TL;DR Cadence capsules are not practical for anything longer than a 1 or 2 day trip or to be used in your post-gym bag. They’re expensive, hold very little product and are so heavy that they’re annoying to bring around and are prone to damage during travel’s bumps and rough handling.
Table of Contents
My Cadence Capsule Order
When I finally bit the bullet and purchased the capsules at the end of 2022, Cadence capsules were $76 for group of 6 or ~ $12.66 per unit.
For my set I got a mix of the sand color (a warm light off-white beige) and charcoal (a dark grey) so that I could differentiate easily between my hair and face products. At the time they had limited options for default lid icons so I coughed up the extra $17 to get a single custom lid that said “Hair Mask” because I knew the containers were so small, I would always need to carry 2 of them for conditioning products to last me a week of travel.
Due to the timing, I bought the original cadence capsules, that hold just 0.56 oz of product. Today the same size has been reshaped and flattened, and these are now considered “smalls”. The medium, which holds 3x product is now called the “Medium” but it has the tower shape of the originals.
The cadence containers are just too small to be practical
If you’re a frequent traveler, you’re usually willing to pay more for convenience and comfort. The cadence containers are cute but tiny – ranging from 0.56 oz on the low end (the OG size I bought) to just 2.75 oz for the largest size. As a long hair girlie there is very little comfort in carrying containers that barely hold 1 fl oz of a product. While this might be enough for face products for a week+ for liquids like face wash or lotion, the medium, standard size can just barely make it to 2 washes of hair products if you have medium-length hair. What I found myself doing was carrying 2 of the “small” sizes of conditioner per 1 “small” of shampoo just to get to a week of product as I don’t wash my hair every day.
And while the capsules are small in volume, due to the excessive packaging they take up a lot of space. In a quart-sized bag the cadence capsules take up well over 1/2 the entire packing space, leaving you little room for other products like toothpastes or items you can’t decant.
Poor longevity of containers
Another gripe I had with the cadence travel containers is while they’re very aesthetic to begin with, it’s very easy to ruin their aesthetic appearance with normal use. I used mine for less than a year before I gave up on them.
My main issues with the cadence capsule quality is:
- They’re heavy so they crack easily – the magnetic capsules are so heavy, that it’s easy for them to have a hard fall. And because they’re not malleable like plastic, you can easily crack one as I did two on a hotel floor. And while you shouldn’t be tossing your things around and of course things break when you drop them, it’s an inevitable part of travel that your items will have some bumps here and there.
- One of my lids became misaligned within a year – while it was still useable it still caused leakage and was very *not* aesthetic.
- The lid icons easily rub off – I was very unhappy to see two of the labels were clearly rubbing off within a year of owning the container. This meant for some containers I had to physically open them to see what’s inside as the containers are totally opaque.
Here’s an example of a cadence lid that cracked from the bottom…not sure how that one happened
A cracked cadence container, in less than a year of use two of my containers cracked from the side. I probably dropped it but still disheartening nonetheless at this price.
So, are the cadence capsules worth it?
While there is no one who likes flippant, nonsensical aesthetic purchases more than me, I simply can not get on the cadence train. While I love how they look, their very small volume, heavy weight and poor etching/labeling is just a turn off when you are someone who really is on the road months out of a year. So no, I don’t think the capsules were worth it and I wouldn’t repurchase.
Disclaimers and Disclosures
As of this review I was not paid to use Cadence capsules. All items were purchased with my own funded and all my thoughts are from personal experiences with the product.
How do you clean cadence capsules?
For me I remove ALL product before refilling as its easy to contaminate any liquid once you decant a product (especially with long fingernails and face products). I always completely rinse with warm soap and water and let it dry completely upside down or with a clean towel. I’ll also sometimes use a little rubbing alcohol for good measure. For hard to reach places like threading inside the lid, Cadence recommends using a q-tip.
Are cadence capsules dishwasher safe?
While the Cadence team doesn’t explicitly mention this on their site, many people are able to safely wash these containers in the dishwasher.
How to open the cadence containers?
To open the container, simply turn the lid counter clockwise (to the left). To tighten, turn the lid to the right. The edges on the top should align with the bottom of the container to ensure a good seal.
