By HILARY HOWARD

FOR many of us, the New Year brings with it afrenzy of resolutions to streamline and or-ganize one’s life. Let’s not overlook the pock-etbook. More specifically: the makeup in

one’s pocketbook.“When you can find whatever you need with your

eyes closed, from your lipstick to your hand lotion,you feel light on your feet and self-reliant, likeyou’re on top of the world,” said Julie Morgenstern,a professional organizer based in Manhattan. “It’syour power on-the-go.”

Ms. Morgenstern breaks down makeup organ-ization into three components: your home base(where she recommended “a nice deep drawer” de-voted to all on-the-go purse contents like makeupand cosmetics), what you take and how you take it.“You have to ask yourself: ‘What are my true es-sentials? If I had nothing, what would I be desperatefor?’” she said.

Most makeup experts suggest applying cosmeticsat home and leaving cumbersome items like founda-tion and brushes behind, while packing one’s bagwith products to touch up important areas. Howev-er, they differ on which areas are the most im-portant.

For Emily Weiss, the founder of Into the Gloss, abeauty blog, the mouth is what matters most.

She was a bit taken aback recently when shefound herself at a party and noticed five lip productsin her clutch. “I mean, just in case I wanted toswitch halfway through the night, from a matte redlip to a glossy nude lip,” she said.

Ms. Weiss has an excuse, in that she’s alwayssampling new products for her blog, and “lip prod-ucts are the easiest things to try: they just wipe onand off.” Along with the five lip products, which areall “in rotation,” she said, she also carries her “es-sential,” Avène Cold Cream Lip Balm, a moisturizer.

But as a rule, Ms. Weiss does her face and eyes athome, so there’s no need to pack those products forthe day. “The lips really are the only thing you needto touch up,” she said.

Other experts, though, focus on touching up blem-ishes and shine. Although Pati Dubroff, the celebritybeauty artist for Clarins, would certainly pack a tint-ed lip balm and the “lipstick of the day” in her purse,

she said, she would also include a brightening wandlike Clarins Instant Light Brush-On Perfector (itadds brightness around dark circles or shadows), aconcealer (she’s partial to Clé de Peau Beauté) andblotting papers.

The YouTube stylist Jessica Harlow is also a fan ofblotting papers (she likes Shiseido), in addition toconcealer (Kat Von D Tattoo Concealer) andpressed powder (Lancôme Dual Finish). “Blottingpapers always fit in a clutch,” Ms. Harlow said, not-ing that she could get away with just three items fora night purse (the papers, pressed powder and onelipstick), while her day bag would also include theconcealer and lip balm.

Ann Orcutt, a New York-based makeup artist,agrees with Ms. Weiss that the majority of the faceand eyes can be done at home, but like Ms. Harlowand Ms. Dubroff she is also concerned with keeping

the complexion looking matte and refreshedthroughout the day.

“If I leave the house without concealer, pressedpowder, a bronzer or blotting tools, I will make a U-turn to go home and get them,” said Ms. Orcutt, whofavors brands like Make Up For Ever, Face Stock-holm and MAC. She rounded out her streamlinedpocketbook list with a “middle ground” lip color andtravel-size cotton swabs.

The celebrity makeup artist Scott Barnes’s focus,meanwhile, is on eyes. His “five essentials” for awoman’s day bag include mascara (Armani Eyes toKill); a Japonesque eyelash curler; and his personalgo-to: Naphcon eye drops (“They make your eyeslook, bright, white and rested,” he said). Mr. Barnestopped off his list with a MAC Cremesheen Glass (agloss lipstick hybrid) in Boy Bait and a Guerlainbronzer.

Emily Eddington, a morning-news TV anchor in

Illinois and the creator of YouTube’s popular BeautyBroadcast, also thinks the eyelash curler, though un-wieldy, is a purse essential. “Our hair falls, and so doour eyelashes,” she said. But besides the curler, heron-the-go bag does not include eye makeup; justcotton swabs. “Sometimes it’s about taking thingsaway when it comes to touch-ups,” she said.

Ms. Weiss agrees and tries to carry Almay Oil-Free Makeup Eraser sticks in both her pocketbookand evening clutch.

Once you’ve decided what your essentials are, it’stime to organize them in your pocketbook.

Ms. Morgenstern realizes that most women aredevoted to their large open totes, which she deemed“highly impractical from the organizational stand-point.” To prevent the day bag from morphing intoan impossible black hole, she suggests a system ofpouches in various sizes, each devoted to a singlecategory of items (like makeup), which can be la-beled or color-coded, then tossed into the tote (orstored in the “deep drawer” when not in use).

On OpenSky.com, where she recommends organi-zational products, Ms. Morgenstern is a fan of Bag-gu bags, which are nylon, zippered, come in sizesranging from playing cards to backpacks, and foldinto nothing. “This company knows people needsomething small for their cotton balls and Q-Tips,”she said.

She also likes the Purse Perfector, a two-part zip-pered pouch that divides in half. Office essentials(pens, reading glasses) can be placed on one sideand makeup on the other. “When you go out atnight, you can unzip and take your makeup withyou,” she said.

Ms. Orcutt prefers Walker Mesh Bags(walkerbags.com) for their sturdiness and transpar-ency. “When they get dirty, you can throw them inthe wash with your jeans and then air-dry them,”she said. And Ms. Harlow said that she sometimessimply uses Ziploc sandwich bags.

But no matter the method, even makeup artists, itseems, have difficulty streamlining their pocket-books. “It’s easy for me to put lightweight makeupbags together for clients, but I have a hard time do-ing it myself,” Ms. Orcutt said. “I don’t mind a soreshoulder from toting extra products around if theymake me look beautiful. Beauty is pain.”

PRACTICAL Walker mesh bags are sturdy enough to be thrown into thewash and transparent enough to reveal what kind of makeup is inside.

The three elements of makeuporganization: home base, whatyou take and how you take it.

N E3THE NEW YORK TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012

EYES WIDE OPEN A Californiaplastic surgeon has combinedblepharoplasty (eyelid surgery)and browpexy (brow lift) to createan “All-in-One Eye Lid and Brow”lift that he says is less invasivethan many similar procedures.The new lift takes 30 minutes andrequires two internal stitches andabout five days of recuperation.The procedure costs approximate-ly $4,500 and is available at thepractice of Tancredi F. D’Amore,in Corte Madera, Calif.(damoreplasticsurgery.com).

TOUPEES ARE CHEAPER Dr. Rob-ert M. Bernstein, of the BernsteinMedical Center for Hair Restora-tion in Midtown Manhattan, hasbecome the first doctor on theEast Coast to use a robot (below)to help with hair transplants, ac-cording to the company that de-veloped the machine, RestorationRobotics. The Artas System for

Hair Restoration uses digital map-ping and tracking to extract andharvest “follicular units,” a k ahairs. The procedure lasts fromfour to eight hours and usuallycosts $12,000 to $15,000(bernsteinmedical.com).

HAPPY FEET Now you don’t haveto wear flip-flops to the nail salonin January. Bootie Pies are Ugg-like suede and leather boots withcollapsible front flaps so that re-cently painted toes can continueto dry without risking hypother-mia to the rest of the foot. The col-lection, introduced in 2007, now of-fers a low boot. Colors include off-white, black and lavender ($68 to$88 at bootiepies.com).

HILARY HOWARD

BeautySpots

MARIA TEIJEIRO/GETTY IMAGES (EYE)

Face

Eyes

Lips

Skin Deep

My Lipstick?It’s in Here

Somewhere

PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY CENICOLA/THE NEW YORK TIMES

C M Y K Nxxx,2012-01-05,E,003,Bs-4C,E1