Antes da festa, ela colocou o batom na bolsa e procurou os brincos.

Because antes is normally followed by de when it introduces a noun:

• antes da festa = before the party
• antes do jantar = before dinner
• antes de sair = before leaving

Here, da is a contraction of de + a. So:

• antes de a festa → antes da festa

Portuguese usually needs that de after antes when a noun comes next.

Da is the contraction of:

• de
  • a = da

This happens very often in Portuguese. Some common combinations are:

• de + o = do
• de + a = da
• em + a = na
• em + o = no

So antes da festa literally breaks down as before of-the party, even though in natural English we simply say before the party.

Because Portuguese articles often combine with prepositions. The article a is the feminine singular form of the, and festa is a feminine noun.

So:

• a festa = the party
• de + a festa = da festa

In other words, the article is still there; it is just fused with the preposition.

Colocou is the third-person singular preterite of colocar.

• eu coloquei = I put
• ela colocou = she put
• nós colocamos = we put

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past. In this sentence, she finished putting the lipstick in the bag, so colocou is the natural choice.

Both can mean to put.

• colocar = to place / to put
• pôr = to put

In many everyday situations, they are interchangeable:

• Ela colocou o batom na bolsa.
• Ela pôs o batom na bolsa.

Both are correct.
However, colocar is often easier for learners because it is a regular verb, while pôr is irregular.

Yes, batom is masculine, so it takes o:

• o batom = the lipstick

Portuguese noun gender is not always predictable from meaning. Even though lipstick might seem like a word that could be feminine to an English speaker, in Portuguese it is simply masculine by usage.

Also, many nouns ending in -om are masculine, though you should still learn each noun with its article when possible.

Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English does. In a sentence like this, it is very natural to say:

• o batom
• os brincos

This often refers to the specific items relevant in the situation: her lipstick, the earrings she intended to wear, and so on.

So even if English might sound fine without the in some contexts, Portuguese often prefers the article.

Na is the contraction of:

• em
  • a = na

So:

• a bolsa = the bag / purse
• na bolsa = in the bag / in the purse

This kind of contraction is extremely common in Portuguese.

Because procurar takes a direct object in Portuguese.

• procurar os brincos = to look for the earrings
• procurar a chave = to look for the key

English uses the preposition for, but Portuguese does not here.

So:

• English: She looked for the earrings
• Portuguese: Ela procurou os brincos

This is a very important difference to remember.

Yes. Procurar can mean:

• to look for
• to search for
• sometimes to try to find

The best translation depends on context. In this sentence, looked for is the most natural everyday English equivalent, but searched for the earrings is also possible.

Yes, Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

So both are possible:

• Ela colocou o batom na bolsa e procurou os brincos.
• Colocou o batom na bolsa e procurou os brincos.

Including ela can add clarity, emphasis, or simply sound more natural in context. Since colocou and procurou are both third-person singular forms, ela helps make the subject explicit.

This is the normal Portuguese order:

• verb + direct object + place
• colocou
  • o batom
    • na bolsa

So it literally goes:

• put
  • the lipstick
    • in the bag

This is very similar to English word order in this kind of sentence.

Brincos means earrings. The singular is:

• o brinco = the earring
• os brincos = the earrings

Here it is plural because she was looking for a pair of earrings, or at least more than one earring.

Yes, bolsa can mean several related things depending on context:

• bag
• purse
• handbag

In this sentence, purse or bag both work well in English. The exact translation depends on the kind of bag the context suggests.