Into the Gloss

Pamela Barsky Shop on Etsy makes me seriously ask myself that question.  Also: how much money is too much money to spend on lots of cosmetic bags?

Why am I so taken with cosmetic bags?

Maybe it’s because the artist seems to understand my affinity for New York, and not in a I’ve-never-been-to-New-York-but-I-own-the-Sex-and-the-City-box-set kind of way.  But in a way that, even as a former Angeleno (Barsky moved to New York after meeting her husband there), implies she understands why for so many people, New York is everything.  That for so many people, it’s a real place where real things happened that made us feel alive and young and capable–and maybe even a little bit normal.

Maybe I’m projecting a bit.

Alas, there are plenty of other witticisms Barsky’s bags provide, but the artist tells Conde Nast Traveler that despite throwing other cities into the mix (the “I’m too smart to live in L.A.” pouch is currently on my wishlist), “more people have an emotional attachment to New York than to any others.”  After moving to New York, she says, she “quickly learned how vocal people are about their love for this city.”

As true as that is, I probably also love these bags because I’m a blunt girl with a lot of red lipstick and nail polish and make-up currently spilling out of every make-shift cosmetics container (read: any container) I can find.

But these pouches are not just for make-up; use them for whatever you like, and the more public, the better.  How else are people going to know just how witty (and, like, totally approachable) you are?