Anatomy of a Bag and a Clinique Conversation

Well, ok, so I decided to keep the J Crew canvas boardwalk city tote in the tennis-ball-bright neon yellow. In the end, the color made me happy and I was dying to pull it out and use it with many of my neutral ensembles. And the color reminds me of summer because of how much my mom played tennis when I was growing up. I never caught the bug but my sister did.

Now, this is a wide open bag with 1 zip pocket, so the question naturally arises, how do you keep it organized? Rather, how do you find anything and prevent it from becoming a jumbled mess? I know some people swear by those pocket systems that you move from bag to bag, but I like my stuff in the middle where I can see it and get to it.

Here is the inside of my bag. I picked it up Saturday morning and didn't even try to neaten it, I swear. My sunglasses were, I believe, sitting on the counter, so they missed the pic.

How To Make It Work:

Key decision - what to put in the zip pocket. If you put too much in, you won't be able to find a thing. I have my BlackBerry, an all-purpose -works-with-every-look lipstick, blotting papers (seriously, these from Clean & Clear are the greatest!!), and my keys.

Key item #1 - The plastic-Velcro envelope. I use clear for coupons, red for receipts, and purple for prescriptions to fill or other lists. (Get the alliteration? I'm such a geek.) They are easy to get into, thanks to the Velcro. And because they are translucent, you can even see what's inside the red or purple ones. I got mine at Target, who unfortunately doesn't seem to carry them any more, so I'll have to check Staples or Office Depot for a replacement. This saves a lot of miscellaneous pieces of paper floating around. And the receipt envelope saves on weight & width of the wallet.

Key item #2 - Mini-purse catchall. For mints, band-aids, tissues, additional lipstick/balm, brush, lotion, pill bottle (OTC of course), pen, market, head band...basically all the stuff that is usually rolling around loose in your purse. With a bag this size, you can't have all that little stuff just littering the bottom.

Here's the outside. Yep, it's the Trina Turk bag from the current Nordstrom's Clinique bonus. What I really love is that it is a bit bigger than your standard makeup bonus bag. Plus the colors - yummy, they scream summer.

And the products seem pretty good, too. I don't love the lotion, but I always love trying their colors.

Includes:
- Take the Day Off Makeup Remover for Lids, Lashes and Lips (1.7 oz.)
- Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion (1 oz.)
- Blushwear Cream Stick in Rosy
- Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Sun Burst
- Lash Doubling Mascara in Black (0.14 oz.)
- Different Lipstick in Tenderheart
- Superfit Makeup (0.5 oz.)

Just in case you are wondering what to get to qualify for the bonus ($25 purchase), I have a few suggestions:

#1 - Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick ($14). I love this lipstick. I am just not a lipgloss girl. Too sticky. This gives me the best of both lipstick and gloss - sheer color, shine, not too sticky. Great colors to boot. I have Ambrosia (great summer orange), Poppy Love (a nude-y pink they don't seem to have any more), and Raspberry Rush (yummy raspberry for summer that I just got). I also tried Fresh Watermelon - another great summer color.

#2 - Lash Power Mascara ($14). I have been a fan of this since last spring. It's my standard summer mascara. I also use (per GingerSnap's excellent recommendation) the L'Oreal Beauty Tubes Double Extend Mascara. But this one is just a little easier, with 1 formula to apply. It's not as volumizing, but just so summer-appropriate for me. (still keep the tubes for the vavavoom lashes, though.) The new Bobbi Brown Perfectly Defined Mascara, which I tried at $23 for a tube was so similar I was amazed, except that the Clinique mascara was better. Bobbi's formula was a little too wet for me and I looked like I had black dots on very weird places around my eye. Big, huge fan of the Lash Power. The tube is nice & skinny, so it packs easily, too.

#3 - SPF 45 Targeted Sun Protection Stick ($17.50). I had the previous version, in SPF 30 from 2 summers ago, so it needed to be replaced. I use this religiously on my lips - and on my eyes, which often sting from sunscreen. It's easy enough to take a quick swipe. This newer version is oil-free, so I will probably start using on my nose since I feel like the sunscreen slides off there first. I love love love this. And if you haven't seen my sun safety rant from a couple weeks ago, you should. Ok, off soapbox.

UPDATE - I just got an email that says the promotion runs through June 6.