Ever wondered what women keep in their bags? (What's In Your Bag?)

Member Name: Charliewhippet

Product:	What's In Your Bag?
Date:	16/07/09 (206 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I have all the essentials in one place

Disadvantages: Can get heavy, sometimes I carry stuff around all day then don't need it.

I love bags and have many of them - all shapes, sizes, colours and fabrics! (You can never have too many.) You see, the ideal is to have a variety so you will always have one which is ideal for your circumstances / outfit. For instance, on a night out: Small bag, usually black or silver so it will go with anything. Really memorable night out / event: As above, but big enough to carry a decent camera. Ordinary days: Big enough for all my purses, makeup, hairbrushes etc. Days with more potential for boredom: Big enough (with strong enough straps) for books, writing pads etc. Needless to say, my bags take a lot of punishment and I find the straps are always the first things to go...

So, here is what I happen to have in my bag TODAY. Tomorrow it will all be different!

1) Purse: It's big 'un - to fit in all my pennies, cards and some random receipts that for some reason I have deemed precious enough to hang on to. One credit card (egg money - 1% cashback, yay!) one debit card, library card, driving license (essential when apparently being 28 isn't enough to get you into a bar without ID) and loyalty cards for Boots, Sainsburys and Tesco. (With every new one I sign up for, I feel that little bit more bourgeois). Also loyalty stamp cards for Cafe Nero (I have a whole pile of these at home, each with one or two stamps), one for Shakeaway (I have been there exactly once...) and one for Krispy Kreme donuts (I dont remember EVER going there! Why do I have this?!)

2) Purse no.2. A rather fetching Hello Kitty design contains my Oyster card and my house / car keys. Which could explain why I do occasionally try to open my door with the oyster or get my keys out in readiness for the tube barrier. (I do tend to be a teensy bit absent minded.)

3) Phone. It's essential. And it's purple. Much as I am sometimes tempted to throw it down a well so PEOPLE WILL STOP BUGGING ME, I love it. It is so much a part of me that I sometimes think that mobiles are something like Philip Pulman-style daemons - they are our constant companions! I certainly have no desire to go back to the days of notes on the kitchen counter to tell people where you are, but I do sometimes wish to gently remind people (espcially colleagues) that my phone is primarily a resource for me, so that I can stay in touch with people when I'm on the move. It is not a device for other people to use to track my every move, 24 / 7. (Am I the only one finds that people get irrationally annoyed if you are not always 100% available? No matter when they call? I can turn my own phone off if I want to! So there.)


4) A couple of cosmetic-type items, although not in anything as organised as a makeup bag. I just have a hairbrush (sadly missing a few bristles) a tiny tub of vaseline, and some of those paper powder things you can get for blotting oil from your face. (Every time I had a compact, the powder would, at some point, decide to un-compact itself, and break up into lots of annoying chunks which would jump out and cover me in beige dust when I unwittingly opened it.) Ooh and I've just found a lipstick I musty have chucked in the bag this morning - one of the little mint green ones you get from Clinique as freebies.

5) A rather lovely cigarette case adorned with Audrey (Hepburn, of course) containing "imps" of perfume from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. (Which you may remember from my review a while back... hey, I'm plugging my own review... is that allowed?!) These sample sizes of perfume are ideal to pop in your handbag to top up your scent during the day, especially if you are easily bored and like to change scent regularly. Today it contains Dana O' Shee, Black Phoenix, Eos, Alice and The Dormouse. If you haven't read my earlier review (shame on you!) suffice to say, these perfume oils have amazing scents based on mythology as well as characters from literature. (Alice in Wonderland is one of my faves....)

6) Mp3 player. Another little piece of equipment whose absence would make my life dull and meaningless. What would I do without some tunes to accompany me in my daily business? I recently stayed at a friends house overnight and forgot to pack my toothbrush or anything to sleep in, but I was safe in the knowledge that my Mp3 player was fully charged up for that long train journey! I have a Sony "Walkman" with 8gb on it.

7) Diary:The journal kind. I do have the usual day to day appointment kind but it is currently residing somewhere on my bedroom floor. I think. I've kept a diary for years - it's cheaper than therapy, and I couldn't stop now if I tried. I do get lazy though, which is why I now need to catch up from last Thursday. (Busy weekend...) I don't normally carry it around with me, but today I thought I might get a chance to write, in between phone calls.I don't have to worry too much about people looking over my shoulder when I'm catching up as my writing is so utterly, utterly appalling that nobody can read it. (Even I have trouble sometmes...)

8) My "to do" list. I always seem to have one. I am working on reception today so it was one of those days when I thought I'd better make a note of some things to entertain me. So, today the note includes, but is not limited to:
a) Catch up with diary (See no.7)
b) Research Arabian Nights (I'm helping to organise an event with this theme)
c) Check bank account (am in the black for once!) d) Spend Dooyoo voucher on Amazon.
Guess which of these little "chores" I have actually managed to do today :-)


And that's it. For today. Tomorrow: dance clothes!

Summary: I don't know how guys can do without bags. You'll stretch your pockets you know!