I have kept my toiletries in plastic sandwich bags for forty years. This is the first little bag I have ever written a letter about.
I have kept my toiletries in plastic sandwich bags for forty years. This is the first little bag I have ever written a letter about.
Six things two handmade cosmetic bags get right that forty years of sandwich bags and the bottom of a handbag got wrong, written down by a customer, not a shop.
Dianne Prescott · Customer · Epping, Sydney · 5 min read
I am 64, and for as long as I can remember my toiletries have travelled in plastic sandwich bags and my reading glasses have lived somewhere at the bottom of my handbag, under the receipts. This spring, at a girls’ weekend in a rented beach house at Merimbula, I watched a woman keep her whole week in one tidy little bag on the bathroom shelf, and a month later here I am, writing a letter about a cosmetic bag.
Hers was the Kai, sea turtles in blue, green, purple and orange on cream. Mine is the Ella, golden sunflowers on navy, and I went back for a Kai as well. They are 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 the first one the week I got home, fully expecting to send it back. I did not, and I wrote to the boutique to tell them why, and they asked if they could put my letter up for other women to read. So here it is, the six things these get right.
Toiletry bags, if you have looked lately, come in two piles. The first pile is the plain plastic one from the chemist, which does the job and looks like it came free with a bottle of shampoo, because it usually did. The second pile is the pretty one from the gift shop, which is too small for anything but a lipstick and splits at the zip by Easter.
A bag that holds everything, or a bag you are happy to leave out on the shelf. I stopped accepting that a woman has to choose, and these two little bags are the proof I was right to.
The bathroom shelf at Merimbula on the Saturday morning. The one tidy corner in a house of five women.
Everything you reach for is in one place
This is the thing I noticed first, and it is the thing I would tell you if I only had a minute. Five of us shared one bathroom for Carol’s 65th, and by the first morning the vanity was a heap of sandwich bags, a split supermarket toiletry bag and somebody’s glasses in the soap dish. Merle, a retired school librarian, had all of hers in the one bag, and the smaller one in her handbag with her glasses and her lipstick. While the rest of us tipped our handbags out on the bench, she found what she wanted first go, every time.
The small one, just out of my handbag. Glasses, hand cream and lip balm, and no more rummaging.
“My glasses, hand cream and tissues all in one place. I have stopped emptying my whole handbag onto the counter at the chemist.”
Judith W., TathraThree sizes, for whatever you need it to carry
Every design comes in three sizes. The 18 × 10 cm one, $48.95, is for your handbag essentials, your reading glasses, hand cream, a lip balm and some tissues. The 21 × 11 cm one, $50.95, is for a night or two away, a toothbrush and paste, a comb and a few small bottles. The 28 × 13 cm one, $56.95, takes a full week’s toiletries, shampoo, hairbrush and all. What surprised me is how little there is between them, so you choose by what you need, not by what you can justify.
The Ella in the suitcase for a few nights at Lyn’s. Easy to find on top of everything else.
“I bought the small one for my handbag and the big one for when we go caravanning. At half price it was an easy decision.”
Margaret T., BermaguiIt is handmade, and you can tell
The boutique says each one is made by hand, and it shows the moment you pick it up. There is a warmth to it that a case off a chemist’s shelf simply does not have. Mine sit on the chest of drawers in the bedroom now, because it seemed a shame to hide them in a cupboard. Graham says the bathroom has never been so organised and he does not trust it.
Both of them on the chest of drawers, where they live between trips.
“You can see it has been made with care. It is far too nice to keep in the bathroom cupboard.”
Sue R., PambulaThe print is easy to spot, and pretty enough to leave out
The Kai is mosaic sea turtles in navy, teal, green, purple and orange swimming across cream. The Ella is great golden sunflowers on deep navy with soft grey-blue leaves. The listing says the print makes it easy to spot in a drawer or a packed suitcase, and that is exactly how it works. I used to dig through a suitcase for a clear plastic bag that looked like every other clear plastic bag. Now I lift the lid and there are the sunflowers.
“Everyone at my aqua class asked about the turtles. I have never had a toiletry bag get compliments before.”
Lorraine B., NaroomaOne zip that opens wide
There is one zip that runs along the top and down one end, with a small pull that is easy to grip. It opens wide, so I can see everything at a glance instead of fishing about, and it closes securely, so nothing escapes into the suitcase.
Packing for the weekend on the kitchen table. All of that went in, with room to spare.
“The zip pull is easy to grip and it opens right out, so I can see what is inside at a glance.”
Heather J., BegaThere is a design for every woman you know
The two I chose are only the start. The collection runs to around fifty designs, from flowers and dragonflies to sheep, sea turtles and even a camper van, and I spent a whole evening on the sofa choosing while Graham watched the cricket. The listing calls them a lovely gift idea for birthdays, Mother’s Day or Christmas, and I can vouch for that. Carol is getting the daisies for Christmas, and the other three girls from the weekend have already asked me for the link.
The afternoon they arrived. Graham asked how many little bags one woman needs.
“I bought one for myself and three more as presents. Every one of them was a hit.”
Pam D., CandeloThe Kai and the Ella, against the bags you have been using
You can buy a toiletry bag almost anywhere. I know, because I have owned most of them, and given the rest to the op shop. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Glasses and hand cream loose at the bottom of the handbag
Clear plastic that looks like every other bag in the suitcase
One size, whatever trip you are taking
Too plain to leave out on the shelf
Nobody has ever asked where you got it
Everything you reach for in one place
Sea turtles or sunflowers you can spot in a second
Three sizes, 18 × 10, 21 × 11 or 28 × 13 cm
Handmade and pretty enough to leave on show
Asked about in a beach house bathroom at Merimbula
About the price
I will be straightforward about the price, because it was the thing that made me suspicious. The Kai and the Ella are $48.95 in the 18 × 10 cm size, $50.95 in the 21 × 11 cm and $56.95 in the 28 × 13 cm, and they were $98.00, $102.00 and $114.00. Half price, whichever size you choose.
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 I have paid nearly that for a chemist’s toiletry bag that split at the zip, and I bought two of these.
If your glasses, your hand cream and your lip balm are somewhere at the bottom of your handbag right now, this is the little bag I would hand you instead.
Dianne
The Kai & Ella Handmade Cosmetic Bags
- ✓Handmade cosmetic bag with one wide-opening zip
- ✓Kai: mosaic sea turtles on cream
- ✓Ella: golden sunflowers on navy
- ✓Three sizes: 18 × 10 cm $48.95, 21 × 11 cm $50.95, 28 × 13 cm $56.95
- ✓Half price on every size
- ✓Free delivery across Australia
Spring sale on now. The popular designs are already going.