The 7 Best Toiletry Bottles for Travel, Tested & Reviewed
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InStyle / Jessica Juliao
Is your entire Instagram feed aesthetic photos of vacations in Italy and Greece? It appears the groupthink of travel sent everyone to the Mediterranean this year. If you are also beauty product-consumed, one of your first thoughts is how did they fit their multi-step skin, hair, and body care routines into TSA-approved sizes to look beautiful on their adventures.
While you can buy travel-sized products at your local drugstore, we bet they relied on transporting their tried-and-true products. This turns our attention to toiletry bottles: “They’re a convenient way to make sure you’re abiding by TSA regulations, on top of staying organized,” explains Chris Luce, a buyer for The Container Store.
The concept is straightforward but we found out (after testing 14 different toiletry bottles, sprays, and bags) that the results are not: Some leak, some break, and some are impossible to clean and reuse. So, in order to have a spill-free experience (wasting precious creams will not be tolerated), we found the best toiletry bottles based on their convenience of use, ease to fill, likelihood to reuse, and durability.
Best Overall: Liquisnugs Premium Leak-proof Silicone Travel Bottles
What We Love: They come with suction cups on the bottle to attach them to a wall.
What We Don’t Love: While we’re grateful for the provided labels, you can’t actually change them and customize them.
Aside from the basic needs of toiletry bottles—like leak-proof caps, lightweight material, and easy cleaning capabilities—these bottles come with a suctioning cup that allowed us to attach them against the shower wall while in use. They also come with built-in labels, like shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and soap. While we are grateful for this, we wish we could add in more labels or customize what they say. Still, it made organizing our beauty products much easier, without the need to write what each bottle contains with a sharpie. And because there are two three-ounce bottles and two two-ounce bottles, there was more flexibility in packing smaller items that require less luggage space (i.e. eye creams vs. body lotion).
Due to the larger opening, it was extremely easy to fill and clean the bottles without wasting any product. At the end of our trip, we were able to scoop out any remaining product from the bottom of the bottle, sans mess. We were also very pleased to see that the airplane pressure didn’t cause any creams to burst open, even the more watery ones. All in all, we’re happy to report that these bottles are perfectly reliable and practical for travel.
Price at time of publish: $17
Number of bottles: 4 | Total ounces: 10 ounces | Material: BPA-free silicone
Best Magnetic: Cadence Build Your 6
What We Love: They come with interchangeable magnetic labels and tons of options to categorize them.
What We Don’t Love: The capsules are rather small, and can’t fit a lot of product.
For the travel connoisseurs and aesthetically inclined, you’re going to want to get this Cadence capsule set. While it’s on the pricier side, the hexagon-shaped toiletry bottles are not only (ridiculously) cute, but practical as well, thanks to their magnetic nature. That’s right, we were able to attach the rectangular walls of these bottles onto one another, allowing them to stay put and organized wherever we went. But it’s not just the walls that are magnetic, but the top of the lid and the interchangeable labels, which you snap onto each other and can customize as you please.
The set is made up of six 0.56-ounce bottles, where we were able to choose between eight different colors for every bottle, as well as between 22 different worded labels and nine different icons (for every bottle). 0.56 ounces is quite small, so while it’s not our go-to for things like shampoos and conditioners, it fit the perfect amount of face wash or facial moisturizer for an extended weekend getaway. It also makes it transportation-friendly, as it doesn’t take up too much luggage space. The thick plastic also made them very sturdy and safe, giving us peace of mind that nothing would break or spill. And the icing on the cake? You can wash it in the dishwasher.
Price at time of publish: $76
Number of bottles: 6 | Total ounces: 3.36 ounces | Material: Plastic, recycled plastic
Related: The 12 Best Travel-Sized Sunscreens of 2023, Tested and Reviewed
Best Flat: Matador FlatPak Toiletry Bottle
What We Love: There is a strap at the top that allows you to hook them onto a bag.
What We Don’t Love: It’s difficult to fill them with thicker lotions.
Best flat, best for hiking, best lightweight — these flat toiletry bags (which come as a set of three) truly fit a number of categories. There were several key components that made this much more practical for those who are always on the go, whether that’s trekking a mountain or cycling through a bike tour. The first was the clip-on strap at the top of the bag, which allowed us to hook it on the exterior of a backpack or purse, instead of it taking up space in the interior of the bag. The strap even has an empty white space, intended for us to write (in permanent marker, otherwise it would wipe away) the label. We never even had to worry about it getting weathered out while dangling off the backpack, because the thick and durable exterior of the pouch was scratch resistant and—get this—waterproof.
We found that we could fill the toiletry bag with anything that was the consistency of shampoo and below. It’s nearly impossible to fill it with something as thick as a lotion, due to the smaller opening. It’s the same opening that makes washing it a bit tedious as well, albeit not impossible. We got the most use out of it for our liquid products like micellar water (no spillage!) and runny shampoo. It felt so secure the entire time, even when we squeezed, tossed, or dropped the bags, there were no signs of damage or leakage anywhere.
Price at time of publish: $38
Number of bottles: 3 | Total ounces: 3 ounces | Material: Waterproof 30D cordura ripstop nylon
Best Set: Morfone 16 Pack Travel Bottles
What We Love: There are enough bottles in different sizes to cover an entire skincare routine.
What We Don’t Love: We wish the provided labels were more customizable.
Here is something for anyone with a ten-step skincare routine. If you need a squeeze bottle for your moisturizer, a spritz bottle for your setting spray, and a pod for your eye cream, then this is the best toiletry set you could ask for. But it goes beyond just different-sized bottles, it offers essential pieces like a cleaning brush and a bag to carry it all together as well. All in all, this set has four bottles, four jars, two spray bottles, two scoopers (to cleanly dig out your creams from the jars), a funnel (for easy product transfer), a cleaning brush, a sticker with 12 label names, and a clear bag to carry it all together. Whatever your beauty routine, this set has a travel-sized bottle to fit it.
We found it very easy to fill the silicone bottles and were pleasantly surprised at how much they held. A single one of the biggest bottles was 2.9 ounces, which held just enough sunscreen to get us through a four-day beach-side vacation. We were further impressed by the near-indestructibility of these bottles as well. We pushed down, threw, and tossed the bottles and they acted completely unfazed. When it came to cleaning them, the provided brush, while cute, was really only useful for the spritz bottle. The rest was easy to clean with a simple paper towel and some water.
Price at time of publish: $16
Number of bottles: 8 | Total ounces: 12.9 ounces | Material: Silicone
Best for Skincare: Vitog Travel Bottles Kit
What We Love: The clear bottles make it easy to see how much product we still have left.
What We Don’t Love: The bottles are much smaller than what TSA allows as the maximum.
With a total of eight bottles, you won’t have any trouble fitting your micellar water, vitamin C serum, setting spray, and any other gobs and goops on vacation. And with the three different applicators, you can still have a sanitary routine like you would at home.
We didn’t realize how helpful clear bottles were until we could actively see just how much product we were using up on our trip, allowing us to pace ourselves appropriately — a necessity, considering that the largest bottle was 1.3 ounces, far less than the allowed 3.5 ounces for travel. It’s more ideal for shorter trips, or products that don’t need to be used in larger quantities like body lotion—not just for its size, but for its thicker consistency that’s slightly more difficult to squeeze into the little opening. Still, the rigid bottles kept everything perfectly concealed, giving us peace of mind that our pricey skincare products were secure in the provided clear pouch. Thanks to the eight sticker labels, it was easy to keep everything organized as well.
Price at time of publish: $9
Number of bottles: 8 | Total ounces: 8.5 ounces | Material: Plastic
Best Leakproof: INSFIT TSA Carry-on Approved Containers
What We Love: At three ounces, they’re one of the bigger toiletry bottles offered.
What We Don’t Love: We wish there were different-sized bottles for some of our smaller creams.
You didn’t spend your hard-earned money on expensive skincare products just to have half of it pour out of your toiletry bottle during travel. To get our money’s worth, these carry-on bottles ensured that no leakage of any kind would occur, even with something as fluid as water. Not only did our products not leak, but they were easy to access out of the tub, thanks to how the bottle flexibly rolls up and pushes everything out. When securely shut, no amount of pressure or throwing against the ground caused the caps to burst or the tub to break.
The opening is also quite wide so that pouring liquids in and out of the bottle is easy. At three ounces per bottle, it’s also one of the larger options on this list (remember that the max allowed by TSA is 3.4 ounces), and gave us enough shampoo and conditioner for a one to two-week vacation. The 16 labels provided gave us more than enough options to sticker the right identifier on the bottle as well, keeping everything nicely categorized. We also loved the stylish clear zipped bag that came with the bottles, allowing us to further organize our bottles and keep everything together in our suitcase. We only wish there were different-shaped bottles included as well, as some of our creams—like eye creams—would work better in a smaller tub.
Price at time of publish: $17
Number of bottles: 4 | Total ounces: 12 ounces | Material: BPA food grade silicone
Best Silicone: Mrsdry Travel Bottles
What We Love: The food-grade silicone is safe to carry food too.
What We Don’t Love: It doesn’t come with any labels.
There’s a lot to consider when entrusting your skincare in another container. These Mrsdry Travel Bottles are made of food grade BPA free silicone, meaning it’s safe for all kinds of consumable liquids, from toners to salad dressings, and even baby food. Not only are they safe, but sturdy as well, as we found out when we gave it our best trying to puncture it in any way. It held its ground as we threw it on the floor and squeezed it tight with the cap closed. Nothing spilled, and no tears appeared. The walls of the bottle felt so strong, that it gave us confidence it would last a lifetime (pretty impressive, considering the affordable price tag).
Cleaning the bottles was also relatively easy, depending on the liquid we put in it. Micellar water simply needed to be rinsed out, whereas lotions required some extra care. We mixed some soap with water and gave it a good shake. Like the previous option, this one came with a clear bag as well, which helped keep all the bottles together during travel. What it didn’t have, however, were labels. The only way to distinguish the products apart was by the color of the bottle, so you’ll need to rely on your memory to know what’s in each bottle.
Price at time of publish: $12
Number of bottles: 4 | Total ounces: 12 ounces | Material: BPA food grade silicone
Other Options You Might Like
Kitsch Travel Containers
At $10, we thought this option was a great budget piece to travel with. It comes with three refillable pouches that hold up to three ounces of liquids. The little bags took up very little space in our luggage, and they never spilled any product during one of our squeeze tests. That being said, we believe the affordable price tag matches the quality of the product. We can’t say for certain how long the semi-flimsy material of the bag will last, even if it survived our testing period. Professional organizer Katrina Hassan from Spark Joy London explains that “using a flat toiletry bottle has the advantage of taking up less space, but due to the material used to create the product, is more prone to damage and fraying over time.” We also found that it was difficult to wash the interior of the bags if we put something with a thick consistency in it. For single-use or hiking occasions, this makes for a fantastic low-budget and lightweight option.
Cosywell Travel Containers
This set of nine cream jars is ideal for containing thicker creams, like body butters and sunscreen. They come in two different sizes, namely 0.67 ounces, 0.33 ounces, which is just enough facial sunscreen to last a little over a week. Unfortunately, they couldn’t contain any watery products like micellar water, toner, or contact solution, which would faintly leak out the side. They also didn’t provide any labeling to be stuck on the containers. However, the sturdy plastic container is very durable and will last a very long time. Combined with their compact size, these bottles are perfect for small-dosed creams or weekend getaways.
Our Testing Process
To begin, we searched the internet for the most popular and well-rated toiletry bottles. From there, we selected 14 to be tested in our NYC lab, and sent them to our team of editors, beauty, and travel experts. We then performed a number of tests on the bottles, including filling them with liquids with different consistencies, like micellar water, shampoo, and body lotion. We paid close attention to the ease at which each product entered the bottle. We considered how much each bottle could carry and how long they might last on a trip. We then applied pressure on the closed bottles to see if anything spilled, leaked, or burst. We even threw them on the ground from waist-high. Lastly, we observed how easy it was to clean out the bottles to reuse them.
InStyle / Jhett Thompson
Each toiletry bottle or pouch was rated 1-5 (five being the highest) in each of these categories: ease to fill, size, durability, and cleanliness. Only those that passed all the tests were considered for this article. We averaged out the scores for each category and all seven of our winners scored above a 4.5. We considered the pros and cons as well as all of the testers’ notes to write this story. We also consulted with three packaging experts to get insights on our winners and how to shop for toiletry bottles.
What to Keep in Mind
Size
The first thing you need to know is that the amount of product allowed in a single bottle for carry-on luggage is 3.4 ounces (100ml). Each person is then allowed a quart-sized bag (7” x 8”) of such bottles. Therefore it’s important to consider how you want to organize your creams and liquids in certain sized bottles. Shampoos, conditioners, and body lotions will likely take up the most space considering their frequency of use, so you’ll want bottles that are three ounces or larger. Consider the INSFIT TSA Carry-on Approved Containers or the Mrsdry Travel Bottles in this case. If you’re looking for something to hold your facial moisturizer, vitamin C serums, or eye creams, then you can get by with smaller containers, at which an option like the Cadence Build Your 6 may be more suitable. Remember that the smaller the bottle, the more variety you can squeeze into your quart-sized pouch, so having different options like in the Morfone Travel Bottles Set might be the best option.
Shape
When shopping for toiletry bottles, consider what kind of shape each beauty product would best transfer into. If you have liquidy products like hair spray or setting spray, opting for the Morfone Travel Bottles will grant you access to two spritz bottles. Eye creams and little small-dose products would benefit from containers with large openings (for easy transfer and cleaning), making the Cosywell Travel Containers and the Cadence Build Your 6 great options. Meanwhile, hikers and outdoorsy people will love the pouch-shape of the Matador Toiletry Bags, as it takes up minimal space while holding a lot of product. All other products, like shampoos, conditioners, body lotions, and sunscreens would do well in a squeeze bottle, making the LiquiSnugs Premium Silicone Travel Bottles the best choice.
Number of Bottles
How long is your skincare routine? How many products do you hope to travel with? So long as it fits in the quart-sized bag, you’re good to travel with as many bottles as you want. Now that you’ve considered the shape of the bottles, Hassan recommends “completing a thorough inventory of all of the products you take away on a trip before” choosing which toiletry bottles to take with. The Vitog Travel Bottles Kit offers 8 bottles in various sizes, giving you the most variety. However, you’ll have to sacrifice a little bit of size. Meanwhile, the INSFIT TSA Carry-on Approved Containers might have less bottles, but they come in bigger three ounce sizes. The Cadence Build Your 6 allows you to have six of the same sized bottles, which is a nice middle ground.
Your Questions, Answered
Why Should I Use Toiletry Bottles?
There are plenty of reasons to love toiletry bottles. While drugstores typically offer travel-sized products, the more unique, niche skincare products in your cabinet most likely do not. For those can’t-live-without items, you’re going to want to turn to reusable toiletry bottles. And while you can check-in any sized bottle, carry-on will require you to have everything be 3.4 ounces or less. “This way, you can leave those full-sized products at home which not only saves space in your luggage, but also allows you to carry it on board if you’re flying,” Luce explains. Carolyn Addison, the Head of Product at luxury travel agency Black Tomato, also points out that it’s an eco-friendly way to “reduce single-use plastics.” For people with specific skin needs “it alleviates discomfort and the stressors of having to find suitable alternatives abroad at local pharmacies,” she explains.
How do I clean my toiletry bottles?
The whole point of toiletry bottles is to be able to reuse them and interchange different products in them. Naturally, you’ll want to be able to properly wash them therefore, and while some are easier to clean than other (the Cadence Build Your 6, for example, is dishwasher safe), others require a little more finessing. The Morfone Travel Bottles conveniently provides a cleaning brush so that you may clean those hard-to-reach bottoms of the bottles. When you clean your bottles, you first want to make sure you don’t waste any product. Luce recommends “using a beauty spatula to remove the products.” For everything else, Hassan recommends to “mix one to two teaspoons of white vinegar and water, and leave in the bottles for 10-15 minutes after shaking the content. This will get rid of any grime or leftover product in the mixture.” Once the products are thoroughly dried, you can add in new products again.
Why Shop With Us
Bianca Kratky is a commerce writer with over two years of experience covering fashion and beauty products. In order to write this article, she dove deep into the insights provided by the testers who handled each of the products mentioned here. She then consulted with professional organizers and travel experts, including Carolyn Addison, the Head of Product at Black Tomato, Chris Luce, a Buyer from the Container Store, and Katrina Hassan from Spark Joy London, for further insight and tips on traveling with liquids.
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