Compact and Jewel: Why Every Woman Needs a Pocket Mirror

For women, compact mirrors serve two purposes: looking at your vulva in private or applying makeup in public.

The view of a woman applying makeup on a crowded public transport is a daily reflection fragment of Fleabag “Hair matters!” speech, the “cool girl” voiceover of Gone Girl and the soliloquy of Barbie America Ferrera. A reminder, in short, that we're supposed to appear nice, but let's never let it slip that we tried to. When 2004 U.S. vice presidential candidate John Edwards was caught fixing his hair before an interview, Wags set the footage to I Feel Pretty and it killed his career. Of course, he cared about his appearance – he literally wanted to be eligible. This was a rare male equivalent to the crime women are accused of when they wear makeup in public.

While naysayers would paint you as Narcissus, I consider practice makeup as a small act. resistance; a daily affirmation that you, a mortal woman, have better balance than a character from Greek mythology. Take the negative judgments of commuters and make them your daily affirmation, whether it's the vulnerability of "I want to be admired" or the punk spit of "I don't care."

The rear view camera on your phone means you always have a mirror – but it's not glamorous and can seem sneaky or desolate. Go all the way and invest in a vintage compact or give it as a Valentine's Day/Christmas/Birthday gift to the woman in your life. He said unabashedly, “I like looking at you and you should enjoy looking at yourself too.” » On Etsy, I like Totally Turkish, a small company whose compacts have a regular, magnifying mirror in a beautiful enamel case for just £7.45. On 1stDibs, however, there are plenty of art deco compacts for sale. Art Nouveau is the greatest treasure because it was an intrinsically feminine movement. There you'll find a £1,259 topaz necklace with a dream mirror locket.

Compacts serve a dual purpose if you're a mother. The best way to calm a toddler who is having a tantrum on a bus is to hand him a compact so he can watch himself cry. They are always soothed by the sight and calm down.

A good red flag test is how a romantic interest reacts to you wearing makeup in public. This is different from a performance in private, which is just for their eyes. I think this usually excites lovers because they know you're getting ready to enter real life; but until you do, the world beyond the two of you doesn't exist.

Checking your makeup in public should feel erotic when you're under the the grip of attraction: your lipstick in the reflection of your knife at a dinner party, looking at yourself in a hallway mirror on the way to your hotel room, or in the mirror of the elevator as you exit to see if you're still you.

As a commuter, I prefer to do very specific bursts of public makeup – a lip or an eye – feel a full face brings people into your life who perhaps want to remain their own main character. For this, I recommend mirrors integrated into the makeup itself. The Bourjois Volume Reveal mascara has a mirror rectangle on its side. Guerlain makes a mirror lipstick with the same design. I would deny the consumer choice if I didn't say that Isamaya lipstick is encased in an erect reflective silver penis.

The only times I would do a full face Public scratching can be found in gallery gift shops. The V&A and National Portrait Gallery sell stunning mirrors on their premises and, given the context, your fellow buyers may just pretend you're a performance piece.

Five of the best

From floral to jewelry, the compacts that shine