Many of us carry our favorite beauty essentials and cosmetics with us wherever we go in a make-up bag. You never know when you are going to need a touch-up or when you might need to transform your look from casual to glamorous or the other way around. However, there is an annoying downside to carrying these products around with us: our make-up bags can quickly become messy because of spilled powder or eye shadow, lipsticks and liners losing their caps, etc. While our make-up bags at home are easier to keep clean, our to-go bags are especially prone to being messy because they have to travel with us and get jostled around; we also tend to be in more of a hurry when applying make-up away from home which can lead to accidental spills.

T. LeClerc Mascara

Here’s a great insider beauty solution: put a clean cotton ball or two in your cosmetics bag. The cotton ball acts as a magnet for loose powders and keeps much of them off of your products and away from the inside of your make-up bag. You’ll need to replace the cotton ball once a week or so. I also recommend keeping a couple of portable moist wipes in your bag. If your liners or lipsticks become uncapped they can wreak havoc on your bag and on the other items in it. A moist wipe can quickly and easily solve this problem.

While we would all love to have our full arsenal of beauty products with us at all times, that is just not practical. Here are a couple of essential beauty items that every woman should have in her make-up bag: mascara, eye liner, concealer, lip balm with SPF, cream blush, pressed powder, eye make-up remover and an eye cream.

T. LeClerc Pressed Powder

A great portable eye make-up remover is Bare Minerals On-The-Spot Make-up Remover which comes in individually filled swabs containing a gentle make-up remover (keep them separated from your other products in a small plastic bag). Yon-Ka’s Phyto-Contour is an excellent eye cream which helps to refresh the eyes and reduces fatigue and puffiness. A wonderfully versatile product like Bobby Brown’s Lip and Cheek Stain can be used on your cheeks, but it can also be used to add a touch of color to your lips. T. LeClerc’s Pressed Powder and Mascara are also perfect for your on-the-go make-up bag.