What's In My Bag

Ah, the handbag. Yes, I do need to carry my whole life around with me on a near-daily basis, and yes, I do need a relatively large bag to do so. My weapon of choice? The Zara Office City Bag. With three zipped compartments, including a padded one to carry your laptop in, as well as two roomy in-between compartments with smaller zipped compartments added into the lining, this bag is ideal for the organisation freak that I am. And that's in terms of functionality alone. This bag has a sleek black faux leather exterior, with no unnecessary bells and whistles, and lovely gold-coloured zips along the top. Perfect for those slightly more formal occasions, but also for smartening up any casual outfit, this is just my kinda bag.

What's pictured above forms the "can't live without" part of my handbag. Even if I'm switching to something smaller, these items will always be with me. First and foremost, my Oyster card is tucked away in the cute floral-patterned card holder, which I purchased from Habitat a year ago. You can find similarly cute ones here and here. My precious phone is housed in a black and blue case from Paperchase, and my money and cards live in my black Oliver Bonas purse/wallet (this was bought two years ago, but you can still buy the same one in several bright colours). Another essential that engenders slight heart palpitations those times when I realise that I don't have it with me is my black Moleskine diary. The iCal on my phone can only do so much (actually, it's useless), and I'm a pen-to-paper kinda girl. Plus, with my Moleskine, I can colour-code to my heart's content. Did I mention I'm an organisation freak?

Onto the beauty bits. I'm not one for touch-ups throughout the day, so makeup does not really feature amongst my handbag essentials. In fact, the only makeup item here is my MAC lipstick in Plumful. It's a Lustre finish, and imparts a subtle plum sheen (go figure) that just about fits the bill for an everyday daytime lip colour. Aside from the lipstick, I seem to keep two (or more) of everything else.

I feel irrationally vulnerable if I don't have my antibacterial hand gel with me, as though all the nasty London tube and bus germs are out to get me. The two hand gels I carry around don't have that awful smell of alcohol: the Soap & Glory Hand Maid Hand Cleansing Gel actually smells like a fruity-citrus perfume, and no one would ever guess you were using hand sanitiser (unless they actually saw you use it, of course); and my other non-smelly sanitiser is the Cuticura Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel, which smells refreshingly of cucumber and garden mint. Whilst these gels don't stink of alcohol, they certainly contain it, and therefore it makes my hands very dry. To remedy this, I have my dynamic duo of beautifully fragrant hand creams, including the Soap & Glory Hand Food, and the Crabtree & Evelyn Pomegranate, Argan and Grapeseed Hand Therapy.

Keeping with the fragrance theme, I have three sample-sized perfumes, and two small bottles of perfume. I'll reiterate here that, with perfumes, I need to use a specific perfume to suit my mood or the weather that day, hence the multitude of smelly things I like to carry around with me. My samples include:

• Diptyque's Vetyverio (vetiver as I've never known it before, with citrus, spices and wood all mixed into one) and 
• Do Son (a gorgeous tuberose and iris concoction), and 
• Jean-Claude Ellena for Frédéric Malle's Angéliques Sous La Pluie (Ellena's genius once again transpires in this herbal and woody composition, that elicits the scent of a herb garden just after rainfall). 

The larger-sized perfumes include:

• Jo Malone's Blackberry & Bay Cologne (citrus and herbs with a hint of fruit, just bordering on sweet, but fresh enough to remind me of the tartness of blackberries) and 
• The timeless Calvin Klein CK One (citrus hit mellowed out by underlying musk and green tea).

With lip balms, my preferred choice is the Elizabeth Arden Eight-hour Cream. As we're moving into the autumn/winter months, a heavy duty balm like the Eight-hour Cream is just what I need. If I want something that doesn't require the use of my fingers, the Burt's Bees Rejuvenating Lip Balm with Acai Berry fits the bill and also smells incredible.

Last but not least, staying hydrated is an non-negotiable necessity. Therefore, I always have a bottle of water with me, filled up with tap water from home. And if my mother taught me one thing, it's that you never leave the house without tissues. They're not just for blowing your nose - you never know when they might come in handy.