I asked the IMAGE staffers to share the absolute essential items they cannot leave the house without. Here’s what we’ve always got in our handbags…
Dearbhla Lovett, IMAGE First Activations Freelancer
I love carrying a small handbag, so my handbag essentials need to be essential. So obviously, a lip combo, my string headphones (that always come out tangled) and a little vial of perfume. This Kilian Love Don’t be Shy is a favourite of Rihanna’s, therefore a favourite of mine! I also never leave the house without sunglasses — if I can fit them in, I’ll wear them on a chain around my neck!
Meghan Killalea, Marketing Account Executive
I am very Type A, so when it comes to my handbag essentials I tend to have an internal checklist I go through to make sure I don’t forget anything when leaving the house. First on the list is my phone, a staple. Then comes my purse, I use my Secrid card holder which I got about ten years ago for Christmas and it has never let me down.
I never leave the house without my body spray, and I’m always switching between Sol de Janeiro’s Cheirosa 62 Hair & Body Perfume Mist and their Cheirosa 59 Hair & Body Perfume Mist, both of which are equally delicious. I then have my compact detangling hairbrush from Tangle Teezer that I got on holidays last year which became an absolute essential the minute I bought it. Finally, I pack my lip balm, and recently I’ve been loving the Vaseline Daydream Lip Therapy.
Emily O’Neill, Marketing Account Executive
My handbag is always full to the brim with everything including the kitchen sink but there are a few items in particular that you will always find in it. The Baby Belle hairbrush is the first thing! It is the perfect size for almost any handbag and is one of the best brushes on the market. As someone with very knotty hair, this gentle soft bristle brush is an essential for me.
Keeping with the theme of hair, I never leave the house without a Smooth Stick and Mini Smooth Dream Styling Cream. Along with knotty hair, I was also blessed with unlimited frizz, so we have to keep it at bay multiple times a day!
There will also be a lip balm or gloss thrown in there somewhere and at the moment I am loving the Lip Treatment from Kash Beauty. My final handbag essential (depending on the occasion) is my Kindle which is very on trend with its Matcha Green shade. As someone who spends a lot of time on the train, this is something I couldn’t live without. I adore getting on after a long day in the office and spending my journey reading a good book!
Katie Brady, Marketing & Memberships Executive
I go nowhere without lip balm, so I always carry one (or several) in my handbag – I am currently loving the Dermo Sauvina Original Lip balm. I have succumbed to the hype and purchased a pair of Loop Earplugs, which live in my bag and are so handy for a busy office, noisy public transport or for when you just want a bit of peace and quiet! Finally, in an ever pressing attempt to be sustainable, I always have my Abyss Black Coffee Cup from Chilly’s in tow. It’s great for iced or hot drinks and (the best part) it never leaks in my handbag — a win win.
Holly O’Neill, Editor, IMAGE.ie; Beauty Editor, IMAGE Magazine
On any given day, my handbag can contain enough make-up to get a Kardashian ready for the Met Gala and enough tech equipment to film their TV show, but one thing that guarantees I won’t forget the integrals when I’m too busy remembering to pack a gimbal is this Anya Hindmarch Important Things Pouch.
You will be shocked to know it holds the important things – Airpods, chewing gum, Leap Card, keys, whatever lip balm I’m into at that moment (right now it’s Charlotte Tilbury’s beautiful new champagne nude lip plumper, Big Lip Plumpgasm), the Mason Pearson Detangling Comb (a magic wand for flyaways), ORS tablets (I’m held together by these), and a hand cream (Le Labo’s Hinoki one, which I think smells like peace but my sister says smells like wet dog).
I’d like to be a crossbody bag girl to live an easy peasy, hands-free life (this Massimo Dutti one is taking up all of my thoughts and I visit this August Night crossbody bow one online all the time, imagining all the fun and lovely outfits we’d have together) but because of all these hefty bits I’m lugging around all the time, the handbag is always a ludicrously capacious one. If money was no object, the bag I’d lug it all around in would be the Dragon Diffusion Nantucket Basket in Naranja. Delicious.
Sarah Gill, Features Editor, IMAGE.ie
After a brief rifle through my handbag to consult its contents, it would appear that my greatest fear is not smelling sensational 24/7. I’ve recently swapped over to the Wild refillable natural deodorant, and I cannot get enough of the Coconut & Vanilla scent. My perfume of the moment is the new Cedar Atlas from La Bougie and it’s got such a rich, almost herbal fragrance to it that I adore.
I always keep a little Yogandha mindfulness roll-on in there too, to smudge onto my pulse points if I’m feeling a little shaky or want to give myself a mental refresh. I keep that, my eternally tangled up earphones, disposable camera, leap card and lip oil from POCO Beauty tied up in a little pouch from Søstrene Grene. I throw a few tampons and a couple of coins in too, in case someone’s caught short.
I can’t leave the house without a hairbrush, because one gust of wind and the bird’s nest at the nape of my neck starts squawking. I really like the Baby Belle Brush. In other shocking news, I left my beloved & Other Stories sunglasses in a pub in Edinburgh, so I might need to take a leaf out of Dearbhla’s book and nab some Maie Atelier shades. Tortoise shell, always.
Finally, the book of the moment: Wendy Erskine’s The Benefactors, which is out later this month. I cannot stress how good this book is. It tells the story of three (rich, privileged) mothers as their (rich, privileged) teenage sons are accused of sexual assault, and the lengths they go to to protect their families. It’s this incredible polyphonic chorus of perspectives and snapshots that colour the specific trauma at hand, but also bring into focus the wider societal context of trauma and its aftermath.
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