Home bargains ring light / Equatech ring light review

January 17, 2021
Home Bargains ring light as demonstrated on brown skinned girl

So I finally caved in and bought a ring light. If like me you’re not a mega influencer and just want a cheap ring light for video and photos that won’t take up too much space in your house, AND something that passes the brown girl skin test, then this review of the Home Bargains ring light is for you. 

The Equatech ring light, popularly referred to as the Home Bargains ring light (even though you can actually buy it from Amazon as well as Home Bargains), is something that a lot of Youtubers are raving about. For the purposes of this review, I’ll be alternating between referring to the right light as the Equatech ring light and Home Bargains ring light.

I was initially hesitant to buy a ring light because:

  • I’d bought professional lights in the past for my YouTube videos and barely used them. 
  • These long abandoned studio lights just take up space at home.
  • As a working mum-of-two I barely have time to brush my hair let alone shoot videos and create content.
  • As a blogger who is against airbrushing and filtering, I want to keep my videos real and don’t like over-polished editing. 

However, I still want my YouTube subscribers to have good, watchable content. I’ve also found that with brown skin, makeup doesn’t always show up as well, or at least my humble iPhone6 camera doesn’t do it justice unless there’s great lighting. So after asking the fountain of knowledge that is Instagram, I decided to opt for this affordable ring light. 

Here’s my honest video review of the Home Bargains ring light which displays all the settings. I played around with the light whilst filming my latest videos, the Dr Paw Paw lip balms review and the Dcypher foundation demo.

The Equatech ring light in a nutshell

  • The Home Bargains ring light costs £20 for the 13inch with LED and tripod version. You have to pay for postage, however if you buy on Amazon you can get free postage over £20 or make use of Amazon Prime. 
  • It comes with three light settings ranging from cool to very warm, which you can see in my YouTube video. 
  • It has a fully extendable tripod stand so you can raise it above your head. 
  • The Equatech 13inch ring light comes with a goose neck phone holder so you can makes videos or take photos in both portrait and landscape setting. 
  • The Home Bargains ring light is super easy to assemble and put away. It’s also light, portable and doesn’t take too much space. I’ve kept mine assembled and put it in the corner of my room.

I’ve tested out the Home Bargains ring light in all three light settings, as well as during dull and bright weather and with the curtains open and closed.I

Home bargains ring light review – my honest verdict 

Now, when I was recording the video I shared my on the spot always honest thoughts. I felt that I preferred natural light to the ring light. However, since using the Equatech ring light for photos, I found it does an amazing job of brightening, warming and illuminating my shots and therefore my brown skin. 

See the before and after evidence here… can you see which one has used the ring light? 

Pros of the affordable ring light 

  • It’s a cheap ring light for video content
  • The warm light settings are very flattering for Asian / brown skin tones. 
  • It’s super easy to assemble.
  • The Equatech ring light is very easy to use and with a long wire that has a switch to control the settings so you don’t have to move around a lot (crucial when you’re recording content and don’t want to have your head cut off on the video). 
  • Does brighten up your photos as proven by these before and after pictures.

Cons of the ring light 

  • Personally, natural light is better than a ring light if you can get it.
  • The blue cool setting makes my brown Asian skin look a little washed out as you can see in the video here.

Is this affordable ring light worth buying? 

Is an affordable ring light the way to go? Or should you spring for a more expensive model? So for me, I think the ring light is worth buying. I’d recommend it if you want a cheap ring light that does a pretty decent job of improving your pictures and creating videos when you’ve not got great natural lighting. Especially if you live in a house with small windows.

I’ve not tried the more expensive ring lights such as Neewar, but more me, a blogger who occasionally shoots video and wants something affordable, portable and easy to use, the Home Bargains ring light is a great option. 

HalimaBobs

About the Author

HalimaBobs

I’m a British-Bengali Muslim mum-of-two. My pictures aren’t filtered and neither are my words. I’m not a makeup artist, chef or lifestyle guru. I’m just me, sharing honest beauty reviews for brown skin, halal restaurant finds, travel inspo, mum life hacks, easy Bengali recipes and more. If that’s your bag, keep reading!

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