I organized every drawer in my house. Except the bag I carry my whole bathroom in. This is a letter about the one I finally picked
Six things this quilted toiletry bag does right that years of free plastic pouches never managed, from a woman who hadn't given her toiletry bag a single thought until she saw her friend's.
Megan Hayes · Customer · Knoxville, TN · 5 min readI'm 59, I keep a neat house, and I'll start with a confession. Every single thing in that house was picked on purpose. My kitchen drawers have dividers. My linen closet has labels. Even the soap dish had a shortlist. And the bag I put my toothbrush, my lotion and my good face cream in, the thing I open every morning of my life, was a cloudy plastic zip pouch that came free with a set of travel bottles years ago and simply never left. I never picked it. It showed up, it stayed, and I'm not sure anyone in America has ever really chosen their toiletry bag. So this isn't a review. It's a woman who finally chose one, explaining why.
The bag I'm writing about is the Sierra Quilted Toiletry Bag from Ella & Finn Boutique, a small husband-and-wife studio that quilts these in small batches. I first spotted one on the guest bathroom counter at my friend Carol's house, standing up on its own next to the soap as neatly as a little piece of furniture. When the studio later asked if they could share my letter, I said yes, as long as I could be completely honest in it.
Mine, on my bathroom counter. It stands there on its own, which the plastic one never once did.
Here's what all those years with the plastic pouch taught me. A toiletry bag only ever lives two ways. Stuffed in a drawer at home, because honestly you don't want anyone to see it. Or out on the counter in somebody else's guest bathroom, slumped over, with your things leaking out of the top for the whole family to admire. Somewhere along the line I just accepted that the thing I reach for first every morning would be the shabbiest thing I own.
I chose the towels, the soap dish and the bath mat. The bag I actually open every single morning came free with a set of travel bottles.
This is the first toiletry bag I've ever owned on purpose, and after a month of using it every day and taking it on two trips, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Out of the box, standing up straight, and it hasn't slumped since.
It stands up on its own, right on the counter
The padded, quilted sides keep their shape whether it's full or half empty. It doesn't slump over or spill its contents across the sink. It just stands there next to the soap like it belongs, which is not something I ever expected to say about a toiletry bag.
It stands up by itself on the counter like a little box. My old one fell over every time I took something out of it.
Donna R., Chattanooga, TNThe design is something you actually want to look at
Those tall folk-art cats in their red, mustard, orange and green go all the way across the front, with the quilting swirled right into them. It's the first toiletry bag I've ever left out on purpose. My daughter picked it up in her guest bathroom and asked if it was a gift from someone.
The cats up close, with all that quilting in them. Every time I open it, I smile a little.
It's too pretty to hide in a drawer, so now it lives on the counter. Every guest who uses our bathroom asks about it.
Linda M., Greenville, SCIt opens wide, so you can see everything
The zipper runs along the whole top and opens the bag right up, so you're not digging blind for your lipstick at the bottom. A full-size bottle of lotion stands up in the large one, next to my toothbrush, my hairbrush and the face cream I'd rather not have leaking all over my sweaters.
Everything I take on a weekend away, and I can see all of it the second I unzip it.
I fit a full-size shampoo, my brush and all my makeup in the large. The zipper glides, no snagging like my old one.
Karen T., Roanoke, VASoft and padded, but it wipes clean
The quilted fabric is lightly padded, so my glass jar of face cream rides along safely, and it doesn't mind life next to a sink. When a bottle of lotion leaked on the way to my daughter's, I wiped it out with a damp cloth and it looked new again. Pretty things are usually fussy. This one isn't.
A bottle of hand cream opened up inside on the plane. Two minutes with a damp washcloth and you'd never know.
Sharon P., Lexington, KYIt packs flat into a suitcase
Because it's soft and squared off, it slides between folded clothes in a carry-on without taking up the whole corner, and it's easy to spot the second you open the suitcase. No more fishing around for a clear plastic pouch that looks exactly like every other clear plastic pouch.
Fits right in my carry-on between my sweaters. I can find it in two seconds, which my husband says is a miracle.
Patricia G.Three sizes, and dozens of designs
A small for makeup in your purse, a medium for everyday, and a large for a full week away. And the Sierra is just one of forty designs. There's one covered in a whole crowd of colorful cat faces that I've decided is for my sister at Christmas, which is apparently how this starts.
Mine, and the cat crowd one I'm telling myself is for my sister.
Bought a large for travel and a small for my purse. Then three more for Christmas presents. No regrets.
Debra K., Columbia, SCThis bag, next to the one that came free
Nobody buys a toiletry bag on purpose. That's the whole problem. One comes free with something and stays for a decade. Here's the difference, side by side.
Stuck zipper and a sticky corner
Hidden in a drawer when anyone visits
Slumps over and spills on the counter
Cracks and goes cloudy with age
Never chosen, never liked, never left
Smooth zipper that opens the whole top
Stays out, and gets asked about
Stands up neatly on its own
Padded, and wipes clean in a minute
Chosen on purpose, finally
About the price
Right now the small is $29.95, down from $83.95. The medium is $31.95, down from $87.95, and the large, the one I take on every trip, is $33.95, down from $92.95.
I'm careful with money and I won't pretend I'm not, so I'll just pass on what the studio told me: they're a small shop that sells directly, and they're clearing out this year's designs to make room for the new collection. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you is that at that price I didn't deliberate long, and Carol has since bought the large.
I don't trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Over 11,540 customers, rating them 4.8 stars, and plenty of them wrote more than a line, which sounded like real people, so I kept reading. The same six things I just walked you through came up again and again, in other women's words.
On duty in my carry-on. The plastic pouch went out with the trash after all those years, and nobody shed a tear.
If your toiletry bag also came free with something and stuck around, this is the one I'd put in your hands myself, while the design you want is still there.
Megan
SIERRA QUILTED TOILETRY BAG
- ✓Stands up on its own on the counter
- ✓Folk-art cats design with real quilting
- ✓Zipper that opens the whole top wide
- ✓Lightly padded, wipes clean with a damp cloth
- ✓Packs flat into any suitcase
- ✓Three sizes, from $29.95 · 40 designs in the collection
- ✓FREE US shipping & 30-day free returns
Studio Clearance on now, making room for the new collection. The popular designs go first.