RI Beauty Expert: How to Pack an Evening Bag

RI Beauty Expert: How to Pack an Evening Bag

Our Victorian sisters carried daily comforts in a tiny reticule but we 21st century types need mini-suitcases now that we're schlepping cell phones, tablets and a sundry of cords and chargers. But romantic winter date nights and holiday office parties are perfect occasions for paring down to chic evening bags. Here's how to stock one without missing a needed essential:

Easy Lip and Cheek Magic

Instead carrying a full-sized lipstick, swipe a retractable lip brush over your favorite tube of lip color. Hoarding a dab for cheeks will replace a blusher compact as well as for touching-up lips. This alone saves precious real estate in your pretty little purse.

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Blotters

After dancing and socializing, a slim packet of blotting or rice papers will restore your face and eliminate slick grease without interfering with your makeup. Barely bigger than a credit card, these sheaves of paper look like a matchbook and nestle nicely.

Mirror Mirror

Since you won't be carrying a hefty powder compact, try a mini-eyeshadow with a mirror. Choose a pale frost color which can double up as an eyelid crease eliminator and skin highlighter. Put a touch on the brow bone and upper cheeks to reignite your glow. Tender is the night.

Comb

You'll be enjoying yourself too much to fuss with hair. Tuck an inexpensive small comb into your bag for tidying up. It's all you will need. Make it colorful so your fingertips can find it easily.

Mom's Hanky

Instead of a swaddled bunch of tissues, see if Mom has a sweet vintage handkerchief instead. They can also be found in many local antique shops. Easy chic with a romantic heart.

Scent

Decant your favorite perfume into a small atomizer. Nordstrom has these on hand at the perfume counter for less than ten dollars. Or save the samples department stores hand out when a new fragrance is launched. These tiny specimens are perfect for a narrow evening clutch and are more than enough for a dreamy fragrant night.

Clutches, Minaudieres, Pouches...Oh My!

Lovely evening bags come in all shapes and are some of the most inventive and beautiful handbags you will ever see. They almost never go out of style so if you want to invest in a hard-shelled jeweled minaudiere, go ahead. Someday, your granddaughter will thank you for it.

This season, the charming boutique, Lola, has lots of unusual evening bags designed in mixed media. For modern appeal, their famed Whiting Davis New/Contempo line is sleek with metal fabrication. Perfectly  elegant with black velvety tops.  Another choice is the Le Regale Royale Crest hand-beaded evening clutch in gorgeous sapphire, with or without a twisted strap. 120 N. Main St., Providence

Donna Macdonald is a freelance writer who enjoys covering topics of interest to women, especially fragrance, style, beauty. She has also written marketing material for a women's book that hit the New York Times Bestseller list and netted her an up close and personal discussion on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Donna currently writes her own personal blog, alovelyinconsequence.blogspot.com, where she also writes about issues close to a woman's heart. Donna believes that when a woman finds beauty in the world, she will find beauty in herself.