The Face Oil I Always Have in My Makeup Bag

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Everyone should have the essentials ready to go when the time comes. I’m not talking about a prepper-style go bag for natural disasters or zombie apocalypses or anything like that — I’m talking about the things you bring for a last-minute sleepover.

The casual vibes of these types of hangouts extend to what you bring with you, too. So my go bag, for example, only includes an extra pair of underwear, a spare hair tie, sunglasses (regardless of what the forecast calls for), and my little bottle of face oil from S.W. Basics.

It’s the hero product of my go bag because it’s both a moisturizer and a makeup remover, and you don’t need much of it. I can use it right before I fall asleep to wipe away stray traces of my favorite long-lasting lip color and eyeliner, then again in the morning to hydrate my skin, which is necessary after staying in a typically hot and dry New York City apartment.

The Brooklyn-based brand touts its simplistic recipes (and even invites you to make them yourself), and the jojoba facial oil is as basic as it gets — no, really, that’s the only ingredient. I picked up mine courtesy of the brand when facial spot Heyday opened a new location earlier this year and got it customized with essential oils for a warm, cozy scent. (Again, this is definitely something you can DIY.)

My current bottle is so depleted that the product can’t get sucked up by the pump anymore; I twist it off and oh-so-carefully pour a small puddle into my palms these days. I’m not being precious about it over the price, though, since it’s only $15 and lasts for months — it’s just that, like my sleepovers, I tend to do things last-minute.