Your purse is a one-stop shop—bank, first-aid kit, fashion-emergency-solver, beauty bar and boredom buster—all in one.
Keep these items in your bag at all times, and you’ll be ready to conquer anything.
For fashion emergencies
Velcro adhesive dots allow you to turn up a sleeve that is too long, secure a fallen hem, and hold a bra strap in place. Velcro dots top President of the Association of Image Consultants International Jane Seaman’s list of 5 things every woman should carry in her purse. Seaman’s other must-haves include:
- Baby wipes to remove make-up stains, lint and dog hair from clothing without staining
- Deodorant removing sponges
- Pencil erasers—cut one in half to substitute for a lost earring backing
- Foot Petals Strappy Strips to prevent blisters when you’re breaking in new shoes
Beauty in a bag
For last-minute makeup touch-ups, Marilyn Miglin of the Marilyn Miglin Institute in Chicago can’t go without:
- Lipstick—it performs double duty as rouge.
- Lip gloss—placed on eyelids and under brows, it makes you glow with a more finished look.
- Travel-sized roll-on perfume for touch ups in a pinch
First aid on the go
Duct tape temporarily holds together wounds that might require stitches and keeps injured areas covered. Emergency physician Dr. Brigham Temple, of NorthShore University HealthSystem in Glenview, always carries a piece of folded duct tape in his pocket. It easily unravels and maintains its adhesiveness. The doctor also prescribes carrying:
- A mini first-aid kit
- A list of medications you take and allergies you suffer from, since this can be beneficial for emergency medical personnel
- Baby aspirin (It’s effective in treating heart attacks in adults over age 40.)
Safety counts
A master at Chicago Martial Arts in Deerfield, William Lee’s weapon of choice is keys. Placing keys between your fingers and making a fist automatically turns your hand into a weapon, Lee says. Strike the perpetrator in the face or eyes to give you time to escape.
Boredom busters for kids
Fill a small cloth bag with trinkets and ask your child to pull something out and make up a story about it, says Pat Childs of the School Social Work Association of America. This forces them to use their imagination and be creative.
