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Woman Wearing Black and White Brassiere Sitting on White Sand
Woman Wearing Black and White Brassiere Sitting on White Sand
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What’s In My Handbag – Summertime Edition!

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Tara Pilkington
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Falmouth chapter.

I’m one of those people that tends to pack way more than I need to in my handbag. I’m not sure what it is exactly that I’m preparing, for but just in case it happens – I’m covered!

So here is another little list that I’ve created for you all, to shed some light on what I pack inside of my Mary Poppins style bags.

  1. Sun lotion. As this is the summertime edition of this list, I thought I would include the most important item, sun lotion! Now I am speaking as a pale girl here, but staying safe in the sun is the most important thing to keep in mind. As I’m the same colour as a milk bottle, it only takes one glimpse of sun for me to burn, but no matter what your skin colour is there is no excuse not to stay safe. And anything below factor 10 doesn’t count girls! Despite myths that wearing sun lotion will stop you tanning, this is not the case! Sun lotions are designed to prevent sunburn and help reduce the risk of run damage; it may mean that your tan is slightly lighter, but it does not mean that you won’t tan at all!
  2. Water. Wherever I go, even if it’s a short walk to the shops, I always carry a bottle of water with me. Similar to the first point about staying safe in the sun, I’m always extremely conscious of keeping myself hydrated! There are so many quirky water bottles that you can buy now, and even bottles that help the environment, so there is really no excuse not to buy one and keep hydrated.
  3. Lip balm. There’s nothing worse then being out of the house and getting dry or chapped lips. So to prevent this from happening I always have a small pot of lip balm in my bag to keep my lips nice and soft! My favourite product to use is natural coconut oil, you can purchase this fairly cheaply from most drug/make-up stores and they act as a multi-purpose little pot of joy! I use coconut oil not only to keep my lips soft, but also to keep my hair silky and even to moisturise my skin!
  4. Perfume. Smelling lovely is just one of life’s little luxuries. You’re lying if you say that when you walk down the perfume isle of a shop that you don’t try a sneaky little spray of some new fancy perfume. So I just like to keep a small bottle of my favourite perfume in my bag, just so I can top up throughout the day. And believe me, smelling nice can make a great first impression on people! The amount of times I’ve fallen in love with a beautiful smelling stranger as he’s walked past me is quite ridiculous!
  5. Books! You never know when you might be stuck waiting somewhere for a short while, and yes you might have an addictive game on your phone or whatever, but what if you need to save your battery!? What if you’ve already run out? This is why books! Always books! Even if you choose to read via an e-reader, I’ve been told in good faith by friends that own them that their battery life is quite impressive! Even though I’m always going to love paperbacks, I can see the perks of an e-reader as it’s much lighter and easier to fit into your bag. And you’re still reading amazing books, which is the most important thing!
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Tara / Birmingham & Cornwall / 19 "For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.”