When it finally hits the time of the year, that the sun is no longer shining and we aren't concerned with only packing a pair of cute sunnies, it's officially time to give our must-have handbag essentials a much needed update. Unfortunately our carefree, relaxed attitude is long gone, along with last rays of sunshine and we can no longer leave the house with just our phones and bank card (and of course the aforementioned pair of cute sunnies).
Instead we now need a lot more things quick to hand at a moment's notice, so we have compiled a list of our essentials that, trust us, you need this Autumn and Winter. And while our handbag contents may now have tripled, we promise we wont actually make you pack the kitchen sink!
___
A fold-up umbrella
An obvious one, but ultimately one we have been caught way too many times without! A mistake we are not in any rush to make again. Which is why it has made it straight to the top of our list of essentials, if only to serve as a reminder to ourselves on a daily basis. If you are well and truly traumatised by previous experiences (we most definitely are! - that Bridget Jones scene when she was soaked to the bone, right before she stormed into Mr Darcy's office to declare her undying love, you know the one... - yes, we have been that kind of drenched before now!). Then you may be more than happy to commit to a full (non-fold-up kind) of umbrella. The ones that unfortunately don't conveniently fold up into our handbags, but whilst not the most practical, they are slightly bigger, more durable and overall better quality a lot of the time, that it may be worth investing.
_
Tissues
Moving on to the other highly un-glamorous essential you will find currently residing in our handbags, tissues. An absolute must this time of year! You don't want to find yourself in the horrifying experience with your nose running like a tap (it happens) and no tissue in sight to save the day. Tissues are also super useful for the ridiculous watering eyes we also seem to find ourselves experiencing around this time of year, someone care to explain what that is even about? All we can tell you is that black mascara running down our faces is not a cute look.
_
Lip balm
Ahh the season of pumpkin spiced lattes, holiday spirit, cosy knits, and oh yes, dryness. Lots and lots of dryness. Honestly it feels as though we give up all our moisture in exchange for the happiness everything else these seasons bring us (sadly a sacrifice we would be more than willing to make). Dry cracked lips however is just not something we are content with having, so instead we have copious amounts of lip balm to keep them soft and moisturised. We also love a good lip scrub to make sure we are removing any dry skin beforehand, for the best chapped lips combat routine.
_
_
Hand cream
Unfortunately our hands also suffer from the painstaking dryness this wonderful season brings, so we always make sure we have some hand cream on hand (sorry! we had to...) throughout the colder months. With so many to choose from it is also super easy to find a scent that you adore, that will make you want to re-apply it multiple times a day (or hour, who are we kidding).
_
Hair serum & hair brush
No matter how much time you spend doing your hair in the morning, if your commute includes any sort of exposure to the elements, then your masterpiece is ultimately going to be destroyed. All it takes is a strong gust of wind for your beautiful bouncy blow or perfectly polished beach waves to become a horrifying static tangled mess. This can easily be rectified however with a little anti frizz hair serum and a hair brush, both of which you can get in small compact versions, so we suggest you forget neither!
_
Makeup essentials
Again, same scenario as your hair, if you find yourself in an unexpected catastrophe, you need something to help rectify the situation. If you aren't someone who likes carrying your whole makeup collection around with you (who does?) then our essentials would be:
Mascara - for those times we previously mentioned, when your eye decides to water uncontrollably and kindly takes all of your mascara off for you... er, thanks?
Eyeliner - unless you're purposefully going for the smudgy kohl look, then messy eyeliner is never a good look (and you can't pass it off as purposefully smudgy eyeliner, when it isn't, believe us!) so as the saying goes, better safe than sorry, pack it just in case.
Powder - easier to apply and more convenient to carry than your liquid foundation, this is a necessity for the times when your foundation has decided the inside of your beanie requires more coverage than you do. A cream compact foundation is also amazing to have in this situation, for those of us who are simply just too dry for any more powder.
Lipliner - instantly helps gives you a more polished look and blended in with your trusty lip balm it helps add a bit of colour on the days you just couldn't bare to put your favourite matte (aka drying) lipstick on.
_
_
Hand sanitiser
Now we know we are showing a lot of love to our hands and you're thinking surely I dont need to lug around several products for my hands alone... but at this time of the year, just in case you weren't aware, everyone is getting sick. Unless you want to be stuck inside with a case of the sniffles all weekend (because guaranteed it hits the hardest in your own time and not during work) then we highly suggest you have some hand sanitiser readily available for when someone sneezes or coughs a little too close to comfort.
_
Perfume Sample
We love a good sample, who of us doesn't? Amazingly last year most of the popular scents actually had a small 10-15ml tube of the perfume specifically designed for your handbag within their perfume Christmas gift sets. While they don't last forever they do give us a much needed pick me up in the afternoons and are a lifesaver when you accidently overslept and forgot to spray perfume before you left the house. If you don't yet have a signature scent then we wish you luck in your hunt for 'the one' with all those tiny 2ml bottles they give you in boots. After all, Christmas isn't for nearly another 2 months yet... those little bottle can last you (especially if you pick up some more from a different sales associate than last time).
_
Gloves
While temperatures haven't yet hit freezing, we are not far off and it's better to be prepared and get a cute pair of gloves before all the good ones are sold out! We actually have launched some gorgeous winter accessories this year at Pretty You, that we think you ladies would love! Some gloves have super soft luxurious faux fur and we have a pair of glamorous sparkly embellished handwarmers, as well as some beautifully wrapped sets. Get yours ready for when the cold well and truly hits, as blue fingers are most definitely not cute!
_
Diary/Planner
Let's be honest when it's cold and miserable outside we don't want to go anywhere we don't absolutely need to be, we want to be cosy at home in our slippers and loungewear as much as physically possible. The best way to manage this is to stay organised! Where do we need to go, what do we need to do and what do we need to get. Keeping this all organised and written out in a diary/planner clearly really helps us stay focused and manage our time most effectively, as it is a high priority that we fit all of our Netflix binges in, obviously.
_
_
Let us know in the comments below if there is something you can't leave the house without during the Autumn and Winter months that we didn't include! Because no doubt we will need to...
← Older post Newer post →