Things That Apparently Exist: Ottlite CFL Bulbs

A few weeks ago I was raving to someone (again) about my Ottlite makeup mirror, and I went to dig up a link to the product page. Much to my dismay, the page informed me it had been discontinued. Of course, you can still find them pretty easily on Amazon or eBay, but I can only assume they’ll get a little bit scarce if Ottlite doesn’t come out with a different product to replace it. I hope they will, because honestly I think the mirror is a little bit ugly, but it’s the best lighted mirror I’ve found, end of story. For now though, I’ve been looking for another lighting solution to recommend when people ask.

Then I was browsing around Lowe’s because I’ve been thinking of installing some wall lighting around my vanity, and I came across this:

A little bit of poking around on their website tells me this isn’t really a new thing, but I had never seen one of these in the wild before. For some reason I can’t quite explain, these seem to be $14+ at most online stores, but Lowe’s had them for six bucks and some change. A little extra lighting never hurts, so I picked up a couple.

I don’t have a standard lamp near my vanity, so I popped one of the bulbs into a clamp light from the garage (such sophisticated interior design up in here!). It’s definitely pretty blue compared to my overhead light, but the color temperature seems very similar to the mirror’s lighting, which is a really nice daylight color. In fact, the photos in this post were taken under the Ottlite CFL and not color-corrected. It’s nice and bright too. I still want to work out a slightly more elegant lighting solution, but I’m thinking these bulbs will be perfect as far as color and brightness goes.

What do you use to light your vanity – any other favorites we should be aware of?