is followed by two numbers.

These numbers refer to how effectively the product guards against the ingress of solid particles and moisture, respectively. The higher the number, the lower the chance of ingress.

For example, a product rated “IP44” has been scored “4” for its protection against both types of ingress. The score itself means that the product won’t be penetrated by either particles up to 1mm in size, or water resulting from splashes — which you can obviously get a lot of in a bathroom!

Be careful where sockets are installed

Yes, electrical sockets are legally permitted in bathrooms. However, those power outlets must be placed over three metres away from the edge of the nearest bath or shower.

There is an exception to this strict rule when it comes to having a shaver charging point in the bathroom. However, this socket would still need to be far away enough from the bath or shower to be safe from water splashes.

So, if you do want to be able to regularly recharge your shaver while in the bathroom, you might be confused about exactly where the socket could go without coming across as unsightly.

One thing that you could do is order a light-up bathroom mirror from our team here at Illuminated Mirrors. Why? We would be able to create that mirror in a custom design for you.

There are many different flourishes and features you could choose from for your mirror. For a start, you have free rein over the mirror’s size and shape. Especially crucially, you could have an electric shaver socket built into the mirror as well.

This socket will be sited on the bottom-right edge of the mirror’s frame, which will make it easily accessible — no small boon when you are in a rush to get ready in the morning.

We are happy to report that we can deliver backlit bathroom mirrors to addresses across the UK. To find out more about the custom-built mirrors we offer, please contact us today [email protected].

Why Should Bathroom Lighted Mirrors Be Created On A Bespoke Basis?

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When it comes to centrepieces for the bathroom, one could barely hope for something more stunning than an illuminated mirror.

Indeed, such is the importance of bathroom lighted mirrors – not just for their most obvious practical benefits of reflection and illumination, but also for aesthetically “completing” the given bathroom space – one could argue that they should always be made to order.

But why else does requesting a bespoke service for the creation of a bathroom illuminated mirror – such as ours here at Illuminated Mirrors – make so much sense? Below, we set out some classic reasons.

Custom mirror design by Illuminated Mirrors

Having your mirror custom-made offers a huge amount of freedom

Yes, it’s the “obvious” reason to request made-to-order bathroom lighted mirrors – the fact that you won’t be limited in any obvious way when it comes to your mirror’s “look”, all-round design, and feature set.

In practice, of course, there might be some modest restrictions when you turn to us for bathroom lighted mirrors – around 2.5m x 3.4m, for example, is the biggest you can have a single mirror panel. Even if you require a mirror larger than this, though, we can bring together multiple mirror panels in elegant ways to create the remarkable effect you desire in your space.

Otherwise, with the Illuminated Mirrors team, it is largely a case of… if you want it in your mirror, and you can imagine it, get in touch with us! We can talk you through the feasibility elements, to help ensure you really can “dream big” when it comes to bathroom lighted mirrors.

Your mirror. Your way. Reflect your style.

You can incorporate features that you might not have previously considered

It is easy to imagine that there are only so many things a mirror can possibly be. Well, you will likely be forced to think again when it comes to our bespoke service.

All our bathroom lighted mirrors, for example, use CCT LED strip, which allows for both cool and warm lighting to be provided by a single strip.

You can also ensure your next mirror incorporates the Aura underlighting that will infuse your bathroom with a “spa-like” atmosphere, there being no fewer than eight different lighting colours to pick from.

Looking away from the lighting, you might not have previously given much thought to your next bathroom mirror having audio Bluetooth capability to enable it to play your favourite music.

Indeed, with the likes of USB capability, a shaver socket, and IP44 protection also all possible with your next bathroom mirror, it really can be practically everything you want it to be.

Illuminated Mirrors, Made in Britain.

The opportunity to benefit from the best in British craftsmanship

We don’t “order in” our bathroom lighted mirrors from anywhere else – we really do handcraft them ourselves using the finest materials, right here in the UK.

So, it isn’t merely the last word in creative and design freedom, elegance, and sophistication that you can expect from us – we are also the patriotic choice! To learn more about what all of that could mean for your next bathroom mirror, please don’t hesitate to contact our team today.