I have up in one bathroom and down in the other. Both RH stuff. I can't tell much differnce. Yes, down doesn't collect dust. But up hides the curly CFL look too.

You have a good point about the curly bulbs. Thanks.

We just redid the master bath and installed two 3 light sconces above a framed mirror with the lights facing down. The light is not particularly harsh, but we reduced the wattage and are using CFL's. There is also a two bulb ceiling fisture behind to balance out the lighting.

My sense is that upward facing fixtures would mute lighting over the sinks where I think more light is needed.

Down

Thanks. I'll be using down.

I prefer up -- don't like to see the light bulbs...

the best position for any type of lighting for tasks involving the face at at eye level (5'6").
By mounting the fixtures with the glass components facing down,the light level on the face will be greatly increased.
Use a fade dimmer to control the light level for your comfort, and the fade dimmer will lessen the sudden glare
caused by turning the light on

We did ours facing down for 3 reasons. 1) I liked the look better, 2) less dust, and 3) easier for me to change the bulbs. Can you tell that I am getting lazy in my old age......

I've been thinking abou this too. A friend of mine installed sconces on either side of the mirrors and loves it.