I know what you mean. The normal alma cannot be carried at the crook of the arm...so that makes it a little different. For the vernis...I even managed to carry it on my shoulder when I need to. Of course, it will not be comfortable for long
I am just afraid that I won't use an alma as much as I should. My track record for using my almas is not very good. Maybe a blue nuit vernis alma would change that. I don't know.