The 5 Essential Items in My Purse

After reading the essentials that Rachel keeps in her purse, I dug into mine to see what I could find.

I switch purse an awful lot, and sometimes only have a coin purse-sized wristlet in the evening.  But when I have a true bag, these are the 5 essential items that you’ll find in it:

• Key ring.  Practical, I know, but I’ve got to have my keys wherever I go.  I have a beautiful engraved custom key ring from Tiffany’s (something like this airplane and globe key ring), and there are only two keys on it so it doesn’t take up much room.
• Loose Powder.  I have my powder in a refillable powder brush that I got from Sephora.  It has a a high quality brush that very lightly provides loose powder that is contained in an internal well beneath the head of the brush.  You can buff (if you’re using a mineral make up), or just sweep on a little pick me up, without worrying that you’ll be too heavy handed.  Great for an instant face brightener!
• iPhone.  I have the first generation iPhone and wonder how I ever lived without one.  Phone, camera, mini-computer, calculator, music provider and more – all rolled up in one perfect little package.  I keep it a pretty pink sleeve as well for a girly-geek look.  I take back all the disparaging remarks that I made about this gem before I owned one!  (iPhone 3G shown in photo.)
• Camera.  Received as a gift a couple years ago, I carry my Canon Powershot SD500 with me all the time.  If I have a large purse, I slip it into a carrying case and add an extra battery and memory card.  If I don’t have a lot of room, it’s just the camera.
• Lipstick/gloss. My current favorite is a lipstick and gloss combination from MAC Cosmetics that I purchased while traveling in Europe.  It is, unfortunately, not available here in the United States, so I’m either going to have to head back to Paris or find something new.  MAC has a great set of lip colors and options, and you can’t wrong with any of them.

Those are the essentials, the must-haves, in any bag that I’m carrying!

How about you?  What are your must haves?  What’s always in your bag, no matter which one you’re using?