Monos Metro Toiletry Case Large Review

It doesn’t matter how many we test; we’re always on the hunt for a better toiletry bag (in case you’re wondering, we’re at nearly 50 as of the time of this review). While it may seem simple enough to create a kit that gets your shampoo, soap, brush, razor, and other grooming supplies from one place to another, it’s really not. For one thing, one traveler might prioritize a small footprint while another needs extra space. Maybe a third wants something that can fold, and someone else wants to see everything all at once. That’s okay—variety is the spice of life, and we’re happy to keep searching for the best one to suit each traveler’s needs as long as it takes.

Since we got to know Monos through rolling carry on luggage, we’ve found the brand to have clean aesthetics with a design that works for us (at least in the case of the Monos Carry-On). But will the Metro Toiletry Case Large be something we want to bring with us as we roll along to our next trip? Let’s find out.

External Components

With a name like Metro Toiletry Case Large, you’re probably wondering, is there a small? And yes, there is. It has a 1.3L capacity as opposed to the 2.8L capacity of the case we’re testing. It’s also about an inch narrower and two inches shorter than the one we’re focusing on today, but if you don’t need to bring a lot of gear, it may be a good option. On the other hand, the large may be a better option if you like to bring cosmetics, different lotions, creams, full-size brushes, and perhaps a travel electric shaver. Luckily, the features remain largely the same between the two, so you don’t have to make much of a sacrifice if you opt for the more petite version of the bag.

Aside from size, you can also choose the material for your toiletry bag. We’ve got the nylon in Juniper Green, and you can also get that material in Carbon Black, Oxford Blue, and Dover Grey as of this review. However, you can also pick up the Metro Toiletry Case in vegan leather in Ivory, Saddle Tan, or Mahogany colorways.

You don’t have to live without vegan leather just because you want a mostly nylon exterior, though; there are vegan leather accents on the zipper pulls, the interior side gussets, and the Monos logo patch on the front of the bag. If you opt for an all-vegan leather bag, the logo is simply debossed into the material instead of sewn on with a patch; everything else is the same.

Monos doesn’t use branded hardware on the bag, yet the zipper works well. The zipper itself, that is. It runs three-quarters of the way down each side of the bag. While that’s great for accessibility, it’s not as easy as we’d like to open and close the kit. There are no handles or tabs to hold as we pull the zipper around the top corners, and it’s hard to open the bag one-handed as it tends to slide along the countertop in the direction we’re trying to move the zipper. Instead, we must try to hold onto the bottom of the bag while pulling on the zipper, and it’s an awkward experience. Honestly, the little tabs we see on many other pouches and bags now seem like an underrated feature, or something we took for granted. What’s the saying—you don’t know what you have until it’s gone? Well, some of us didn’t know how much we used those little loops until we encountered a bag bereft of them.

The Metro Toiletry Case also lacks any sort of carry handle, and with a 3.5-inch deep base and, in our case, a slick exterior material, we miss it. Whether pulling it out of a travel backpack or carrying it to the bathroom to get ready, your hands tend to slip and slide along the shiny nylon, and we’ve nearly dropped it a time or two. Luckily, we haven’t, but that’s only because we didn’t pack it all the way to the top, so we could nearly pinch the material to keep it in our grasp. The vegan leather is not less slippery, either.

That’s the material used on the Metro Kit of the Monos Metro Backpack. That kit is slimmer and easier to hold in one hand, though, and it has a de facto handle on the back where it attaches to the backpack. Check out our full review of that daypack if you want to know more! Basically, it all boils down to this: no matter what material you order, we wish there was some sort of a handle.

Inside The Toiletry Case

While we said the Metro Toiletry Case is pretty similar between the two sizes, the large has one extra feature. The back side of the case features an external slip pocket that shuts with a snap in the center. It’s a great place for the gear you want to grab while traveling, especially if you store the kit within easy reach of the top of your bag. We’re using it for tissues and a nail file, but anything small and slim (like a comb, lip balm, or your passport) will do.

Now, if you can grab onto a portion of the bag and unzip it, let’s head inside and check out what you can carry in the rest of the bag.

When you do, you’ll see that, unlike many other toiletry bags, this one has a cotton twill liner. Don’t get us wrong, it’s soft and premium looking, but it seems an odd choice for a place that’s going to see a lot of makeup, toothpaste, lotion, and other potentially-staining items. On the plus side, we packed bronzer, eye shadow, and their respective brushes inside (without any cover on the brushes), and couldn’t find any marks on the liner. Surprising? Definitely—especially since Monos doesn’t mention that there’s any sort of coating on the cotton to resist water or stains. We’re interested to see if it continues to be this pristine with more use, so keep an eye on the usage timeline below, and we’ll keep you posted.

Against the back side is a zipper pocket. It’s pretty large and good for locking down anything you don’t want floating around, whether that’s ear plugs, medicine, contact lens cases, or the like. It doesn’t expand much out into the case, so it’s best to put slim things here just as you do in the outside back pocket.

If you flip around to the other side, you’ll find two large slip pockets where you can stash bottles or bars. They do protrude out into the main area, but they’re a nice way to ensure that your bottle of sunscreen remains standing, for example, and provides just a little more organization for your gear.

That’s nice because the rest of the space is open to fill with whatever you have left. We like that it can hold a full-side round hairbrush, as some of us (ahem, this writer, ahem) find it hard to dry hair neatly without one and don’t like shorter handles on that type of tool, but it’s also good for makeup brushes, toothbrushes, etc. Obviously, you’re going to want to pick and choose here if you don’t have a cover for your toothbrush, but if you pack one like this one from GUM, you won’t have to worry about stray hairs or blush getting on the bristles.

We find the large size to have plenty of space for what we need, but if you have a separate 3-1-1 bag for liquids, don’t need to bring makeup or full-size brushes, or are otherwise a toiletry minimalist, it might be a little much for you. It takes up quite a bit of real estate on the bathroom counter. Without a hanging hook or handle, there’s nowhere else for it to go, so you’ll want to keep that in mind when considering it. However, if you don’t need a handle and you like to have a lot of space for grooming gear, you might find the extra room in the Monos Metro Toiletry Case Large right for your next trip. And if you’re still looking, check out our toiletry bag buyer’s guide—it has a bunch of other great options!