Crumbs and all: what's in my bag

Get nosy and peek into what I keep in my everyday bag when I need to have it all, plus a deep dive into the dozen lip products that accumulate at the bottom of my bag

I don’t think I’ve ever done a “What’s in my bag” post, even though they’re some of my favorite posts to read and videos to watch. Truthfully, I think the main reason is that my bags are usually too chaotic and cleaning them out and cataloging the contents is a daunting task. But today I finally tackled the challenge and unearthed all the contents of my current go-to bag for work and errands, crumbs and all. 

I actually switch around my bags on a daily basis and these days, my everyday bags are usually small crossbodies, but this is the bag I have been consistently using for office days or days when I’m out and about and need to carry more things. 

My current bag is the Patricia Nash Vianna Tote, which, fortunately for me and unfortunately for you, I snagged at TJ Maxx, which means that I got it at a great price, but also means it’s impossible to find anywhere. I’ve seen a few pop up on places like Poshmark or Mercari, so it’s worth a shot to try looking for it there. I love that it’s a fairly simple and minimal tote, but has plenty of pockets, which means I can stay somewhat organized.

It’s really the minimal silhouette that caught my eye with this bag so I’ve also looked around for some similar options:

• Madewell Magazine Tote Bag - doesn’t have a zipper closure, but has a very sleek and clean look with a minimal feel. It seems like they might be phasing this out since it’s on sale and the black is sold out, but the forest green shade looks lovely!

• Cuyana Tall Easy Zipper Tote - more slouchy, but has a zipper closure 

• Quince Italian Leather Tall Zip Top Tote - this doesn’t seem to come in black, at least not for the moment, but I do like the zip top feature

Okay, well what’s actually in my bag?

On any given day, my bag will have the same basic contents, plus a variation of about a dozen lip products - I can’t be the only one! A tote bag style allows me to pack a little heavier, and these are the things that I want to keep with me to have anything I might need throughout the day:

• Water bottle - a must! I like the slim profile of the Swell water bottles for this slimmer tote bag, but day to day I usually use the liter size of the Nalgene bottles, which always last me for years and are easy to clean. 

• Cardholder and keys [not pictured]- this carries everything I need for most situations.

• Wallet - to carry cash, coins, other cards, health insurance cards, etc. I have the Matt and Nat Inga Wallet.

• Weekly Planner - I use my planner mainly to help plan out my beauty content and to jot down ideas. I like this soft cover Moleskin planner which is also compact enough to fit into smaller bags.

  

• Small notebook - This is usually the notebook I carry in all my bags so I can jot down any ideas or shopping lists while I’m on the go. Since I’m still continuing to practice my Chinese and German, I also use this notebook to jot down vocabulary when I hear or read something I’m not familiar with. My favorite notebooks are the pocket notebooks with the grid format from Leuchtturm.

• A book! - When I have the room, I like to carry a book to read while I’m on a bus or train, or sit down in a cafe or bar before I meet with friends. I’m currently reading a book in German to practice, but my current leisure book is The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu.

• Makeup bag - I adore my  Kusshi Everyday Makeup Bag because it fits everything and the compartments help me keep everything organized. It’s also super sturdy and easy to clean in case something spills or a lipstick case opens.

Kusshi Everyday Makeup Bag

Ready for the good stuff?

I know you’re all here to get nosy in my makeup bag, so let’s dive in a little deeper. Most of the time I carry around the Kusshi makeup bag, and the beauty of this bag is how much it fits - there’s always the miscellaneous Tide to go pens (a must have if you’re clumsy like me), extra Advil, Lactaid (shout out to all my lactose intolerant friends), bandaids, extra hair ties, blotting paper etc. I change up the lip products in this bag every few months, but there’s some lip products that just eternally live in this bag and others that change up every day depending on my lip of the day.

• Muji Mirror - I love how slim this mirror is so it slides into any bag I have, and this option from Amazon also looks similar if you don’t have easy access to Muji

• Touch-up powder - currently I’m using the Sisley Blur Expert Matte Finishing Powder because it leaves a slight luminosity that I like for the winter. In the summer I love the Fenty Invisimatte Powder because it’s super oil controlling.

• Nemat Perfume Oil Roll-on in Amber  - I prefer a roll-on to a spray in my go to bag so if I have to reapply in a public bathroom, I’m not spraying a fragrance all over the air. Nemat Amber is a beautiful skin scent that makes me feel more polished but isn’t too strong that it will be offensive to anyone’s noses. Bonus that this is only $20 so in case my makeup bag does get lost I’m not losing something expensive.

• Lip treatment - sometimes I’ll have a clear balm, sometimes it’s tinted, a lot of times it’s both. Right now the clear lip treatment I’m using is the U Beauty Plasma Lip Compound, which is extra hydrating and a dream to apply because of the metal applicator

As for the lip products - I have usually 12-15 products with me at all times. I need my options! Some of these live in my makeup bag, and others are just floating at the bottom of the tote or crammed into random pockets while I’m running out the door. 

Some of these products rarely get airtime on my Instagram because they basically have a permanent spot in this bag for on the go looks and touch-ups.

• Victoria Beckham Lip Definers - my absolute favorite lip liners, which usually have a permanent spot in this bag. My most worn shades are #2 and #3.

• Kjaer Weis Lipstick in Believe - honestly an underrated lipstick, but a perfect muted mauve shade for me that’s not too cool or warm. Bonus that this is on sale at Credo right now! 

• Charlotte Tilbury Very Victoria - I have this mini that either came in a set or as a gift with purchase. It’s a great neutral nude option and I’ve always loved the Charlotte Tilbury formulas.

• Rare Beauty Matte Lip Souffle in Courage - this came as a sample with a Sephora order. It’s honestly just fine but the tiny size means it can even fit into my wallet if I’m traveling extra light on a night out. 

• Chanel Rouge Coco Gloss in Noce Moscata - one of my current neutral gloss fixations that just goes with everything

Are you ready for where the chaos really begins? The rest of the products are whatever lip product I reached for 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, or 3 months ago that haven’t left or long-time lurkers along with crumbs at the bottom of my bag. This is honestly pretty restrained since I last cleaned out this bag about a month ago:

• Chanel Baume Essentiel in Dragee - to refresh some glow after a long day and restore some glow after re-applying powder

• YSL Nu Skin Lip and Cheek Tint in Nu Flush - a great blush touch up option that also works as a lip tint

• Tom Ford Soleil Lip Balm in La Piscine - threw in my bag because I was trying to use it up (and it is indeed empty now!) - a beautiful sheer deep purple balm

• Maybelline Lifter Gloss in Taffy - a gorgeous burgundy wine shade that is somewhat jelly like and translucent but also more pigmented than you’d expect. I adore the formula of these glosses and how moisturizing they are.

• Romand Dewyful Water Tint in Chili Up - a great glossy lip tint that sticks around in a brick red shade, my weakness in lip colors

• CTZN Cosmetics Nudiversal Lip Duo - one of the most flattering nude shades on me, and I love that this includes a lipstick and gloss in one

• Romand Glasting Melting Balm in Kaya Fig - an excellent tinted lip balm formula in a pinkish mauve shade

• Lisa Eldridge Velveteen Liquid Lip Color in Muse - a subtle mauve shade that’s comfortable to wear and lasts for hours

  

I currently also have not one, but two hand creams: Byredo Mojave Ghost Hand Cream, which is a daily decadence I love to use, but as you can see it is nearly empty, so I started carrying the Fenty Skin SPF 15 hand cream as well. 

The only thing missing from the bag this time is a hand sanitizer, which happened to be in another bag when I was taking these photos. I really love the Touchland hand sanitizers because they smell nice and don’t dry out my hands, but I’ll use anything I have lying around, which is usually just plain old Purell. 

I can’t be the only one that packs their bag for the apocalypse (well, maybe a beauty apocalypse), right? Someone tell me I’m not alone. 

I want to know too - what’s in your bag? How long do you like lip products (and crumbs and receipts) accumulate before you finally unearth all its contents? Let me know! As always, thanks for reading.