Are you ready to be disgusted by your handbag’s contents? Or even… get sick?

Apparently the outside is pretty gross.

There may be Fecal bacteria?

Ugh.

And the inside is equally sickening.

Hazard number 1 –  your phone

Not only are these handy devices laced with horrid bacteria, but also, you can know get ‘texter’s thumb’! According to Virgin Mobile, there are reported 3.8 million cases a year of repetitive strain injury.

Hazard number 2 – your back ache

It is easy to just ‘throw it in my bag, I might need it’ and run out the door. But did you know that lugging around a heavy handbag can have serious implications on your body and could even lead back problems and neck pain.

I’ve found that using one of my standard organisers has reduced the excess stuff I used to carry around with me.

Hazard number 3 – your makeup

I’m guilty as charged. I’m so slack with changing out my mascara, I know I should use it for only 6 months! I need to come up with a system to remind myself. Any ideas for me?

Anyway, old make up floating around in your bag is a germ factory waiting to happen. Use it or toss it.

What do you have floating around in the bottom of your bag?  

Handbags are useful for carrying the essentials, looking good on your arm, and also — surprise — for keeping you healthy!

Here are the top 7 suggestions for healthy items to pop in your handbag.

And to keep them from leaking all over your bag, don’t forget to store them in your bragbags organiser!

1. sunscreen and hat

Skin Cancer is so prevalent in Australia, why would you go anywhere without your trusty sunscreen. Carry a minimum of SPF15 in a handy tube. You don’t need a big bottle. I prefer the non-greasy types like Nivea or Neutrogena for a quick touchup if I’m in the elements. And a hat that can be scrunched up is an essential in our Summer sun.

2. water

Did you know you can go 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water. And in our hot climate, leaving home without a water bottle in your bag is just daft. Not only that, water is the best beauty and health regime so think of how gorgeous you are as you drink it. I’ve found a smaller-sized bottle that will fit in most of my bags that is perfect for a shopping outing.

3. nutritious snacks

A small snack bag with some protein snacks will keep away the desire to go buy something you’ll regret. Some nuts, dried fruit, popcorn or even a low-fat muesli bar are handy to have in your bag.

4. pedometer

My new year resolution (surprise) is to get my fitness level up. And a pedometer is a clever way of seeing how active I’ve been during the day. Keep this in your handbag and you are likely to remember to record your steps as you ferret out all those bargains.

5. entertainment

Did you know that browsing the web can be help boost brain stimulation? I keep my Iphone loaded with apps (like Sudoku) and books, and that is what I do when I’m out doing school run, doctor’s offices etc. Or reading a book might help you to calm down and relax while waiting.

6. medications and vitamins

Keeping a little pill carrier handy in your bag is a good way to remember that Vitamin C tablet you forgot to take this morning. Or you might need something lifesaving like diabetes medication or asthma inhalers. Have a place in your organiser for these items.

7. hand santizer

I’m pretty lazy about this one. I don’t often carry this with me, however reading some stats about how disgusting an ATM is, in fact just as bad as a public toilet, has me rethinking my behaviour. You can get little bottles that are handy and last a good while. And especially before eating or with kids, a healthy item to include in your bag.

To keep all your healthy items organised and safe in your handbag, try the bragbags’ waterproof  Beach and  Sports Bag Organiser at http://bragbags.com.au/products/Beach_and_Sports_Bag_Organiser-83-2.html.

bragbags Sports and Beach Bag Organiser

What items have I forgotten that you carry in your bag?

Do you look organised on the outside, but when you open your bag it is a big mess?

That is me!

Fortunately I don’t carry much in my handbag. Just my wallet, pen, phone, glasses, sunnies, lipstick and a plethora of old receipts and paperwork. I’ve learned to use my phone for everything. So I don’t carry a notepad anywhere. I use the notes feature, or take a photo of what has caught my eye.

But I feel like I have to be super organised. You know. Because I have designed all these handbag organisers!

So I decided to set myself free. Stop using my bag organizer for a week. I’d survive. No worries!

Of course I did survive, but not without constantly leaving something behind in the morning. One day it was my glasses. Of course the phrase ‘I don’t really need glasses’ played in my mind as I searched to locate them in my bag. I guess I do need them after all. A lot of squinting, and a little of asking someone younger to look at a price tag for me. Horror!

But it was the day I left my phone behind that did it! A day without my phone was just too much. A work day without my phone was ridiculous!

For the first hour I felt liberated, but then I started to get worried. What if the school nurse called and my kids were ill? What if my customers called with a once-in-a-business-lifetime order.

So after a week of really feeling disorganised without my organiser, I filled it up with all my importants, and back it went into my bag.

Relief!

Metallic SYSTeM bragbags organiser

It’s easy to be travelling to exotic locations, wishing I was somewhere else.

But I already live in Paradise. I just need to remind myself.

I work hard in my handbag business.

And I get to enjoy my days off in this fabulous place.

My local

Hi There

We really appreciate suggestions for improving our handbag organisers. We are designing our new Summer range, and it is time to relook at the organisers, and see what we can improve.

To give you a little incentive, we’d like to place you into the draw to win a FREE Handbag Organiser Set (Large and Standard Organiser and bonus loyalty card holder) valued at $85.

To go into the draw, please do the following:

- enter your information below AND

- send a friend over to do the same (and she needs to tell us you sent her!), or click ‘SHARE’ on Facebook (we can see you do that).

Here is what we’d like to know:

1. what would you like to put in an organiser

2. what would you change about the organiser?

3. is the size (Standard, Large) okay? Would you change or add a new size?

4. what are the organisers missing?

5. what colours would you like? What fabrics?

6. do you own a bragbags’ organiser? Which size?

7. any other random comments

Can’t wait to hear back from you!

Thanks

Jenny

Wow.

Investigating the underworld fake designer handbag market has opened my eyes!

So what do the great fashion houses think of black market copies? You might be surprised.

Prada says that they would be ‘worried’ if their products weren’t copied. So is that condoning these criminals?

On the other hand, Louboutin is a ‘luxury revel’ and has a different business philosopy. They want to stay close to their customers, to do the small details that they know will be loved. They are a defiant voice in the luxury industry. They are small by luxury standards.

They believe that it is not about CONSUMERISM, it is about educating.

Yay say I!

But why is this important you ask?

According to Dana Thomas of ‘Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster” … if we lose the art of handcrafting items made with love and passion, if we lose the integrity that it takes to produce and sell them, then we will LOSE THE SOUL of our culture.

What do you think?

So in Part 4, (yes there is another one to come), we’ll explore WHERE handcrafted luxury items are made. Is that Italian handbag you just bought made in Italy? You might be surprised?

Last week a market stall owner in Sydney was raided for selling fake designer handbags. This week we’re exposing the nasty side of fake handbags.

I’m sick.

This research into the counterfeiting black market makes me sick to my stomach.

According to Dana Thomas of ‘Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster’, counterfeiting is an underworld activity exploiting children and underpaid workers and bankrolling TERRORISM.

She writes that in Thailand, children under 10 years of age have their LEGS BROKEN so they won’t leave. That factories in several countries have these types of operations, and when the police go in, they wear guns, these counterfeiters are dangerous.

She witnessed a raid in China, where kids were found gluing and stitching fake designer handbags. When the factory was closed down, these children were HOMELESS. And unpaid.

The average Chinese factory worker earns $135 a month, the counterfeit works half that or less, she adds.

Interpol confirms that fakes provide a lucrative income for ORGANISED CRIME and help fund TERRORIST groups.

I’m feeling sicker!

And the sale of fakes ultimately helped fund the bomb blast in Bali that killed our fellow Australians.

But before you throw your hands in the air and feel ethically damned if you do and fashionably cramped if you don’t, there is an alternative to that fake Fendi bag.

Pre-loved accessories shop with a zero tolerance for fakes (and know how to spot them) are a good source. Pick up end of season heavily discounted ranges from the large department stores of European designer bags.

But back to fakes.

So where do the great fashion houses stand on all of this? You may be surprised. We’ll pick that up in Part 3.

Courtesy of Gotham City Insider

My friend, we’ll call her Jane, was telling me about her latest trip to Singapore, and how her best buy was a REAL leather Prada bag for $130.

Oh no, she insisted, it was the real thing, because the lady in the shop said it had a tiny fault. Reduced from $2500 to $130.

And see, it smells like leather .

Mmmmmm ….

Meantime in Sydney over the weekend, police reportedly located a loot worth $1M of fake handbags.

The bags were being sold at Parklea Markets, so the police and staff from Trademark Investigation raided the stall and then a house locating the rest of the goods.

Both the stall holder and the owner are going to court.

Retailers selling counterfeit goods help perpetuate the myth that it’s okay to buy such products. It is theft, pure and simple,” Detective Inspector Guyatt said.

Photo Courtesy ABC.net.au

Stayed tuned … we’ll follow this up next  week to find out the link between fake goods, child labour and weapons dealing.