What's In The Bag?

As a proper girly-girl and makeup lover, I'm almost always packing...a handful of makeup goods that is! I've been known to lug around more than my fair share of lipsticks, but when I'm trying to travel lightly, I carry only a handful of beauty essentials.

Here's what you'll find in the very cute Vera Bradley bag in my purse:

• A nail file. I swear by Tweezerman's Filemate. Why? Because for $5, I get a decent file with a cute design and a durable plastic case. The importance of the case shouldn't be overlooked. It seems that I get gunk in the bottom of my makeup bag and purse, but my file stays clean thanks to its sheath!
• Tweezers. It always seems that the best lighting is in my car. So when I find a stray hair that needs to be plucked, I always have tweezers at the ready. Really...it seems like there are a million uses for tweezers, so I just keep a pair with me at all time. While I use Tweezerman at home, my Anastasia tweezers go with me in my bag.
• Burt's Bees Lip Balm. Ah, the ubiquitous Burt's Bees! I think everyone in the world has a tube or two of this stuff floating around. I love it, my husband swears by it, hell--even my 6 year-old nephew loves it!
• Oral B Floss Picks. My sister uses these and told me about them. She loves them and so do I! You never know when you have something yucky stuck in your teeth, and who wants to run around with a big chunk of parsley in their teeth? These floss picks are really great. They're easy to pack into my bag and they even easier to use. They let you get the back teeth with agility and have become a beauty bag essential for me.
• My lipstick du jour. I'm trying to get better about carrying around only the lipstick I actually need for the day. Above I have a tube of Bare Escentauls Buxom Lips...I'll tell you about that in a future post!
• Pressed powder. Cover Girl pressed powder is cheap and convenient. It keeps the shine down and sets my makeup, allowing for an instant beauty pick-me-up.
• Eyeglass lens cleaner. I wear glasses--I have since I was 12 and don't plan to change my 4-eyes ways. I always have pre-moistened eyeglass cleaner with me to swipe away any fingerprints that inevitably end up on my lenses.
• A compact. I have a cute little Kuromi compact that I picked up in the Hello Kitty store in Seattle's International District. Just because I'm over 30 doesn't mean I can't have anything fun and cute in my life!

That's all I carry. I don't have too many products with me because I'm a firm believer that makeup is best applied at home. I wake up early to get my face done and don't feel the need to pack my whole makeup bag with me when I'm out and about.

What do you carry in your bag? What are your portable beauty essentials?