Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be able to show you what's in my bag as part of Charlie's ongoing guest series this August. Thanks for letting me be a part of it! I'm Erika and you can find me over at Erika Does Life, my fashion, lifestyle, and beauty blog!
I thought that a "What's in my bag?" post would be the perfect post because I've just recently changed over my bag and so I really thought about what I need in there on a daily basis. This summer has been horribly rainy and so I haven't been able to use the majority of my bags as they are open top. Annoying. The bag that I've been using for the last two weeks is by London Fog, and I got it off of Little Black Bag (RIP!). I am a fan of large bags, so this is actually quite tiny for my liking, but I feel like in summer, I need less on the day-to-day than I do in winter, so it's been alright for me!
The first 'category' of things that I keep in my bag is beauty and skincare products. In the summer, I am especially prone to breakouts because sun + no breeze = sweatiness (ew!) and so I need to keep a treatment with me in case I can feel something popping up. I use the Murad 30-day kit when I am travelling and so I keep it in my bag as well. Murad isn't my daily skincare brand, but I do like their treatment gel a lot. I will usually put on just a bit and touch up my makeup after it's dried in that area.
The next product that I carry with me is a relatively new one. I always bring mascara with me, that's nothing new, but I've only recently discovered the amazing Lights, Camera, Flashes mascara by Tarte. It's going to become my new mascara. It's amazing. My lashes are incredibly well-lengthened and volumized after just one coat of this, and even when I put on more for added pop, my lashes never clump. It also tends to stay put with minimal transfer, but it's easy to get off at the end of the day, unlike other brands.
In the summer, I often don't wear lipstick, but I need to have something on my lips that is hydrating and can get into my lip creases so that they don't get sore. I find that Smith's Rosebud Salve is the most soothing product by miles. I've been using it for about three years now and I doubt that I'll ever change as long as Smith's is around!
The last beauty product that I have been carrying with me is the pinkish-corally lip color by H&M that I picked up when I was in Paris. I've been shocked by how good the products are, considering how cheap they were - less than five Euros for lipstick? That's crazy!
The next set of things in my purse are things that I automatically have in every purse. I never leave my house without hand cream because my hands just get so dry, I don't really know why. It's horrible. I especially have to be sure to moisturize around my cuticles. Years of nail biting and picking at my skins - a gross habit, I know - left them in horrid condition and though they are getting better, I've noticed that moisturizing them has made a huge difference. My favorite hand cream by far is Bliss' Blood Orange & White Pepper cream. You only need a small dollop to completely cover both hands and it absorbs nicely into the skin. I hate the feeling of slimy hands after moisturizing!
Obviously, everyone has keys in their purse. I'm aware that my key ring is super ugly, but I lose small key rings and I liked that this one had three separate key sections so I can separate my work keys and home keys.
Next up is my wallet. I'm obsessed with it and the Parisians were, too! I got loads of compliments on it by cashiers. It's from Aldo and you can probably still get it because I didn't buy it that long ago. It's got loads of spots for cards, which is great since I have about a million memberships and the change wallet is detachable so that you can lighten up your wallet a bit if you know you won't need change.
I've only started carrying an umbrella full time this summer. It's just been so rainy that I can leave the house in the morning and by the time that I go home from meetings at 3pm, it's now in torrential downpour mode. So a small umbrella was a must. I got that one from the pharmacy and I liked the solid wooden handle.
The last category of stuff is organizational tools! I recently added the "Logical" notebook to my bag as it's nearly school time and I have to have a notebook for my Teaching Assistant duties. I have to take notes, write down what I've done each week to log my hours, etc. The notebook is great because it has both ruled pages and regular lines, so I can do architectural sketches when I need to and just take regular notes the rest of the time.
I also never leave my house without my vlogging/everyday camera, a canon powershot, so I keep a memory card with me. My better quality one stays in my canon t3i.
The black notebook with the legs is from the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris. They were still selling them even though the exhibition was over and I couldn't resist picking up the little trio since I'm a fan of Mapplethorpe's work. It's my general notebook where I keep notes in various meetings.
The last item in my bag is my agenda! I did a really comprehensive tour of the agenda on my youtube channel if you'd like to see it! I recommend watching the video because I tell you not only about the agenda's contents but also how I organize my life and hopefully that can be of some use to you!
And that's it! It's a small purse but as you can see, it holds quite a bit! Comment and let me know what you keep in your purse, or if you think I'm missing anything essential!
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