Nina Garcia's One Hundred: #23 Cosmetics Bag

Nina Garcia (of Project Runway notoriety) has written several books (The Little Black Book of Style and The Style Strategy come to mind), but my favourite book of hers by far has got to be The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own.


Inspired by the renovations to her apartment, Garcia wrote a book about the pieces she kept going back to in her wardrobe. The staples, if you will.


I have some of the pieces listed in this book. I don't have a lot of them. But in my efforts to become more stylish, I am definitely looking at this book as an invaluable resource.


And of course, I'm going to blog about my style adventures, attempting to bring my list from some to all. (Over time, of course. There are some serious cash outlays in this book. In my opinion, worth every penny.)


So, number 23. The cosmetics bag. Of course, Garcia talks about owning high-end luxury ones (she counts four Prada cosmetic bags in her arsenal), but for me that just doesn't work. I bring my cosmetics bag with me absolutely everywhere (thank heavens for my Lug bag), and a pretty Prada (Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Tod's) bag would just get ruined in my travels. For that matter, a simple LeSportsac or MAC bag would quickly be spoiled. So it's free giveaway bags for me! My current one is a plastic number from Clinique's last giveaway at Sears.


Of course, it doesn't matter so much what kind of bag it as much as what's in it. Let's take a look at Garcia's list, shall we?

1. La Roche Posay sunscreen 
2. Kiehl's lip balm 
3. Guerlain bronzing powder 
4. Nivea Sun Oil spray 
5. Kerastase Hair Drops (Which appear to no longer exist?)
6. Mario Badescu Drying Lotion 
7. Helena Rubenstein Force C Cream 
8. Maybelline Great Lash mascara 
9. MAC eye shadow (I have to say, I'm not a fan, give me Smashbox or anything else, really.)
10. Bobbi Brown Long-Wear eyeliner 
11. Tweezerman tweezers 
12. Shu Uemura eyelash curler 

Which is all well and good, if you've got tons of bucks to spend on a basic cosmetics kit, but if you're anything like me, you don't. So, here's what's in my makeup bag. (I feel oddly exposed, sharing all this...)

1. Avon Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 15 (most days this is all I wear as a base, at least in the summer)
2. Urban Decay Primer Potion (This product is my #1 must-have. Hint: when you think it's gone, cut the bottle open and there's a lot more left inside! Scrape it into a little pot and you've got twice as much as you thought.)
3. Avon Ideal Shade Concealer Stick 
4. Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator in Natural (Freebie!)
5. L'Oreal True Match Roller makeup (Which I hate, and use with a sponge instead of the roller it came with. It's just dreadful, and takes forever to get right, but I'm such a cheapo sometimes that I can't throw things out if I can make them sort of work.)
6. Revlon PhotoReady Powder in Fair/Light (Which is awesome.)
7. Avon Pro Brow Enhancer in Black
8. Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eyeliner in Blackest Black (For the signature cat eye, of course.)
9. Clinique High Definition Lashes mascara in Black (Freebie as well! But I love it so much, I would buy it.)
10. New York Color Blushable Creme Stick in Berry New Yorker

These items are supplemented with whichever eye shadow and lipstick I decide to wear on any given day.

Wow. I feel super-exposed.