Tropicfeel Roll-Up Toiletry Bag Review

We like to roll with the punches when traveling, and how better to do that than with a roll-up toiletry bag? This style is handy for travelers who want to organize their gear instead of digging through an open space and like to see everything on display when it’s time to get ready in the morning. It’s kind of like unrolling a tool kit; only this will help you look your best instead of helping your house get a makeover. Throw in a few handy features like a hanging hook, a 3-1-1 bag, and a toothbrush zipper garage, and we were pretty pumped to try the Tropicfeel Roll-Up Toiletry Bag.

So, how did it hold up after living out of it for a few weeks? Let’s find out.

External Components

The exterior of the Roll-Up Toiletry Bag is a mix of polyester and TPU, which we like for water resistance. It has a ripstop-like grid pattern that’s easy to grip, although there’s also a large webbing strap running horizontally along the back panel for you to hold as you carry it to and from the bathroom if you wish.

There’s not much branding; just the simple Tropicfeel logo in the bottom right corner of the bag’s front. It’s black on black, though, so it’s easy to miss if you’re not looking for it, and that’s OK—we don’t need a brand name screaming at us as we’re trying to get ready in the morning.

You’ll also spy an elastic V centered in the middle of the top flap with a G-hook attached. This is how the bag closes when rolled up: the top of the G slides into a Hypalon-like tab on the bottom of the front to hold it closed. More on how well this works later, but the only remarkable thing about it is that there are teeth cut into the backside of the G and the inside of the part that slides into the loop. We understand having some extra grip in the tab, but we can’t figure out why there would be extra grip on the outside of the hook. Plus, we don’t love how it feels in use.

Inside are YKK zippers and other materials, including recycled polyester and nylon for the liner, stretchy Span pockets, and a transparent pouch that attaches with a hook-and-loop fastener to the bottom of the bag. If you pull it off, you’ll also find a mirror, but that’s it for the outside of the bag, so let’s dig deeper into the bag’s interior.

Inside The Toiletry Bag

Open the Tropicfeel Roll-Up Toiletry Bag and you’ll find three sections. The topmost is the tab that folds over the front to close it, which is slightly more rigid than the rest of the bag.

Right below that firm spot, though, is a larger elastic loop. It’s larger than the pair we’ll get to in a moment, but not huge. We find it the perfect size for our travel hairbrush handle, and that’s what we’ve been using it for. You could also use it to hold a small bottle of cream or lotion if you want, although there’s a bag for liquids below, so we didn’t.

Just below that is a horizontal zipper that opens up to reveal a pocket as deep as the two stretchy Span pockets on its face. The zipper pocket is suitable for large yet flatter gear like makeup palettes and brushes. The Span pockets on the front are the right size for shallow toiletry containers full of cream or soap. However, we found that we had to pick and choose which organizational feature to use because filling the zipper pocket and the stretchy pockets meant that we couldn’t roll the bag up again. It’s like over-stuffing a soft taco—it sure looks like everything fits until you try to roll it up again. However, there is another solution to this problem; we’ll get to it shortly.

First, below those pockets are two skinnier pieces of elastic to hold a toothbrush, razor, or something else skinny like a tube of mascara or a makeup brush. We used the bottom one for a travel razor and the top one for a toothbrush because we were delighted to see a triangle of that Hypalon-like material in the upper left corner of this section. It lines up perfectly with the top elastic and protects the head of your toothbrush from touching anything else in the toiletry bag. We like that for toothbrush hygiene and saving the rest of the bag from toothpaste stains.

Just below that is where you’ll find the 3-1-1 bag. It has a chunky YKK zipper, which you might not be happy to know is not water resistant, so it may not do that great of a job of containing any spills inside. We’ve been lucky enough to avoid that, but it’s something to know. It’s not uncommon, yet we’re always disappointed to see that on a bag designed for liquids. However, we’re happy that there’s a tab at the start of the zipper that makes it easy to open the bag. The TPU material is flexible, so it’s nice to have something to grip as you work the zipper around the corner. We only wish there was a matching one on the other side to hold when we close it again.

Inside, there’s open space for toiletry bottles and toothpaste. Most travel-size bottles fit well standing up, although we had a lotion bottle with a pump that was too tall and had to lie down instead; it’s not a big deal.

When traveling through the airport, you can remove this part of the bag to have it handy for inspection at security. If you do this, you can fill both the zipper and stretchy pockets and still roll up the bag. You just can’t use everything together all at once.

Underneath is a hidden surprise—a mirror. That means you can hang the bag up on the back of the bathroom door or anywhere else you find a hook and get ready while your travel companion hogs the bathroom mirror, as long as you can find a thin enough hook. The G-hook isn’t big enough to wrap around standard towel bars or shower rods, so you’ll have to find something skinnier to hook onto if you want it off the counter. That caused a minor annoyance in our tester’s bathroom and might be problematic at a rental home, but most hotels have hooks on the back of the bathroom door for towels, and you can hang it there without an issue.

Overpacking problems aside, we really like the organization of the Tropicfeel Roll-Up Toiletry Bag. It’s easy to use in daily life and has enough space to hold what we need to get ready each morning. However, we just wish we didn’t have to make quite so many compromises to actually roll it up!