Severe dressing room mirror halogen light trauma (tone, red, pale)

[Woof Woof Woof!]

I just got back from the mall, where I tried on a pair of pants and a shirt in this dressing room at Nordstroms. It was a huge, plush dressing room with a gigantic mirror lit top to bottom by halogen lights.

I slid off my clothes and looked in horror at myself in the mirror as those lights lit up ever dimple, capillary, and vein on my poor, pale little body. The trauma inflicted on me this afternoon was so severe that I have so far eaten five chocolate chip cookies and I am staring down a bottle of red wine.

Has anyone else suffered a similar experience with halogen lights in dressing rooms? How much chocolate and red wine did it take you to recover?

Thanks,

Woofers

[GloryB]

You just can't enter one of those things without a couple of cocktails first.

[Aptor hours]

Yes I understand You may also be a little squeamish thinking about outdoor lighting. The mirror is down in our bedroom right now since we are having work done and I think it is really good since I used to come home from work and get all depressed at how rotten I looked Just skip the chocolate and look at yourself in some candlight

[Jane72]

I definitely have "favorite" mirrors and less favorite mirrors.
One thing I notice about full-length mirrors is that they tend to distort the image they reflect ever so slightly, making it longer and thinner (I've tested this perception by holding my hand up to the glass: yep. My hand is definitely not that long and thin). The farther back one stands from these mirrors, the greater the distortion effect.
So, while I tend to look great- willowy and graceful- in full-length mirrors, I don't trust this perception, because of the distortion factor.
Reflections in car windows distort images the opposite way: they make you look short and squat and wider than you really are.

My bathroom mirror gives me a fairly accurate reflection, in my opinion, although I can only see myself from about the waist up when I stand in front of it.
I tend to perch on my bathroom counter with my feet in the sink when I'm putting on makeup or fixing my hair, because I'm so near-sighted.

[LaceyEx]

Yep a couple of martinis before and you'll be fine-you'll think you have Jolie's body.

[Woof Woof Woof!]

Originally Posted by GloryB

You just can't enter one of those things without a couple of cocktails first.

Good advice, GloryB.... Thank you!

[Woof Woof Woof!]

Originally Posted by Jane72

I definitely have "favorite" mirrors and less favorite mirrors.

Nothing is more evil than halogen.

[StarlaJane]

Oh, I was shopping about a month ago and had the same complaint! I tried on some clothes in a store whose clothes I love and was horrified at their dressing room conditions! I will never shop there again, especially considering that I went to a store after that one that had the most beautifully lit-woman loving mirrors and lighting. I actually said to the saleswoman, "OMG, I love your dressing rooms. I just came from the most horrific dressing rooms at such-and-such!" Suffice to say, I bought a ton of stuff from the store with the better dressing room.
Seriously, when are stores going to realize that an investment in user-friendly dressing rooms will increase their revenues? I don't care how great the clothes are; I'm not going to buy anything if their dressing room makes me feel like ****.

[Woof Woof Woof!]

Originally Posted by StarlaJane

I don't care how great the clothes are; I'm not going to buy anything if their dressing room makes me feel like ****.

Amen.

Honestly, this Nordstrom dressing room was the worst experience ever. The dressing room itself was nice, but the halogen lights that surrounded the mirror top to bottom created the MOST unflattering lighting imaginable. Even my arms had shadows and dimples! What were people thinking when they designed that room? I have no idea.

[coldwine]

Ugh.

I'm a fit, toned, in-shape person with nary an ounce of body fat, but I tell you what-- those damn lights draw out the absolute worst in me. Suddenly I'm 50, haggard and look like I just soaked myself in gasoline and chain-sawed my way through a parking lot of zombies to find this pair of jeans.

As someone who has "alabaster" skin by generous standards and "cadaver" tones by more truthful standards, I feel your pain. Every vein, line and lost night of sleep comes into play.

I'm not even 30. I fooking hate those miserable halogen lights. We should agree to meet somewhere, get really drunk and smash them before the staff knows what we're doing.