There are two types of people in this world: the ones who say “I forgot my lip balm” and suffer in silence, and the ones who look at their best friend and say, “Can I just borrow yours real quick?” without hesitation.

And honestly, friendship is 40% emotional support and 60% shared belongings.

Because no matter how independent you are, there will always be that one friend whose bag becomes a communal supply station.

1. Lip balm (aka the most “permanently borrowed” item)

Let’s start with the obvious.

Lip balm is never truly yours if you have a best friend. It just rotates ownership depending on who last applied it.

You bring one, she uses it. She brings one, you “accidentally forget” to return it. At this point, it’s not borrowing—it’s joint custody.

And somehow, it always disappears right when you need it most.

That’s when you turn slowly, make eye contact, and ask the sacred question: “Do you have yours?”

2. Lipstick: the “I’ll just try it once” lie

Lipstick borrowing is never casual. It always starts innocent:

• “Let me see that shade on you”
• “I’ll just try a little bit”
• “It won’t even show on me”

Cut to five minutes later, you’re wearing it, taking selfies, and mentally renaming the shade like it belongs to you.

Your friend is watching you with the face of someone who knows she’ll never see that lipstick the same way again.

3. Eyeliner: the trust exercise

Borrowing eyeliner from a friend is a different level of friendship.

It requires:

• Trust
• Steady hands (from both of you)
• And the understanding that one wrong move could turn into a full identity change

If she lets you use her eyeliner, she’s basically saying:
“I believe in your potential, but also I accept chaos.”

4. Hair clips, scrunchies, and the disappearing act

No one knows where hair ties go. They just leave.

But somehow, your best friend always has one… or had one five minutes ago… or remembers buying one… vaguely.

Borrowing a hair tie is a temporary agreement that ends with:

• You forgetting to return it
• Her forgetting she lent it
• Both of you buying new packs you never needed

And yet the cycle continues.

5. Perfume: the silent personality swap

Borrowing perfume is underrated.

One spray and suddenly you’re not just you anymore—you’re you, but slightly more put together, slightly more mysterious, slightly more “I have my life figured out.”

And then your friend smells it on you later and says:
“That’s mine.”

And you say: “I know.”

Because at this point, scent-sharing is just emotional bonding.

6. Makeup pouches: the black hole of friendship

Every best friend has that one pouch where everything goes in and nothing comes out on time.

You ask for one thing, and suddenly she’s digging through:

• Three lipsticks
• A broken compact
• Something unidentifiable from 2019
• And your missing eyeliner from last week

But you don’t complain, because you know your pouch is equally chaotic.

Friendship is just organised chaos shared between two people.

7. The real thing we borrow: confidence

It’s not just makeup.

Sometimes you borrow confidence too.

The kind that sounds like:

• “You look fine, just go”
• “Try it, it suits you”
• “No, you’re definitely not overthinking it”

And suddenly, things that felt impossible feel a little easier.

Not because anything changed—just because your friend said it out loud first.

The unspoken rule of friendship borrowing

There are no formal agreements. No receipts. No returns policy.

Just understanding.

If you have it, you share it.
If you need it, you ask.
If you forget to return it, you both pretend it never happened.

Because in the end, best friends don’t really borrow things from each other.

They just circulate everything—makeup, opinions, outfits, and sometimes identity crises—until nothing really feels like it belongs to just one person anymore.

And honestly? That’s the fun of it.