Handbag Essentials: For Every 20-something Year Old

Growing up a lot of us have felt that immense curiosity: What’s in amma’s bag? As a kid, being forbidden to touch my mother’s bag, only made me more curious. And now, here we are; grown adults with our very own handbags! But apart from candy wrappers and loose change, what are those essential  things that your mother might have put in her bag?  

Here a few, all-important items that you could benefit from having in your handbag:

• Handkerchief

Be it wiping off smeared lipstick, spilled ketchup, a rogue sneeze— the uses of a handkerchief are endless. Make sure you always have one with you wherever you go. A pack of tissue papers will do the trick as well, but a handkerchief will be a more environmentally sustainable option! 

• Sanitary Pads

Your period can sometimes be sneaky and pop up in the most unexpected of places, in the most inconvenient of times. In those situations, you’ll be thankful we reminded you to pop in that spare sanitary pad in your handbag.

• Power Bank

We all do this: we plug our phone in, leave it to charge overnight,  forget to turn the switch on, and wake up to a completely drained phone. This is exactly why you need to have a fully-charged, handy power bank in your handbag! Simply plug your phone on the go so you don’t have to stretch out that 2% charge the whole day. A power bank also comes in handy for times when you’re unable to access a plug-point for a long time.

• Extra Hair Ties

Hair getting in your face? Neck needs some breathing space? Get out that hair tie you remembered to put into your handbag. Any person with long hair knows just how useful a spare hair tie is, especially for those days you decide to let your hair down.

• Extra cash outside of your wallet

We don’t really need to emphasize on how important this is. Possibly the most important thing on this list! In situations where you lose your wallet, or need some extra change, some change outside your wallet is indispensable. Keep the change in a small hidden pocket, or in a coin purse- outside of plain sight!

• Candy bar

Hungry people are angry people. And unhealthy people, too! It‘s never good for your body to go hungry for too long. Keep that small candy bar, or peanut snack in your bag- a healthy, high-calorie snack for emergencies. This is especially important for people with health conditions!

• Small diary

When I was younger, my mother always, always kept a small, LIC-issued diary in her bag. I thought she had some important information in there, but she told me later that it was for emergencies. What kind of emergency needs a diary, I thought! It later dawned on me that a diary is just as vital as everything else on this list. Taking down mobile numbers, addresses, to leave notes for people, a diary can prove to be useful when you least know it.

• Band-Aids

We all know how painful that paper-cut is! Slap on that handy Band-Aid and go about your usual business without feeling that stinging pain in everything you do.

We hope this little check-list helped you fill your bag with useful things; and for the next time one of the things on this list comes to your rescue, you’re welcome!