Summer's Must Haves — Purse

I hate heavy bags and am therefore loathe to load up my purse with gobs of junk. But, as a Classic, I'm compelled to carry more than my wallet and cellphone in my bag. So I try to limit it to the essentials. Tide Pen, SPF individual wipes, Lip Balm Evian mineral water spray—travel size and Burn Jel packets.

Tide To Go Instant Stain Remover: I think I buy a new one everytime I go to the drugstore just to make sure I've a ready supply. They dry out. And if you don't own multiples of these by now then you clearly have never witnessed it make blackberry stains disappear from white pants. The only thing it does a lame job on is red wine.

Dermalogica SPF Wipes: The first time I learned about individual SPF wipes was while vacationaing in Buenos Aires in January — height of their summer. My sister-in-law brought some and I borrowed them when out and about during our sun soaked urban vacation. They are the ultimate handy summer must-have — no mess or worry that the bottle will spill. My only warning is that you need to make sure you wipe ALL over or you'll get one funny looking tan/burn that will take you 2 years to undo.

EOS Lip Balm: Ever since my friend Hilary started a natural cosmetics company I've become so much aware of all the chemicals that exist in things I put on my body multiple times per day. Our intern, Kristin, turned me on to this lip balm. It's free of basically any evil thing we're supposed to avoid. Also, I like that it's a different shape so if I throw it in my purse I can easily find it when fishing around in there.

Evian mineral water spray—travel size: This always seemed so superfluous and decadent to me as a pragmatic Classic. But I know so many make-up artists — people whose job it is to make people look fantastic at all times — who use it that I figured there was probably some merit to the product. And there is. It refreshes you AND your make-up so it's quite practical really.

Burn Jel Packet: I mentioned this product last week. It rocks for burns but I don't keep it in my purse for the same reason it's in my medicine cabinet. Burn Jel has a few ingredients one of which is Tea Tree Oil which has antiseptic, antibaterial, antifunfal and antiviral medical qualites so it's kind of my all-in one packet for almost anything.

Originally published June 16, 2011

Summer's Must Haves — Purse