Makeup Bag Must-Haves For Every Night Out

MAC Dazzleshadow Liquid ($26)

Glitter eye as soft glam? It's achievable, when the shine is backed by neutral tones — and this formula has an array to choose from. Light shades go on sheer but build to dense glitter and major sparkle, while darker shades deposit tight glitter with just one swipe. No matter how intense of a glitter eye you create, this liquid formula dries down fast, which means you won't suffer fallout or transfer, even when nestling your head on a date's shoulder during slow dances.

Yves Saint Laurent Beauty Loveshine Lip Oil Stick ($45)

This lip oil-balm-color hybrid feels so cushion-y slick when applied and deposits just the right amount of your-lips-but-better color for a diffused, soft-lit look. But just because the formula's easygoing doesn't mean it's not high-glam: the chic bullet is a gem to bust out during kikis in the ladies room.

Chantecaille Limited Edition Les Papillons Eye Trio ($80)

Most makeup palettes are too bulky to pack in a makeup bag, much less a stylish evening clutch. But this sleek number is the size of a credit card and packs two soft-light shades that enhance eye definition and add a touch of shimmer. On nights when you want to dial up your look? A third, iridescent-green shade (beautiful on brown and hazel eyes) is just the thing to create a diffused statement eye befitting a K-pop star.

Guerlain KissKiss Bee Lift Lip Primer ($40)

When worn alone, this shea butter, honey, and beeswax-infused primer moisturizes lips as it blurs. But balm-like power aside, the matte formula also gives staying power to the creamiest of lipsticks and keeps them from bleeding without compromising their true shades like some primers can.

Prada Moisturizing Lip Balm ($50)

This balm feels like your go-to formula: featherweight, soothing, and barrier-building (thanks to bifidus extract and jojoba oil). But the tinted versions deposit enough low-shine color to rival your most natural-looking lipsticks. The result is an easy-wear option that won't look clownish after dining and adds a fresh hint of color post-makeout session or during your commute home (whenever that may be).

Kat Burki Vitabiome Active Skin Optimizer ($88)

Still face the occasional blemish or two? Forget the toner you used as a teen. This spray-on essence taps amino acids, vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, and antimicrobial ingredients aimed at softening redness and balancing skin (not to mention the microbiome). It just so happens to boost complexions on clear skin days, too.

Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter ($49)

Part concealer, part foundation, all-around luminizer, this hybrid product lightly covers and evens tone while adding the kind of summer glow that takes weeks in Mykonos to achieve. The wide, doe-foot applicator makes spot-concealing easy, but its best achievement is illuminated skin that doesn't look greasy or robotic.

U Beauty The Plasma Lip Compound Tinted ($68)

More proof that we're living in the golden age of performance lip products: this mega-shine lip treatment feels like a lightweight oil but looks like a megawatt gloss that conceals vertical lip lines. What's more, it contains new-school ingredients geared to plump lips and blur lines over time. Among them, a patented antioxidant conditioner, collagen-supporting peptides, moisturizing ceramides, and exfoliating PHA.

Tom Ford Architecture Micro-Brow Pencil ($60)

Position this pencil's fine tip vertically to draw individual, hair-like strokes or rotate it a quarter turn for a wide-angle application suited to fill in patchiness. Either way, this multitasker with a built-in spoolie makes creating a power brow both simple and quick.

MAC Studio Radiance 24HR Luminous Lift Concealer ($31)

When choosing a concealer from MAC, you know you're going to score on performance and coverage. This newest launch, available in 44 shades, doesn't disappoint, offering buildable coverage and long wear that doesn't cake. But the formula also includes 31 hydrating, illuminating, and plumping skin-care ingredients (such as niacinamide, vitamin C, and hyaluronic acid) aimed at minimizing dark circles with continued use.

Chantecaille Limited Edition Les Papillons Lip Sheer ($38)

It's hard not to want a tube of this ultra-hydrating balm for every bag: it drops the sheerest tint to mimic the natural flush of baby lips while imparting a light gloss that blurs fine vertical lip lines, too.

U Beauty The Super Hydrator ($168)

Debunking the myth that deeply hydrating moisturizers can only come in the form of thick creams, this milky formula delivers all-day hydration, compliments of heavy hitters like squalane and five weights of hyaluronic acid (including a long-chain version that has been microencapsulated for targeted delivery). Also included is vitamin C and superfood-derived antioxidants to help skin fight free radicals. Best yet, it doubles as a primer that provides a lit-from-within glow when worn under makeup.