u/ScoobertDoodle

I bought Cadence capsules in a bit of a rage last year, after dropping and shattering one of my reusable glass toiletries bottles in a gym locker room (after years of being frustrated with their pumps). I've seen a split of really negative reviews and probably paid overly positive praise. I figured some of the inconsistencies and really bad experiences were quality control, but wondered if mine would get worse with time. Here is my experience with them over the past ~ 8 months and ~ ten trips (traveling with one carry-on bag).

The cons:

• They are expensive! I had used my last reusable toiletries set for ~ 8 years before breaking one, so I figured this would be worth it since I would use them for a decade or more. They are bombproof (but not leakproof) so I think I will be using them for a long time.
• They are pretty heavy! I already have to use a roller bag, and the package fits pretty nicely there, so that's not generally a problem for me.
• They are somewhat messy to use, pouring thinner liquids out or reaching in with fingers for thicker creams. I had a fruity body wash...ferment? after about a month (water frequently gets in the open mouth in the shower). This is why I will never use one for toothpaste.
• They frequently leak a little bit, where I need to rinse off the outside of the container. This is usually no big deal to clean up, and not all that different from most toiletries containers.
• After a recent trip where they were checked for the first time, I think I understand that they are not leakproof enough for that, and maybe that's where the really negative experiences are coming from. See my photo for the comical amount that leaked out when checked for an international flight (wanting all my under-seat storage for my poor legs for a long flight after a long trip). Not sure if this was pressure, temperature, rough handling, or all 3.

The pro (just one, I guess):

• They are so easy to refill and reuse! All my travel toiletries are just the products I regularly use now (the 10 containers shown: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, face lotion, hand lotion, hair gel/cream, hair oil, sunscreen, tinted moisturizer). The only exception is toothpaste, which still fits in my toiletries bag on top of the capsules. I've never had a system that switched everything over to a consistent container like this, and it just simplifies everything so much.

This one pro outweighs the negatives for me, so I am still happy with them and plan to keep using them, even though they are not perfect. A snack-size Ziploc bag fits two of them nicely, so I'll keep a few of those on hand for extra containment when necessary.

They had offered to replace the pink one for free (claiming the leaks were probably just residual product left on the threads), and I'll probably see if they can replace the brown one as well. 2/10 defective rate is not great.

Image description: My toiletries bag after being checked on an international flight. All capsules contain liquids, from hair oil to thick lotion. One pink capsule leaked basically all of its contents (into an inner ziploc bag) and a thick cream also somehow escaped its brown capsule. Since the leaks have depended on the capsule and not the liquid, I think those two are just defective.