Bra Review: La Senza Body Kiss

La Senza was always my go-to store when shopping for D+ bras but, these days, since their new ownership, the larger cups have unfortunately been done away with.  The new look La Senza is very much a reinvented, on trend brand with solely the A-DD market in its sights, focusing on sexy smalls for the smaller bust.

Even though I can't actually fit into La Senza bras any more, I've still been intrigued to see what the new La Senza offers.  From the website to the window displays it's clear that this is a sister company to powerhouse Victoria's Secret, with it's bright colours, full on enticing shapes and come and get it attitude.

La Senza sent me a set from their Body Kiss collection: a range of seam-free bras and smooth briefs to give a uncompromised silhouette and bring an end to digging and nipping.  I chose to check out the apricot colour Picot Trim bra in 32DD/E and small bikini brief.

*Now the sizing method does have me confused somewhat.  The La Senza website states that it uses US sizing and encourages you to check against your own country's size, which is a weird one as you'd expect a .co.uk website to be for the British consumers.  I requested an E cup and was sent a DD, but looking closer at the label it says 'INT 70DD/E, CDA/USA 32DD'.  Is this the US sizing coming into play?  Is this indeed a UK 32E?  Could La Senza embellish on this?*

The fabric is a high content polyester mix lending a silky feel to the touch.  The slight picot trim along the front edge of the cups gives a more feminine touch to an otherwise plain design.  The colour is a neon juicy watermelon shade, such a pretty colour for summer!

The Body Kiss collection is, in essence, a t shirt bra range, but it's also generously padded for incredible boob boosting.  The entire cup is cushioned which increases in depth the further down the cup it goes.  The structure is thoughtfully created to be light and leave minimal marks, as the unconventional underwiring is flattened for a more natural line, and the double sided wings ensure the band elastic is invisible.  I personally love this feature of hiding the elastic as I find this part of my bras usually aggravates my skin.  This would be a perfect choice for someone with skin sensitivities.

If you're looking for a smooth line beneath your summer tees and like a bit of cleavage, the Body Kiss is definitely worth having a look at.  It's just a shame that La Senza don't want to engage with the fuller cups they once over catered for, because, aside from the ample padding, there's much about the Body Kiss design that I'd love to wear.

What are your thoughts on the new La Senza? 

Becky x

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Freya Deco 365 - One Year Bra Celebration

Since Freya launched their moulded seam free bra back in 2009, Deco has become possibly the most prevalent collection available to the fuller bust market.  It's success has led the introduction of a variety of styles and colour ways over the years, providing wearers with unbeatable support and fit, and resolving solutions to common clothing dilemmas.  Plunge or half cup, strapless or multiway - even the recent addition of the moulded soft cup - along with matching briefs, shorts and thongs, Deco has the answer whatever you choose to wear and however busty you are.  From 28-38 for B-GG cups.

Staple colours black and nude are the fail safe options every woman should own and Deco's continuity shades, including charcoal grey, are available across the main Deco family.  If vibrancy is more your thing, Deco Honey provides bold fashion colours which follow suit with the trends.  This season sees the beautiful purple iris taking centre stage over last season's hot firecracker red.  The Deco Flamingo is a playful feminine version of the Honey styling, featuring a cute flamingo design print.

Freya Deco Honey 'Iris'

Freya Deco 'Flamingo'

A step up from the perfectly wearable moulded bra is the new Deco Shape collection.  Boasting more advanced styling solutions including a multiway bra, strapless slip and strapless longline bra this collection is problem solving as much as it is pretty.  The delicate floral pastel detailing makes Deco Shape ideal bridal lingerie.

Freya Deco 'Shape'

So you can see, Freya's Deco really is something different and worth celebrating.  Freya have just launched Deco 365 - a brand new mini website dedicated to Deco which will stay online for a whole year, showcasing Freya's full Deco range.  Not only is it there to help select the right bra for you, there's also an exciting style competition where by uploading your own best fashion look you could win some fabulous prizes, including Freya lingerie and a £1000 shopping spree!

I uploaded my own outfit to the website which will be added to the style gallery.  You can enter and add your own photo here.

I was sent the 'nude' Deco plunge bra in 28GG which is an excellent all rounder, invisible beneath most clothing whatever the colour or fabric.   Personally I adore wearing colourful lingerie and I'm particularly keen to get my hands on the gorgeous 'iris' Honey.  The flamingo print will also be a really fun bra to take me through summer.  I would love to check these out as soon as I can!

My chosen outfit wearing my Freya Deco Plunge Bra in Nude 

Have fun snapping and good luck!

Becky x

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Wonderbra Haul of Fame Campaign - Part 1

Strapless bras, multiway bras, push up and plunge.  For something so small, bras sure know how to bewilder us!

You shouldn't have to possess a science degree to know which bra you could be wearing with your little black dress.  But never fear, no matter what you choose to pull on today there's a bra best suited to your outfit.  Wonderbra has done the hard work for you and developed a clever little mobile app called the Decoder that demonstrates what style of bra is best worn underneath your clothing, whether it's a simple tee or sexy little number.  Your bra fails need never happen!

To show you the theory behind the Decoder app the folks at Wonderbra have enlisted the help of celebrity stylist Sophie Stevens.  I will be speaking to Sophie later on in my series of Haul of Fame blog posts and will be finding out more about how to match the right bra with your outfit plus loads more tips on dressing a curvy figure!

Sophie Stevens
Image courtesy of Wonderbra

I was approached by Wonderbra to take part in their Haul of Fame campaign.  In the same way the Decoder app shows you, I've picked a few outfits of my own and selected the best Wonderbra to wear them with.  Don't think the fun's just on my part though!  Wonderbra's running a Facebook competition and invites YOU to style your own outfit for the fantastic chance of winning a cool £1000 shopping spree along with personal style advice from Sophie Stevens herself.  How amazing is that?!


So, what's my first outfit and bra pairing of choice, I hear you wonder.  Well, here it is  -

My first outfit is a smart casual style; something I'd wear for going shopping with the girls and having a drink down the local.  I'm wearing a silver grey lace skirt with a black cap sleeved top that's slightly speckled with lurex yarn.  Adding a hot AW12 trend to bring the style bang up to date: a pearly white sequin collar necklace.  To keep the look relaxed I'd wear my cream and silver leather pumps (no pounding the pavements with high heels here!)

The Wonderbra I chose to wear underneath my top was the super smooth T-Shirt Bra.  It's available right up to a G cup so brilliant for those of us fuller up top.  I received the 32F in error but it actually wasn't too bad, considering!  It was supposed to be a 32G but to be honest I felt a 30G would have been the best size.  I LOVED the straps on this one, really soft yet sturdy and absolutely comfortable!   It felt supportive and most importantly for your outfit, didn't show through.  My top looked smooth and unspoiled thanks to the seamfree cups.

Keep an eye out for my Haul of Fame Part 2 post later this week for the next installment in my Wonderbra bras and outfits decoded!

Becky x

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Skintone Bras - The Essential Nude

Colourful bras are all well and good but sometimes you don't want your bra to steal your fashion limelight.  Whether wearing a little black dress or your favourite simple white tee, it's nice to have a bra on standby that'll disappear beneath your clothing.

Skintone bras in nude shades are an essential option for many bra wearers of all bust sizes and many brands offer a multitude of additional benefits such as multiway, strapless and seamfree styling.

Ewa Michalak are still a new indulgence for me but already they've wowed me with their incredible superiority in design and manufacture.  Usually brands can be limited in their collections and tend to stick to the same style vein season after season.  Ewa Michalak is a breath of fresh air with their vast choice of styles, colours and sizes; quite the lingerie sweetshop!

I tried out the PL Toffik.  I'd previously ordered it a month or so ago (when I incorrectly ordered the 65GG) but needed to exchange the size for something bigger, however the replacement bra I received looked different to the first one I was sent.  Looking at the website I found there are two different looking PL Toffiks which is a little confusing.  From what I can see, the first one I had is labeled as a toffee colour where the one I have now is classed as caramel.

The PL Toffik in toffee is a three section cup in smooth fabric.  It's edged with delicate lace along the tops of the cups, adorned with intricately stitched straps and finished off with a centre bow.  It was a very easy bra to wear and was effortless under clothing.  It wasn't seamfree but as close as you'd get.  The band was too tight for me, and the cups a fraction too small, so I returned it for another size.

PL Toffik - Toffee

My exchange replacement is quite visually different.  It is actually extremely similar to the CH Karmelki.  The cups aren't smooth in the same sense but overlaid with feint diamond embroidery and there are three centre oval buttons as opposed to the previous bow.  The colours of both the Toffiks are similar and which I found a bit too dark but I personally preferred the shade of the 'toffee' Toffik.  I also preferred the plain styling for a smoother finish.

I had the second Toffik replaced as a 70H which again wasn't the best size for me.  My fault again!  I now know that 70GG will be spot on for me.

Both versions of the PL Toffik are gorgeous and very well made and I like the way there are slightly differing ideas of nude on the website which gives the buyer a bit more option.  They also come with removable pads which can be kept in or removed if you want extra va va voom or help with evening out different sized boobs.

Another plunge skintone bra is the nude Freya Deco which I tried in a 28GG from Lingerie Heaven.  The Deco is a favourite bra to many, but why?

Deco is a fabulous, well fitting bra that offers real support.  It's also a really good seamfree style because of it's moulded cups which means you don't get any show through of stitching and cup sectioning that normal bras can do.  Another reason why I love wearing the Deco is because it's a plunge which is extremely flattering for me.  Oh yes, and you can get them in a 28 back now, too!

I love the Freya's nude colourway as it's light and unobtrusive.  It does actually disappear when I put a white t shirt on, which is what it's all about for me.  Both the colour and completely smooth cups are a winner with me and will be a wardrobe staple of mine from now on.

Have you tried other brands of skintone bras?  How do you think they compare and which would you say is the best?

Becky x

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Bra Review - Freya Ashlee

At the beginning of the month I spoke about some of my favourite new bras of the season.  Spring arrives and it makes you want to overhaul your dank winter wardrobe with some really fresh and pretty clothing, and your lingerie is no exception.

I love my lingerie to be colourful at the best of times anyway.  Beyond the need for white and black bras, and maybe a nude one for conspicuous clothing, I don't see much of a point for it.  That doesn't mean any coloured bra makes me weak at the knees though.  But one certain bra recently did exactly that to me.  And that was the Ashlee by Freya.

I was giddy like a child overdosed on Swizzles when a little package arrived containing the Ashlee bra.  I cooed over it just via the internet so to see and feel the real thing was a dream.  To say Ashlee's a gorgeous bra doesn't half describe it!

The funky hot pink Freya bag and inner Freya tissue paper

Freya Ashlee Bra 30GG

The Ashlee is actually conceived by the same concept that is the best selling Deco bra, which is renowned for giving a fantastic cleavage.  This time round the beauty that is Ashlee has been given a truly prettifying makeover, in every way possible.

The fabric of the Ashlee is a polyester mix that gives the touch similar to microfibre; it feels soft and silky, a pleasurable feel on the skin.  The cups are fully moulded (meaning they are lightly padded) for a smoothing t-shirt effect making it a really good option for a seam-free finish under clothing.  I love the fact that it doesn't show ugly pattern imprint from beneath my t shirts, because that is one way to spoil the look of what you're wearing.

The cups are edged with a silky cream ribbon with a dainty embroidered picot trim and cute bows to the centre gore and the front of the straps, which aren't ridiculously wide and frumpy.

The bow at the centre gore

The cream satin and embroidery trim

The back of the bra

The colour is called Sorbet and reminds me of bonbons, or strawberry milkshake topped with cream.  It looks mouth wateringly delectable, reminiscent of childhood ice creams in summer.  This is one yummy looking bra!

Being a bigger cupped girl I do struggle to find bras that match up to my taste.  Many people tell me of particular brands that apparently produce in my size.  But I often feel like what I'd really love in a bra rarely gets made, or even to my knowledge.  Freya is a consistently easy to source bra brand and I don't think I've coveted after a bra in such a way for quite a while.

Bras for larger busts are quite often unpadded and predictable lacy numbers so it's refreshing to see a bra like this one that breaks all the boundaries.  It's padded, gorgeous and girly and gives a fab cleavage.  I love that it's so modern and young looking.  I turned 30 this year and thought it was time for me to 'grow up and act my age' whatever that meant.  Wearing this bra reminds me of when I used to wear push up bras in my smaller boobed days, and it's a fun feeling.

This bra in particular is the plunge style, which basically gives a good cleavage like the old 'hello boys' effect.  You can get this also in a half cup but it only goes up to an F.  My bra here is a 30GG.  If I had the choice and it was made in a bigger cup I probably would have gone for the half cup, but now I have the plunge I am happy.  The only issue I would say is that the 28" back only goes up to the G cup, with the smallest back for a GG starting at a 30".  The 30GG was the best size available to me and did feel big enough though I felt I would have been more confident had it been 28".  After a good day's wear I did have a couple of sore marks which were beneath my armpit.  I don't know if it's because the 30" is making the cups move further out than they need to be?

You can also buy matching briefs in a choice of short, thong or high waisted brief, and I have the brief. It's not usually a style I'd wear but it's a fantastic fit!  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it being such a high waisted fashion.  The material is the same soft and slinky feel as the bra so is super comfy.

The high waisted brief (mine's small)

The complete matching set

Overall I love the Ashlee.  It's modern and pretty, gives a great shape and blends beautifully under tops.  I just need Freya to make the 28" back available for the next cup up and I'll be a very happy spring bunny indeed!

This is the video review I made earlier:

Are you a fan of Freya's new Ashlee?  A loyal Deco wearer wondering what the Ashlee's like?  Let me know what you think about it.

Becky x

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