lululemon Command the Day Dopp Kit 5L Review

You may not think a lot about the grooming gear you use daily, but it sure becomes top of mind when you go to pack for vacation. Those creams, gels, razors, brushes, and more you reach for every morning? Well, they’ve got to go somewhere, and there’s a good chance you don’t want that place to be right next to your clothing.

That’s where a great toiletry bag comes into play. The best pouch will have places for your deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, makeup, lotion, and more to help you look and feel your best throughout your trip. We’ve tested dozens over the years, from hanging organizers to simple clear bags and open-concept cases, and we know there are a lot of ways to get the job done.

So how does a brand known for helping you get through your workout and workday do it? lululemon wants you to “command the day” with its large toiletry bag. That seems like a tall order, but we packed up the lululemon Command the Day Dopp Kit 5L and took it on a few trips to find out: first, an eight-day vacation at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica where we needed to include makeup, sunscreen, and more, and then a weekend in the camping trailer, which was much more laid back but didn’t include complimentary shampoo, soap, and conditioner in the bathroom. How did it perform? Let’s find out!

External Components

The Command the Day Dopp Kit 5L is made with recycled polyester inside and out, except for the interior mesh (which isn’t recycled; it’s virgin polyester). The exterior is water-resistant and feels quite durable, which is good for something that’s going to be hanging out by the sink. There’s a patch on the right-hand side with the lululemon brand name and logo. Otherwise, it’s a pretty minimalist bag, especially in black, which is the only colorway available at the time of this review.

One AquaGuard-style zipper wraps around three sides of the bag. It has large metal lululemon-branded zipper pulls that are easy to use. The zipper’s water-resistant coating works well to keep moisture from getting into the bag and any spills inside from seeping out through the zipper track.

At either end of the track are two loops of material that you can hold to open or close the bag. Those are the only things that you can grab anywhere around the bag; it lacks any sort of carry handle, which we missed every time we had to move it. When you have the Dopp kit packed up, it can be challenging to get a grip on the top to hold it, and the inclusion of some sort of handle wouldn’t have gone amiss. Alas, we didn’t design this bag, so there’s nothing we can do about it other than tell you that it’s missing in case that would bother you.

We also have to mention that the 5L capacity comes with a corresponding footprint; i.e., it takes up quite a bit of space in the bathroom. That isn’t an issue if you have a large bathroom counter or a shelf above the sink, as we find in some nicer resorts and hotel rooms. However, if you’re staying in more budget-focused accommodations or a camper with a tiny bathroom (and an even tinier amount of counter space), you’ll likely have to pull out the gear you need and leave the Dopp kit elsewhere.

Inside The Dopp Kit

On the other hand, the 5-liter capacity is handy when packing for a long trip and includes several useful organizational features.

When you unzip the bag, it sort of balances in boat pose—if you’re a yogi who understands what we mean. To be more clear, while the kit seems like it should open fully clamshell, it doesn’t lay completely flat without some effort on your part. If you push both sides down, they get close to full corpse pose (to continue the yoga references), but you can also position it nicely so that the front is flat and the back side is standing up, which is useful when you have less counter space.

The front half of the bag is covered with a zippered mesh panel, creating a kit-within-a-kit place where you can toss gear that you don’t mind mixing up together without it falling out the sides of the bag when you open it. We use it for brushes, makeup palettes and brushes, mascara, scrunchies, a soap container, and our travel pill organizer. If you pack this area full, everything mostly stays where you place it while you travel, although you can expect at least some shifting as you move it from place to place.

Against the back half of the bag, you’ll see four elastic loops parading up the middle of the space, which are great for holding razors, a toothbrush, or any other skinny object you want to pack. We find it best just to use two of the loops so that items don’t brush up against each other, and we face our razor and toothbrush in opposite directions so that the top of one doesn’t touch the head of the other. Putting those two pieces of grooming gear there worked well for each trip, and we like the option to slide things here. The elastic lies flat when it’s not filled, so you don’t have to use them if you don’t want to.

Those loops are attached to the face of the zippered liner pocket along the back panel. It spans the entire side of the Command the Day Dopp Kit, so there’s space above the zipper you can fill, as well. We find it best to use this for travel size bottles since you can stand them upright along the back and—as long as you fill the space horizontally—they stay vertical while you travel. So when you’re packing shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, sunscreen, and the like, this is where it does best.

Filling the pockets on both sides of the toiletry bag occupies most of the space, although you can slide a few more items in the middle, especially if you haven’t filled all four elastic loops. Just remember that gear could fall out when you unzip the bag if it’s not locked down in a pocket or loop.

In all, the lululemon Command the Day Dopp Kit 5L really does have enough space to carry everything you need to carpe diem (seize the day), though it may be overkill for some minimalist travelers who have cut their toiletry bag down to an all-in-one soap and a comb. However, if you bring a lot of creams, powders, brushes, and soaps wherever you go, you’ll appreciate not having to cram it all into a tiny space. Just be sure to leave room for the large footprint in your rolling carry on luggage, and maybe clip a Heroclip or carabiner to one of the side loops to have something to grab.