small LED setup for vanity mirror lighting (help please!)

[booherbg]

Hi guys. This is my first post. I've been lurking the forums from time to time and I finally have a project where I can get my feet wet with high powered LEDs. I'm building a simple setup for a friend. We're putting together a promotional piece for a project and as a part of this piece we will have a face mirror so people can see their reflection. I'd like to create an LED setup that runs on batteries that can light up people's faces. I'm good w/ the battery and circuitry, I'm having a hell of a time figuring out what to do about the LEDs.

I was at first looking at traditional LEDs but this seems perfect for high powered LEDs. Here are my requirements:

1. Has to generate enough light so that a person's face is lit up, but not so bright that they can't look into the mirror.
2. Obviously this can't be a "point" light source, the lights should either be super wide angle or diffused, either by bulb or with a cover so that I don't blind someone on accident!
3. Doesn't have to be crazy high powered. Ideally I would like to power this for a few hours, but i can always just throw more batteries into the battery pack.
4. 1 or 2 lights are OK, but even like 5-6 lower powered lights would be good too. We'll make it work cosmetically speaking.

So given those requirements, I'm having a really hard time figuring out what I should order so that I don't blind someone and waste mine and my friend's time by completely being out of the ballpark on the first order. I'm also very confused at all the reflectors, brackets, mounting options, heatsinks, and lens options. It feels like as soon as I find a wide angle option with a lens that I know fits, I find out that it is out of stock in some way or another.

So can anyone recommend either an LED series to look at, or a specific kind of reflector / part that would be OK/safe for this application?

Thanks again and I'm sorry if this is completely noobie. I'm learning but it's a slow process.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Power LEDs are great if you can diffuse them. But I suggest this build:

Get LED strip lights. In the US, Amazon has them for about $15 for a 15-foot roll. They want 12V, which you'll have to solve. They produce good diffused light IF you use a diffuser or wall-bounce. The strip in my kitchen is about 12W worth, and is nearly as bright as the 13W CFL overhead. You REALLY should get "Neutral" or "Warm white" LEDs, in the 3000-4000 kelvin range ("Color correlated temperature).

I can't draw here, so:

Attach the 12V LED lighting strip pointing out from the frame. They have sticky backs, and you want them on the outside of the mirror frame.
Attach some pretty, light-colored (White wood would work well, brushed aluminum too, but polished metal would not) trim around to reflect the light 90 degrees onto the people.

You'll want 12V worth of batteries, which is about 9-10 alkaline or NiMH AAs at least.

Budget should be ... $40 with the mirror already bought? Depends on how much trim and LED strip you need.




2. With Power LEDs.

You still have to diffuse the LEDs. A bare power LED is painful, so use diffuse reflections or diffusers to soften the LEDs and make their apparent size bigger. On the cheap, translucent plastic cups work well. On the expensive, frosted glass looks darn nice. You will have to experiment to see what works.

Also you can use the light-bounce technique above. Point the LEDs into the trim, where they diffuse back onto the people. Note: Power LEDs require more careful heatsinking. You'll need metal things as heatsinks. I suggest a constant-current driver, and preferably a dimmable one, to simplify the electronics decision-making.

So. Questions?