A letter from Dianne about two little camper vans
For forty years every makeup bag I owned came free with a bottle of perfume. This is the first one I ever chose, and the first I have written a letter about.
Six things two little quilted camper vans get right that forty years of free gift bags got wrong, written down by a customer, not a shop.
Dianne Prescott · Customer · Epping, Sydney · 5 min read
I am 64, and I have never once paid for a makeup bag. They came free. Every Christmas there was a perfume counter offering a little navy bag with any purchase, and for forty years that is where my lipstick, my hand cream and my reading glasses lived. This spring, in the ladies’ at the lunch stop on a coach tour of Kangaroo Island, I found out what that looks like from the outside.
We had come straight from Remarkable Rocks, where the wind off the Southern Ocean had done what it liked with everybody’s hair, and there were six of us at the basins trying to look human again. Three of us pulled out the very same free navy bag. Same gold writing, same tired zip, mine held shut with a hair clip. And the woman at the end basin set down a little pink camper van covered in daisies, opened the zip along the roof and found her comb first go. Her name is Colleen, she is a retired bank manager from Mount Gambier, and I asked her about it plainly at the coach door.
It is called the Daisyrove, from Thompson Sydney, a small Australian boutique that has been quietly making lovely things for women our age for a few years now. I ordered one when we got home, fully expecting to send it back. Instead I went back for a second, the Sunmeadow, and I wrote to the boutique to tell them why. They asked if they could put my letter up for other women to read. So here it is, the six things these get right.
Makeup bags, if you have ever actually looked, come in two piles. The first pile is the free one, which costs you nothing and looks like it, because it was chosen by a marketing department and given to every woman who bought a bottle of perfume that week. The second pile is the clear plastic toiletry case from the chemist, which is honest enough but would never make a woman smile at seven in the morning.
A bag somebody else picked, or a bag that simply does the job. I stopped accepting that a woman has to make do with either, and these two little vans are the proof.
Colleen’s Daisyrove on the bench at the lunch stop. She let me take a photo so I could find it again.
It is the first makeup bag I ever chose for myself
This is the thing I would tell you if I only had a minute. Every free bag I owned was the same colour as everybody else’s, because it was never meant for me, it was meant for the perfume. The Daisyrove is a retro camper van in hot pink, purple, turquoise and sunny yellow, with daisies on the roof and a peace sign on the front, and I chose it because it made me laugh out loud in a ladies’ room. The Sunmeadow is a sunflower-yellow van driving through a pine forest, with a little bird on the roof. Graham has refused me a real camper van for forty years, and says this is as close as I am getting.
The afternoon they arrived. Banjo was very suspicious of the pink one.
“I have had free bags from the chemist for years and never liked one of them. This is the first I actually picked, and I smile every time I unzip it.”
Kaye M., NaracoorteIt is quilted all over, and it stands up on its own
Mine are quilted from end to end, the Daisyrove in little diamonds and the Sunmeadow in soft swirls like clouds. They are soft in the hand, and with a flat base and straight sides they sit up on a bench by themselves instead of flopping over and spilling everything into the basin, which is what my free bags did for forty years. On a crowded bathroom shelf that is worth more than it sounds.
Both of them on the bathroom bench at home, standing up on their own.
“It stands up on the vanity without falling over, and the quilting is lovely. It looks far nicer than anything I have had before.”
Denise H., PenolaOne zip along the roof, with two pulls
There is one zip that runs the full length of the roof, with two pulls, so it opens from either end or right along the top, whichever way you pick it up. There is a little fabric loop at each end of the zip to hold while you pull. It opens wide enough that I can see everything at a glance, which after forty years of fishing about in the bottom of a free bag felt like a small miracle.
Morning tea on the back verandah. Two pulls, so it opens whichever way I pick it up.
“The two zip pulls are such a simple thing, but I can open it from either end without turning it round. It is the little things.”
Jan P., MillicentIt holds a proper amount
The boutique describes it as roomy, and for once the word is honest. It is a long box shape rather than a flat little purse, so things stand up inside instead of lying on top of each other. The Sunmeadow goes on top of my packing now, and when I open the suitcase in a motel room it is the first thing I see, not a navy bag that looks like every other navy bag.
The Sunmeadow on top of my packing for a few nights at Lyn’s. Easy to find before I have even unpacked.
“Everything for a week away went in, and I can find it straight away in the suitcase. No more tipping the whole lot out on the motel bed.”
Sharon W., Port LincolnThree sizes, each priced plainly
Every design comes in three sizes. The small is 15.5 × 7.5 × 7.5 cm, about right for a handbag with your lipstick, a lip balm and a little hand cream. The medium is 20.5 × 10 × 10 cm, which is the one I use every day at home. The large is 25.5 × 13 × 13 cm, for a full week away. Each size has its own price, and I have set them out under About the price below so there are no surprises.
Morning tea by the water at Balmoral. The Sunmeadow comes everywhere now.
“I bought the small for my handbag and the large for the caravan. Having the measurements in front of me made it easy to choose.”
Maree T., YankalillaThere is a van for every woman you know
The two I chose are only the start. The collection runs to more than thirty camper vans, from rainbow daisies and wildflowers to surfboards, mountains, mushrooms and even a Christmas one, and I spent a whole evening on the sofa choosing while Graham watched the golf. With Christmas coming, I have already ordered one for Lyn and one for Jenny over the road, and neither of them is getting a free navy bag from me this year.
“I bought one for myself and three more as Christmas presents for my sisters. They each have a different van and they all love them.”
Lesley B., NormanvilleThe Daisyrove and the Sunmeadow, against the bags you have been using
You can get a makeup bag almost anywhere, usually for free. I know, because I have a drawer full of them. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Chosen by somebody else, the same as everybody’s
Flops over and spills into the basin
One small zip that sticks halfway
One size, whatever trip you are taking
Nobody has ever asked where you got it
A camper van you chose yourself
Quilted all over, stands up on its own
One long zip along the roof with two pulls
Three sizes, from handbag to suitcase
Asked about in a ladies’ room on Kangaroo Island
About the price
I will be straightforward about the price, because it was the thing that made me suspicious. Each design comes in three sizes, and each size has its own price. The small is $48.95, and was $98.00. The medium is $56.95, and was $114.00. The large is $63.95, and was $128.00.
The boutique says the spring sale price is about making room for the summer stock, selling directly, with no middleman taking a cut, and that at this price they are barely making anything on them. That is their arithmetic, not mine. What I can tell you is that it is the first money I have ever spent on a makeup bag, and I have no regrets about either of them.
If your lipstick and your reading glasses are living in a free bag from a perfume counter right now, this is the little van I would hand you instead.
Dianne
The Daisyrove & Sunmeadow Camper Van Makeup Bags
- ✓Quilted camper van cosmetic bag, stands on its own
- ✓Daisyrove: pastel daisies in pink, purple and turquoise
- ✓Sunmeadow: sunflowers and a pine forest in yellow and green
- ✓One long zip along the roof with two pulls
- ✓Small $48.95, medium $56.95, large $63.95
- ✓Free delivery across Australia
Spring sale on now. The popular designs are already going.