BAGSMART Coast Toiletry Bag Review

Toiletry bags come in all shapes and sizes. Some are minimalist for travelers who can get by with just a few items, and others are huge spaces for those who bring their entire bathroom on a trip. Some have tons of pockets, and others are barebones. Some have premium materials you might hesitate to use next to the sink, while others can get dropped in the bathtub without a problem.

The BAGSMART Coast Toiletry Bag is somewhere in the middle of all that. It’s water-resistant on top but not on the bottom, keeping your dry gear from getting slimed by leaky shampoo. It’s supposed to be the perfect bag for the pool or beach, but does it live up to the hype? Let’s find out.

External Components

There are two compartments on the BAGSMART Coast Toiletry Bag, each in a different color. We’ve got the Lemon colorway, which is bright yellow on top and royal blue on the bottom, but you can also get Cold Slate at the time of this review—cream on top and a grayish blue on the bottom.

Both colorways feature the BAGSMART logo patch on the front of the top and “Coast to Coast” embroidered on the front of the bottom section. There’s trim on the side in the bottom accent color (that’s blue on both colorways) that leads into the strap. It connects to the opposite side with a snap to create a carry handle, or you can snap it to itself on the right side to create a loop for hanging.

It’s not just the color that differs from top to bottom; the material changes, too. The top three-quarters of the bag is a nylon mesh backed with EVA for water resistance. It will contain spills or protect the gear inside from splashes, but you don’t want to take it for a dip in the pool.

The bottom is polyester, with built-in structure from foam padding on all sides. That helps the bag sit upright and keeps more delicate gear protected from bumps along the way. There’s a water-resistant liner in this section, too.

The SBS zippers work well, for the most part. The metal pulls have cords woven through for easy grabbing, with two heads on each section, so you can open them at any point along the way. The only issue we have is getting them around the corners of the bottom section; they sometimes get stuck when you try to close it while it’s sitting upright rather than on its side.

Inside The Toiletry Bag

There’s not much to mention inside the bags, unless we’re going to point out all the loose threads. We’ve had good experience with BAGSMART bags in the past, so it’s a bit surprising to see, even though it is a budget brand. Nothing has begun to unravel during our testing period, which is good, but it’s still something that gives us pause.

Instead, let’s talk about how we actually used the Coast Toiletry Bag.

The bulk of our gear went into the top compartment because it has the most space. It’s a differently shaped section, with the top corners longer to allow the strap to connect as a handle. That creates some wasted space inside, but the corners are not super prominent, so it’s not a big deal.

The zipper runs across the top of the bag, giving you a pretty wide view, though you’ll have to peek under the corners to see what’s on each side. We’ve been using it for travel bottles of lotions, creams, shampoo, and sunscreen, as designed. However, we also stuck a pill organizer and a zip-top baggie of disposable essentials in here because there wasn’t enough space for them in the bottom of the bag (i.e., the dry section). We figured a plastic bag and a closed pill container would be easier to clean if something spills than a hairbrush. Choices had to be made, so we made them.

We didn’t want sunscreen on our toothbrush or razor, so those items are in the bottom compartment, along with a hairbrush, earplugs, dental floss, and toothpaste. The issue with that becomes obvious when you are dealing with a small sink and countertop. Accessing the bottom section requires you to flip over the top of the bag, and it often ended up in the sink during our testing period. It’s not accessible when you hang the bag, either, as everything spills out when you open it.

So, since this bag is supposed to go with you to the beach or pool, you’d better make sure that anything you need after showering off in the locker room is in that top compartment, as you’re not going to be able to balance this on a small sink ledge to grab your hairbrush. That might mean using the bottom for bandages, pills, and afterburn cream—things that you hopefully won’t need, though it won’t be easy to grab them when you do.