A note from Diane, on the one thing on my dressing table I never chose
A letter from a READER
I Chose Everything on My Dressing Table. My Makeup Bag Was a Free Gift From a Cosmetics Counter in 2004.
Six things I'd tell any friend about the bag that finally replaced it, from a woman who never once thought about hers.
Diane Miller · Jackson, Wyoming · November 2026 · 5 min read
I've sat at the same dressing table for thirty-one years, and I chose nearly everything on it. The little mirror was my mother's. I picked the lamp twice, because I got it wrong the first time. Ray made the stool, and I sewed the cushion for it.
Except the bag I keep it all in. In 2004 I bought a lipstick at a department-store counter and they handed me a free makeup bag along with it — shiny black vinyl with the brand stamped on the side. I used it to tide me over until I bought a proper one. That was twenty-two years ago. Nobody chose it. It just stayed.
It only ever lived two ways. When we had people to stay, and in ski season people stay all winter, it got stuffed in the back of the bathroom drawer. The rest of the time it sat on the shelf with the peeling logo turned to the wall. Somewhere along the way I'd accepted that the ugliest thing on my dressing table was the one I reached for every single morning.
Then I saw one at my friend Carol's, sitting on her bathroom shelf full of her brushes. I honestly thought it was an ornament. It came from Nancy's little boutique on the Town Square, and I've had my own for a month now. When I work out why it made such a difference, it comes down to six things.
on my own shelf now, full of my brushes. i thought carol's was just for show until i watched her unzip it.
1
It stands up on its own, even empty.
The walls are quilted and padded, so it keeps its shape whether there's one lipstick in it or a full week away. No slumping, no flopping shut on your hand, no digging around the bottom of a limp pouch for the one thing you need.
JW
★★★★★
This is my new cosmetic bag and I love it so much, not that boring old bag which broke out of nowhere.
Janet W., Columbus, OH
Verified buyer
2
The sheep are stitched on, not printed.
Run your thumb across the wool and you can feel every stitch. The little sheep, the flowers and the grass are all sewn onto the quilted fabric, and the field is quilted in. Nothing to crack, peel or rub off after a winter in a handbag or a suitcase.
every curl of wool is stitched in. ray thought it was printed until he touched it.
PH
★★★★★
Large for when i travel and the small for the bathroom. The prettiest useful things I own.
Patricia H., Boise, ID
Verified buyer
3
The zip is a proper one.
A chunky metal zip with a little leather pull, sewn into a padded seam, that glides shut in one go. The free one's zip snagged by the third day and had given up by the first winter. This one hasn't missed once.
EM
★★★★★
The big one is amazing for when you travel. I have 2 one always ready in my bag and 1 in my suitcase for when i travel.
Eileen M., Asheville, NC
Verified buyer
4
It’s finished on the inside, too.
The inside is lined in soft, wipe-clean fabric. No rough seams to snag a brush, and a spilt bit of powder or cream wipes straight out. It looks as tidy when you open it as it does sitting on the shelf.
LT
★★★★★
I use it now for a couple weeks and my friends which have seen them are loving it as well, they ordered also and loving them.
Lorraine T., Scranton, PA
Verified buyer
5
It holds a whole trip's worth.
Brushes, the skincare, the odds and ends you can't travel without — it takes a full routine with room to spare, and it still zips shut and stands up straight. From a weekend away to a fortnight, I've never had to leave something behind.
DS
★★★★★
Empty or full it stands there like a piece of furniture. The old one went out with the trash the same week.
Donna S., Bangor, ME
Verified buyer
6
3 sizes, and more designs than I expected.
A little one for the handbag, a medium for the shelf, a large for travel. I went back and forth for a week between the sheep and the bee with the daisies. The sheep won — we keep a few of our own out past the fence, and I like a bit of the field with me in the morning. Carol ended up with the bee.
the bee i nearly chose and the sheep i did.
RG
★★★★★
I have one in my bathroom and one in my bag. You can use it for different jobs.
Rhonda G., Tulsa, OK
Verified buyer
My bag, against the one a cosmetics counter gave me
I’m not one for comparisons, but this one is fair.
THE ONE THAT JUST STAYED
A stamped-on logo that's half peeled off
Shoved in the drawer whenever company came
Flops shut, you dig for everything
Thin vinyl that cracks at the corners
Black, because that's what they handed me
Never chosen, never liked
Nancy Susan Moulton
A proper metal zip with a leather pull
Stays out, and people ask about it
Stands up on its own, even empty
Lined in soft cream fabric inside
Stitched sheep, flowers and grass
Chosen on purpose
Everything on my dressing table got chosen except the thing I used most. Now that's chosen too.
Why everything is 60% off today
I'm careful with money, so I'll be honest: the price is what made me hesitate at first.
Small $34.95$87.50 Medium $34.95$87.50 Large, for travel $34.95$87.50
I assumed there had to be a catch. There isn't one I've found. Nancy Susan Moulton is a small local shop selling directly, and Nancy is celebrating five years on the Town Square with 60% off everything. It's not a closing-down sale — she's not going anywhere. Free shipping, 30 days to change your mind, and when a design sells out, it's gone. Nancy told me the sheep has already sold out once.
5th Anniversary Run · Limited to this month
5
Years on the same street
4.8★
Across 1,500+ reviews
28
DIFFERENT PATTERNS
30
Days to change your mind
CR
★★★★★
I was so happy with my first one that I needed to order a second one, and here it is.
Carol R., Sarasota, FL
Verified buyer
Before I ordered, I read the reviews. The same six things I've written about here kept coming up, over and over, and that's what decided it. If your makeup bag also just turned up one day and never left, this is the one I'd point you to. Choose it on purpose, before the holidays and the trips, and while the design you like is still there.
CLIENT · NANCY SUSAN MOULTON · JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING
Diane has lived in Jackson Hole for thirty-one years with her husband Ray. She’s a customer, not a professional writer, and she wrote this because Carol told her to.
