Bathroom & Vanity

Vanity lighting exists to light a face, and a face is lit badly from above. Light from overhead casts shadows into the eye sockets and under the chin; the flattering, useful position is either side of the mirror at roughly eye level, or an even backlight behind the mirror glass.

Color rendering is not optional here. Anyone applying makeup or checking a shave is judging skin tone, and a low-R9 strip makes that impossible — 90+ CRI with real R9 is the minimum specification for a vanity.

The wet rating follows the zone, not the room. A strip behind a mirror on a dry wall is a different case from one in a niche inside a shower enclosure, and the driver has to be listed for the location it is installed in, not the location it serves.