Bottomless handbag? There's no app for that

WOMEN'S handbags are objects of mystery…well, to men at least. They expand and contract with the caprice of fashion, and they have long been a no-go area for the male of the species.

But to judge from new research, they have long been a no-go area for women, too. A survey of 1,000 women has shown they are risking skin and eye infections because the content of their make-up bags is out of date by an average of four years. Eye shadow, for example, is, on average, thrown out only after 15 years, when it has a shelf life of two years. Mascara should be kept for up to six months, but most women throw it away only after a year. Perfume is thrown out after eight years, rather than three, and lipstick is kept for ten years, when it usually goes out of date after two.

These findings are at odds with the widespread perception that the main purpose of a handbag is to carry the latest "must-have" iPhone, bristling with "apps". Despite this fondness for new electronics, however, no app has yet been found that enables women to retrieve the ringing iPhone in time to answer it. Calls occasion desperate scrambling among the detritus laid bare by this survey.

We venture to suggest that it would be better for women's health, and for their communication requirements, if they just had a bit of a clear-out now and again.