Photo courtesy of sephora.com

I always see women on the MARC and Amtrak trains rummaging through huge bags, extracting an arsenal of cosmetics and un-selfconsciously applying a full face of makeup en route. I must admit that I occasionally participate in this ritual too, but I feel tacky and disorganized when I do. My lovely grandmother (may she rest in glamour) would never have dreamed of applying anything in public other than her "liprouge", always delicately applied with a pinky finger, which was wiped discreetly on her perfectly pressed handkerchief after the dirty deed was done. Quite a departure from dumping the contents of my giant purse onto the seat beside me and diving for wayward eyeliner beneath the seat in front of me on a moving train.

Grammy would have seen this as unspeakably rude; a blatant declaration of disrespect to my fellow passengers. She would have told me and my commuting sisters to set the alarm fifteen minutes earlier and be ready to walk onto the train platform looking polished and mysterious, not exposing our secrets and messiness to the world. And she definitely would have approved of subtly touching up her always-perfect lips with Nars' limited-edition J. Mendel lip palette.

The esteemed fashion house teamed with Nars, one of my absolute favorite lines (they really have the best reds) to create my perfect commuter tool; the modern-classic, pretty-ugly rubberized black compact houses three lipglosses, in colors ranging from glistening sheer white to a deep, juicy grape and three lipsticks, from sheer rose to rich wine. I use the white gloss as highlighter for my whole face, the sheer rose lipstick as blush and the reds, of course, I dab on my lips with a pinky finger. Starched hanky optional.