After a 17-month hiatus, I hesitated to continue this series: over the months (years?) of quarantine and “new normal,” this term got overused and became a cliche in record time. But since I still plan to write from time to time about beauty products, I don’t want to start each of them by explaining what that not-perfume-related post is doing on my blog. So, the series will continue.

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As I started writing this post, I realized that until a month ago, I didn’t buy a single makeup bag/case. Ever. I don’t remember what I did before moving to the US (most likely, I didn’t need anything special for the only two items I would regularly carry – a tube of lipstick and a pressed powder compact. For decades here, I would be using cases and bags I got as a part of GWPs or sets. Of all the free makeup organizers I used over the years, I thought Dior had the best ones, followed by Shiseido. Unfortunately, in recent years, in an attempt to increase profitability, most brands either stopped using free bags with their GWPs having replaced them with cardboard boxes or cheapened them significantly. That’s how I found myself thinking, for the first time, about finding the right cosmetics bag to buy.

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The last drop was when recently sitting in the car (in the passenger seat!) I was trying to fish out something I needed from my makeup bag. I knew it was there but could not find it. I complained to my vSO: “I wish I had one of those makeup organizers that you can open wide and see everything in it!” – “Then why wouldn’t you?” he replied.

By now, I’ve been eyeing for a while a recently released Charlotte Tilbury makeup bag. But wouldn’t it be too easy if I were just to buy it and be done? Instead, I decided to order from Amazon two more travel cosmetic organizers that were previously recommended by content creators I watch. All three arrived, and I spent an afternoon unpacking them, checking out their features and taking photos from all possible angles.

Price, Origin & Where Purchased

(Disclaimer: links are not affiliated)

Charlotte Tilbury, made in the USA, $45 (purchased from Nordstrom, currently sold out there but still available from the brand’s site and other retailers).

Telena, made in China, $16.79 (purchased from Amazon).

EACHY, made in China, $23.99 (purchased from Amazon).

Packaging

All three came in an external plastic bag. Telena and EACHY also had a protective white fabric-like cover; Charlotte Tilbury had a paper sleeve. Charlotte Tilbury and EACHY had internal fillings to hold the form, and Telena came in folded flat, but it easily restored its form once unfolded.

All three are packed equally well with EACHY being just a smidge ahead.

Charlotte Tilbury 4.5
EACHY 5
Telena 4.5

Exterior

Both Telena and EACHY bags are made from polyurethane, and Charlotte Tilbury is made of polyester. All three are water resistant.

EACHY bag is light beige/cream. It has a quilted pattern, a light beige handle, a matching plastic zipper with two nicely looking round plastic golden sliders and a single pull tab.

Telena bag is beige with a brown accent, brown handle and a golden plastic zipper with two regular golden plastic sliders and two pull tabs; it is made with a pebbled leather effect.

Charlotte Tilbury bag is pink (surprise!), looks almost like patent leather, has no handle and features the strangest embroidered image of a lipstick held by teeth (the brand’s site calls it “ICONIC lip print design”). Is it supposed to be an allusion to a cigarette? (But why?) Or should it somehow be a phallic reference? (But how?). It has a rose gold metal zipper with one metal slider molded in the form of lipstick and two pull tabs. Because of that “iconic” feature, the Charlotte Tilbury bag is my least favorite in this category.

Charlotte Tilbury 3.5
EACHY 4
Telena 4.5

Interior and Functionality

All three bags are supposed to lay flat when fully open, and they almost do that with EACHY managing this task slightly better right off the bat. The rest will get there with the use.

EACHY and Telena bags have a solid colored interior that matches the exterior color, and Charlotte Tilbury bag has a contrasted much darker main color with a pattern created of repeating lines of the brand’s logo “CT” and the collection name “Pillow Talk” done in the pink color that matches the exterior. The fabric of the Charlotte Tilbury bag is so much superior to that used for the other two bags that it’s not even a contest (though I would have probably preferred to inverse the background and pattern colors to make it easier to find items on the lighter background). This is not to say that EACHY or Telena’s fabric is bad, but it could have been better.

Charlotte Tilbury bag has five main compartments, one zippered pocket on the internal “wall” and two smaller pockets on one of the divider panels. Interestingly, the internal zipper is plastic and not metal as the outside zipper.

Both Telena and EACHY bags have two main compartments divided by the zipped pocket “for brushes,” with a fabric one for Telena and a transparent plastic one for EACHY. While it’s not a bad idea, those pockets are not large enough for me to want to stick my nice brushes into. Both bags have one larger pocket on one “wall” and two smaller ones on the other.

Charlotte Tilbury 5
EACHY 4.5
Telena 4.5

Portability and the “Cat Test”

All three are not significantly different in measurements. Telena bag is the largest of the three: 250 mm x 120 mm x 120 mm / 9.84 inch x 4.72 inch x 4.72 inch, followed by EACHY: 235 mm x 105 mm x 110 mm / 9.25 inch x 4.13 inch x 4.33 inch, and Charlotte Tilbury, the smallest of them: 191 mm x 105 mm x 105 mm / 7.52 inch x 4.13 inch x 4.13 inch.

The final consideration for me was how these bags fit into my purse.

While I managed to get each one of the three into my purse, Charlotte Tilbury’s bag was the only one that left some room for other important things I might want to fit in there, such as my wallet or sunglasses. I wished though it had been a little smaller.

The photo session took so long that Rusty finally decided it was time for the cat to get into the bag.

After examining EACHY and Charlotte Tilbury, he lost interest, so I’m not sure if it says anything about the Telena bag, or if it should be attributed to his short attention span.

Charlotte Tilbury 4.5
EACHY 4
Telena 4

My Choice

I didn’t do it while I was making my decision, but for this post, I calculated totals of all the ratings:

It explained my difficulties with choosing. If I could mix and match features, I would have preferred to have Charlotte Tilbury’s size, origin, metal zipper, interior construction and fabric quality, Telena’s exterior colors and pebbled leather effect and EACHY’s two round sliders (just preferably metal), central transparent zippered brush compartment, interior color (though, I wouldn’t mind keeping CT’s pattern – just in different colors) and its ability to open almost completely flat. But with the choices I had, I decided to go with Charlotte Tilbury as my purse makeup bag, which would replace the two I currently use (I carry a lot with me, not just makeup).

… And then I decided to keep EACHY’s bag as a travel bag: I was preparing for a business trip and realized that I needed a larger bag, which I could put in my suitcase. It proved to be quite convenient. It seems like with my choices I took into consideration Rusty’s preferences.

… And by the time I finished writing this post, I figured out that I didn’t want to return Telena’s bag because I liked it as well. I’m not sure that I need it, so it might end up as a Christmas gift. But as of now, I’m left holding all the bags. Literally.

Images: My own