During an MTB ride or daily adventure, packing light is always an attractive prospect. It can get to the point where even backpacks can become a bit much to carry. With this in mind, Cadence creates products for the modern mover. Currently selling their magnetic capsules made out of recycled plastic and designed for on the go use, Cadence is eliminating plastic bottle waste, one bottle at a time. So what are Cadence capsules?
Cadence’s capsules easily fit in handbags, backpacks, and carry-on bags for a more environmentally friendly way to eliminate single-use plastic and bring your favorite products with you on the go.
In this review guide, we take a close look at Cadence Capsules. We will review if they are worth the price and if the benefits are worth considering. Read on to find out more.
Cadence Capsules Overview
Designed for those who want to travel light, just one of Cadence’s capsules is the equivalent of one travel-sized bottle’s worth of plastic removed from beaches and recycled. While small versions of your favorite personal care products have become a staple if you’re always on the go, they severely contribute to plastic waste that ends up in landfills and oceans.
Cadence wants to change that. With features such as spill proof magnetic tops and magnetic sides that snap together in a honeycomb, Cadence is the brain child of Steph Hon, who wanted to build a product for the modern day mover.
Steph bootstrapped and worked with factories to create prototypes of Cadence’s main product, the capsules, which help people on the go while positively impacting the environment. Hon raised an angel round of financing in 2019. With that money, she perfected the capsules to officially launch Cadence in February 2020. Consumers ate it up, selling out their assortment just 16 days after launch.
Cadence is on a mission to ban single-use plastic bottles in the portable personal care industry for good. While sustainability often focuses on full-sized single use plastic, Hon wants to lead the movement to replace tiny plastic bottles that have integrated themselves into our day to day routine but harm our environment.
Hon settled on the name Cadence because she wanted to create products that fit into each individual lifestyle, routine, and rhythm. And so, Cadence is here to help customers keep up their daily cadence by creating sustainable products that fit seamlessly into routines.Cadence’s main product is their capsules, which are magnetic and refillable containers that make organizing easy.
The capsules feature magnetic caps that snap into place and stay in place, making them 100% spill proof. So, thanks to Cadence, you can say goodbye to opening your bag just to see your shampoo or pills spilled in transit.
The capsules also have magnetic sides, which snap together to form a honeycomb, and stay together when you’re on the go. The capsules are intentionally designed with wide openings for easy filling and no right angles for easy cleaning. Cadence’s capsules are TSA compliant and BPA-free, and Cadence allows consumers to personalize their capsules through color and specific labels like symbols and words.
Through a partnership with Enivision Plastics, Cadence uses recycled, ocean-bound plastic to make their capsules. Envision Plastics employs local communities to collect plastic from beaches around the world.
They then send the plastic to their production partners in Montana, who create each capsule to order. The capsules are made up of 50% recycled material, more specifically, 20% recycled ocean-bound plastic and 30% reused scrap plastic. They re-grind and re-integrate any unused plastic scraps into their finished capsules to ensure that absolutely no plastic goes to waste.
How Can Cadence Capsules Be Used?
Cadence wants to end single use travel sized plastic for good, no ifs, ands, or buts. 9 billion single-use plastic travel bottles and 6 billion silicone travel bottles will end up on beaches in your lifetime, a staggering number that no one really knows.
That’s why Cadence’s manufacturing process puts an emphasis on diverting the plastic heading for the ocean and landfills by reformulating it into the capsules, with no waste left over.
By switching out the tiny bottles you keep in your bags for Cadence’s capsules, you can save hundreds more single-use plastic bottles from clogging up our environment. Cadence is leading a movement to prevent plastic from entering landfills and cleaning up existing waste, one that is necessary for the future of our planet.
My travel nightmare of throwing everything in a bag and hoping for the best is why Cadence Capsules piqued my interest. The Pods are a system of buildable, customizable, refillable, leak-proof magnetic containers designed to keep your personal care products in order. Cadence Pods advocate for less waste (bye-bye, single-use plastics!), while also providing an organized way to put all your stuff to good use.
And each capsule is pretty too, especially when several are magnetically honeycombed together.
These capsules also provide a perfect way to organize your liquids in your suitcase.
Build your own capsule set of six. The hexagon shaped containers are magnetic so they stick together to create the perfect honeycomb travel companion. They are 100% leak proof, TSA compliant and made from recycled materials. When it comes to transporting your liquids, gels, creams and more, a set of Cadence Capsules is the perfect choice for travelers.
A former celebrity home organizer, Hon brought that background to the table when she set out to create Cadence. In her quest to do so, she spent three years and went through over 200 prototypes before landing on the Capsule’s current look. “I knew that in order to create something better, I had to completely reimagine what already existed,” she explains.
“With persistence, attention to detail, and the right engineers, we created Cadence Capsules, a buildable system that fits into everyone’s unique routine.”
But is it worth the splurge on Cadence Capsules for a set of organizational containers? We think so.
What Makes Cadence Capsules Great
Cadence Capsules are meant to hold your essentials, from the aforementioned daily products to vitamins, rings, hair ties and more, in an organized, aesthetically pleasing, eco-friendly and ultra-durable way. Like, seriously durable. The brand tried to drop a Capsule from a two-story building and it didn’t break, it bounced off.
Each Capsule features a smooth hexagonal shape, a wide opening, and a rounded floor, all of which make it easy to fill and remove. In other words, there are no tricky angles to get the last drop of moisturizer from a hard-to-reach corner.
Each of the capsules measures approximately 1.8 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide, so even when grouped together as a set of six, they don’t take up much space. In fact, you can fit up to 15 capsules in a quart bag. The pods were also designed with sustainability in mind, a point we admire. They are made with 20% recycled plastic from the ocean and 30% excess manufacturing material.
Also, since they are multi-purpose, you can more easily avoid wasting single-use plastics on your travels.
Breaking down each Capsule, there is a base, an airtight lid, and a removable tile indicating what is in each Capsule. Perhaps the best part of all is that each component of the pod is completely magnetic and can stick together, ensuring you never lose a piece. Plus, since they’re magnetic, you can mold them into different shapes to fit any kind of nook or cranny in your favorite carry-on.
And after trying the Capsules for over a month, I can attest that these little suckers are total pros for storing all my stuff from pills to oils.
My Own Experience With Cadence Capsules
During my tests, I found that each Capsule is truly airtight and waterproof. If you accidentally dropped one down the toilet, for example, your vitamins would stay dry inside thanks to the lid’s industrial tight seal. The pods are also TSA-compliant, BPA-free, top-rack dishwasher safe, and—wait for it—100% leaching, non-absorbent, and chemically resistant.
In other words, your body wash won’t absorb any unpleasant ingredients from the Capsules, and the Capsules won’t retain any ingredients from your shampoo and body wash either. Oh, and fear not, I found that my credit cards and computers worked just fine after being near the Capsule magnets.
Product efficacy aside, Capsule has another major selling point: customization. In addition to the 40 preset “tiles,” which are what Cadence calls the capsule adornment labels for hair gel, body wash, hand cream and more, you can also create your own mosaics for an additional $3.
So you can customize exactly what you want each of your Capsules to be labeled with. One line of text in a tile can contain up to 12 characters, and two lines of text can contain up to 11 characters each. Or, you can select icons to place on your tiles instead of text. And because the tiles are removable, you can swap them between pods.
Cadence sells Tiles individually ($4 each, plus an additional $3 if you want to customize the text on the Tile) or in packs of three ($11, plus an additional $3 for customization), allowing for even more personalized containers.
We also love that you can mix and match Capsule colors to create your own unique honeycomb, using all the colors of the Cadence rainbow, from eucalyptus green and Pacific blue to purple, pink, black and cream. In each capsule, you will have the option to choose the color you want the container and tile to be.
We love this customization option, which allows anyone to create their perfect look, whether it’s a solid color or a mix-and-match combination. Plus, if you’re ever short on capsules, you can purchase one individually to add to your collection.
More capsules for additional storage
The Build Your 12 Pod Set gives you more storage space. Just like the standard Capsules, you’ll get all the benefits that make these storage containers great for travel: leak-proof, magnetic, and customizable. Plus, you’ll have the option to mix and match your Capsule and Tile colors for the perfect ensemble for your next trip.
Overall, I have found the Cadence Capsule system to be very helpful not only when traveling, but in my daily life as well. For example, when I recently took a day trip to do some shopping, dining, and seeing a show, I tossed my hand cream (a must in Albuquerque), Aquaphor, and Advil Capsules into my bag, which all stuck to each other thanks to the magnetic pull.
Whereas before I would have had pills in a single-use plastic baggie and half-empty tubes floating around in my bag, the Capsules were neat, efficient and, I really can’t say this enough, super pretty to look at.
Cons
While we loved most things about the capsules, there is a downside. In our tests, we found that the main drawback of the product is its size. According to the Cadence website, each Capsule holds one to two weeks of basic skin care, two (or more) weeks of serum, two to three days of hair care, or 17 tablets.
While they may hold more of some products than others, for some you won’t have enough room on a longer trip. So capsules tend to be better for shorter trips, especially when it comes to shampoo and conditioner.
Plus, pods aren’t exactly the most affordable storage product on the market. The price per capsule can be a bit hard to swallow ($14-$17 each), but buying a pack helps keep the cost down. However, we think the cost is justified when you consider how convenient the Capsules really are. If you’re willing to splurge on your travel wardrobe, Capsules are a fantastic option for keeping your belongings organized and leak-free.
Final Thoughts
Like the packing cubes for my clothes, the Cadence Capsules, whether as a single Capsule, a six-pack, or a 12-pack, have brought a zen-like ease to my packing routine. Ultimately, if you care about the planet and, like me, have a solid arsenal of personal products to take with you, this incredibly versatile brand is worth a try. Use them for your next MTB trip and discover their convenience.
