Frock It! [#604]
Subscribe
X

Subscribe to Forte Magazine

Frock It! [#604]

Things I’ll Always Carry in My Handbag
There’s nothing that feeds my organisation fixation more than organising my handbag. In the same way, there’s nothing that sends my OCD (obsessive cleanliness disorder) into overdrive quite like when a girl opens her bag, unleashing a plethora of six-month-old receipts, dirty napkins, leaking lip gloss tubes and a broken wallet, complete with loose coins jingling around the bottom.
When I’m out of the house, my handbag is my home away from home, and as you may have realised, I like to be prepared for any situation. So, apart from the absolute essentials that you literally cannot leave the house without (phone, wallet, house key), I decided to put together a list of things that I always carry in my handbag.
There is something about having a sticky lip gloss on whilst walking around and having my hair sticking to my lips that makes me angrier than The Hulk stuck in traffic. That’s why I always have a little packet of bobby pins and a few hair ties in my bag at all times. You just never know when you’re going to be in a hair jam and need your hair pulled back.
I’ve been known to have chronically dry skin, so hand lotion is one of those non-optional things in my handbag. It’s probably one of life’s grossest things when the skin on your knuckles and around your nails starts peeling off and you start bleeding from your hands in public. Definitely not cute. Any brand will do, but I prefer one that’s specifically targeted towards nail strengthening and intense hydration.
Sticking with the ‘dry skin’ trend, lip balm is another one of those crucial items I have to have with me. The only thing grosser than my hands cracking apart and bleeding in public is my face cracking apart and bleeding in public. My body is also really annoying and has allergic reactions to pretty much everything, including petroleum-based lip balms, so I try to stay away from them and stick with ‘organic’ lip balms, which is obviously also way better for the environment as well.
If I had to pass on a piece of valuable life advice from my mother, it would be to always carry a little packet of moistened hand wipes. In case I’ve not mentioned it before, I am a clumsy human. I spill everything, especially on days when I’m wearing white. My handy-dandy hand wipes have come to my aid many times, as well as often making me the slightly-too-prepared hero amongst my friends.
Lastly, always carry painkillers – for days when it’s somehow gotten to 2.30 p.m. and you’ve still not had any coffee, your boss is driving you up the wall, your cat has thrown up all over the carpet and your car door has a dent in it from some jerk slamming his car door into yours.
Organisation makes everything so much better.
By Jessica Alves / instagram