No need to ask E.l.f. Cosmetics what’s in its bag.
Inspired by TikTok’s perennial #WhatsInMyBag trend and its oft lip-centric themes, the makeup brand has teamed with Caboodles and designer Laurel DeWitt to introduce the “It Bag,” a lip product organizer which retails for $35 and offers a tongue-in-cheek — yet functional — nod to the trend.
Launching Wednesday, the bag features a mirror and three compartments meant to hold E.l.f.’s viral Glow Reviver Lip Oils, which come in seven shades and retail for $8, as well as the brand’s Squeeze Me More Lip Balms and creamy lip liners, $4 and $2, respectively.
“Like with most of our collaborations, the inspiration for this was our community — we would have never conceived the idea to design a handbag in a vacuum,” said E.l.f.’s creative director, global campaigns, Nimrat Brar. “We saw the #WhatsInMyBag trend on TikTok, where people were having fun with it and kind of admitting that all they take out with them are their ‘essentials’ — being their lip products — and we saw the opportunity to do something fun and unexpected with it.”
E.l.f. Cosmetics x Caboodles “It Bag,” $35.
courtesy of E.l.f. Cosmetics
The bag’s gold chain and E.l.f.-embossed charms were conceived by DeWitt, who is known for her metalwork and has created custom arm bands, crystal bras and necklaces for Kylie Jenner, GloRilla, Teyana Taylor and other stars. “It was important to us to work with an artist who could bring that fashion lens to the project and make this feel like a true fashion moment for us,” said Brar.
The collaboration otherwise leans into the organizational ethos of Caboodles’ signature beauty boxes, which were first popularized in the ’80s thanks to a Vanna White co-sign and have since expanded to include a wide range of colorways and models.
“E.l.f. launched as an online beauty business selling premium cosmetics for incredibly low prices, and Caboodles launched as a disruptor in creating its own category — we always want to collab with like-minded disruptors,” said E.l.f.’s chief creative officer Ashley Rosebrook, adding that the brand most recently collaborated with Tinder following an insight that profiles on the dating app which feature a red-lip makeup look get more “likes.”
The “It Bag” comes at a time when beauty brands are increasingly leaning into launching merch as a means to widen their reach, from Hailey Bieber’s Rhode Lip Case to Milk Makeup’s consecutive Reebok collaborations. Benefit Cosmetics, too, recently launched a limited-edition bag designed to carry the brand’s signature Benetint lip and cheek stain.
