Lingerie Review: Ewa Michalak PL Lśniąca Scarlet

Happy March! How are you guys? Feeling spring-y already I have been centered around art, wedding-stuff (I found a dress, yay!) and some unfortunate drama in a project I was working on so it’s good to take some time to sit down and spend some time with the ol’ blog. Also, the blog giveaways are coming so don’t fret! 2COP is a hefty toddler now and just turned four, which is something we need to celebrate 😉 However, today we are bathing in some scarlet goodness, which is the Ewa Michalak PL Lśniąca Scarlet. This set was generously provided me by Ewa Michalak, but all opinions are my own!

The Design: The PL Lśniąca Scarlet is a classic PL-style from Ewa, which means it’s a padded plunge. The design features seams though, which gives the bra its signature well-constructed feel and improves the fit for a padded bra. As someone who doesn’t enjoy padded bras as much, I wasn’t even surprised that I still liked this particular bra – it’s the absolute royal of the padded bra family and I wear it each time I want to feel uplifted and oomphed to the max. The cups feature removable cookies, which is great if you want something extra, have a-symmetry or change a bit in size during your cycle.

The style of the bra is not the most ornate I have seen in the Ewa Michalak collection, but it still manages to appear striking with its colour and satin-y materials. This bra can easily be worn under t-shirts (with a darker colour, of course) but it’s still appropriate for boudoir as well. What’s not to like!

The Fit: The PL bra is not unfamiliar to me and thus I pretty much knew it would fit me in my regular size of 70GG. I don’t find EM sizing to be that different from British D+ brands, maybe just a bit tighter in the band, so I usually go for my looser band size 70 (UK 32). Picking a size is pretty easy for me personally, as the EM team usually does it for me when I provide them with my usual size. Ewa Michalak bras are infamous for varying in fit and size, which is why it pretty much depends on the style whether I go for 70G or 70GG, or even H. This one runs very true-to-size though, which always makes the shopping experience a bit easier.

I have literally no bad things to say about the fit of the PL Lśniąca Scarlet: everything just seems to fall into place perfectly. The cups encase my breast tissue well when I insert just one of the pads into my right cup (my left boob is bigger). The cups are just deep enough for my breast tissue to sit in them without the cup foam collapsing at the bottom (very usual with most padded bras if there’s not enough depth at the bottom of the cup) and luckily the wires are not too narrow for me with this particular EM style! I am so happy, as this trait with Ewa bras has always been a bit of a hit-or-miss with me.

Comfort: In addition to being well-fitting, Ewa bras are usually a pleasure to wear all-day, as the materials are well-thought out. The PL bras are always lined with cotton to feel comfortable against the sensitive boob skin (I am sure most women relate to boob itch, don’t you?!), which is something I wish every lingerie brand did with their bras. It also makes the bra much more comfortable during the summer months, as sweat does not play well with artificial fibers, in my personal experience. The straps are pretty well placed with this style, I would say and they are fully-adjustable, which is great for tall and petite girls alike.

The Lśniąca Scarlet “high-waisted” panties are not the highest I have seen, but still proper cute and sexy. The lace on the back could a bit stretchier in my opinion and if you have a more rounded butt than me, I would suggest sizing up. For reference, I have 40″ hips and these were a size 38/10. These are perhaps not your everyday panties but are sure to make some hearts flutter, if that is what you wish for!

The Lśniąca Scarlet can be bought at the EM online store, which you find here. It’s made-to-order which means it can take 2-3 weeks to make and after that the product will be shipped to you. If you can’t find your size in the drop-down menu, the EM team will be happy to make a custom size, however those are non-refundable and cannot be exchanged. The price for a custom sized bra is 20 PLN higher than the regular price of the bra. The bra (in regular sizes 30-44 A-JJ) costs 189 PLN and the high-waisted briefs (36-48, UK 8-20) cost 69 PLN.

Sunday with Samanta: A475 Anvers in 65E

It has been a while since I did a “Sunday with Samanta” post – it’s understandable, the holidays came in the way of both me and the Samanta team, so we put the feature on hold for a couple of months. We also ran out of styles that would come in my size, so we had to figure something else out first to showcase the Samanta styles that fit the more average and small busts out there. This was however, not a problem. As most of you know I operate with an array of guest bloggers with different body types – to give you a teaser, in addition to Jo and Miss E, I will be adding Miss T and my sister Emma to our happy company very soon! However, let’s start the series of more moderately sized Samanta bras with a review of Anvers in style A475 (49,70 €). *This set was generously gifted to Jo by Samanta. All opinions are our own.*

Design: The Samanta’s A475 is a style targeted to small and medium sized busts, going up to EU H-cup in the 65 band. That is an equivalent to UK FF-cup. The style is a smooth push-up t-shirt bra which brings the girls together and facing forward (= loads of projection!), instead of splaying them towards the sides of one’s torso. The push up padding inside is not detachable but yet very light to give you only a slight boost to your own breast size. It also gives a lovely rounded shape and an alluring cleavage, modest enough for most casual work places but also visible enough for a nice boost under a plunging neckline when sipping for cocktails at after work.

The Anvers style itself is a beautiful painting-like floral printed ensemble which features the smoothest materials on earth and some pretty dotted mesh to make it even more pretty. This is definitely one of my personal favourites from the Samanta AW16 collection and even Jo is very much pleased with the looks of this set despite not being a huge fan of floral prints in general.

The Fit: To warn you off right off the bat, this is going to be an overwhelmingly positive review. So if you feel like you can’t trust a super positive review where the set has been gifted, I am so sorry, but there is nothing I can really do about it at this point. This sets fits LIKE A DREAM on Jo and she actually told me it’s now probably her favourite bra of all time and Samanta her new favourite lingerie brand. And she, my dear friends, is an honest son of a bitch, to say the least! I opted for the 65E for Jo after weighing in for a while – Samanta bras usually run a bit large in the cup so I figured that she might like the same size with them as with Gossard (for reference, Jo’s best size with British brands is 28F or 30E). The British 30DD is a rough equivalent to a Polish 65E.

Jo got four different sets to try for the next few months and each of them fitted a bit differently – with the Anvers being the best of them in style and cup depth. Jo has full-on-bottom boobs, which means, there is not much breast tissue on her upper half of the boobs – her shape fitted perfectly in the A475 style and there is no empty room on the bottom nor the top half of the cup. The wires are a perfect length and height for Jo and the gore sits flat on her sternum. The only complaint that we have (which is not really a flaw) is that the band is a bit too big for Jo’s ribcage – this however, is not surprise as she measures 26″ under her bust and thus would fit better in a 28 band with most brands.

Comfort: The A475 is a very smooth t-shirt style bra which is why there are not a lot of extra seams or lace on show. This is great for wearing the bra every day to work and under the very thinnest materials. The underwires are exactly the length and height Jo needs, which is why there is no poking or any sorts of discomfort because of them.

I have sometimes had trouble with Samanta straps being too widely-placed for me but Jo found that they were spot-on for her. In fact, the feedback that I got both from Jo and my sister Emma (who will be reviewing another Samanta style next month!) was super positive especially regarding the straps – they seem to be firmly placed on the shoulders without falling off a single time during a busy day at work. Even though the straps with the smaller sizes are a bit thinner than what Jo is used to, she still found them very comfortable and sturdy. They are also fully-adjustable and detachable, meaning the bra can be converted to a multiway and will suit an array of body types and heights.

Jo also received the M300 brazilian briefs (19,70 €) (or thong, as the Samanta website states) with the set, which we opted in a size Small – I am two dress sizes bigger than Jo which is why I thought the Small would be perfect for her instead of the Medium I tend to wear with Polish brands. The materials and the style of the brief is very convenient under tighter jeans which is why it makes a very nice option for Jo in addition to her collections of actual thongs. The back of the brazilian features a lovely see-through dotted mesh that makes the ensemble even cuter.

What do you think about Anvers? Are you feeling the winter florals trend? Let me know in the comments! Also, if you wish to get your hands on this set, do check out Samanta’s online store and for US customers, ask for a shipping quote by sending them an email. Have a great rest of your Sunday, gals! xx

Review of By Caprice “Love Blossom” in 32G

I very often bump into brands that are just so cute, sexy and so “me” and when I look for my size, it shines with its non-existence. Well, I first saw By Caprice lingerie on a random website and this is exactly what happened – ouch, up to G and I was a double! However, some of the designs really caught my eye and I was left wondering if I could sistersize down to a 32G. When Sophie from By Caprice contacted me asking if I wanted something to review on my blog, I jumped at the chance and decided to try my luck. I was sent the “Love Blossom” set in sizes 32G and Small and here’s how I liked it…

Design: I went for the Love Blossom as it instantly caught my eye – the colour and the lace embroidery looked amazing! I was a bit worried about the extra padding inside the cups but I am so looks-orientated that this set definitely won me over. The whole look is quite over-the-top, in a good way of course, as the plunge shape creates a massive cleavage and the shiny pink satin is quite eye-catching. The lace is quite thick so be sure to match this bra with something not-so-clingy! I wore this bra with my new Lindy Bop “Ophelia” dress and it created a nice look under the ruched neckline.

Love Blossom is a moulded-cup padded bra featuring some extra push-up padding in the bottom part of the cups. For me the push-up padding is a bit too much as I probably could have achieved the cleavage without any extra help but for some the padding can be a bonus. The bra gives me a very uplifted lovely shape and looks great with very open necklines as it doesn’t cover much of your chest.

Fit: As you can see, the fit is unfortunately not the best for me. This is not the bras fault though – my boobs are just about a cup size too big for it. I think my best fit with By Caprice would probably be a 32GG so I am looking forward to their potential size expansion that will take place sometime in the future. The band feels firm for 32 but I would say it’s just on a smaller side of 32 so not super snug on me but still doesn’t ride up. There is some spillage mostly on my left boob as it is bigger than my right one so if I had the chance I would size up to a GG. However, the quadboob on my left side is not that notable under clothing so I have actually been wearing this bra quite a lot lately as it looks great under most of my dresses.

The wiring and depth of the bra are quite the average so a very good fit for me. I find the cups to be rather deep at the bottom too (compared to eg. Curvy Kate bras) so there’s not a bunch folding going on at the bottom. I usually have some wrinkles at the bottom of the padded cups I wear so to me, the overall fit of Love Blossom looks pretty good to me, if it only was the perfect size. Also I do think that my shape is not the best for this bra and it could have fitted better if I had less fullness on the top part of my breasts. So if you have more bottom-heavy breasts – this is probably your best choice for a push-up bra!

Comfort: I have been wearing this set quite a bit as it is very comfortable doesn’t peek under my low-cut open necklines. The materials feel nice to touch and the lace is not scratchy at all – quite the contrary! The wires feel very reasonably placed so they don’t poke me in my armpits or feel too narrow or wide. The band features three hooks and eyes which I’m really grateful for.

The panties looked very skimpy at first and I wondered if they would look flattering or feel good. I was also hesitant about my size as the size range goes from S to XL and I am probably not even close to By Caprice’s smallest customer. The size was spot-on though and the side strings of the brief give a lot of room for size fluctuation. I would say the panties run true-to-size just like the bra did. This is definitely always a good quality of a new brand you try, as it is more likely to get the right size with a little less hit-and-miss.

I hope you liked my review and will be looking into By Caprice too – they are a great option if you fall into their size range and are looking for a good push-up bra with a lovely fit. If you fancy yourself a very own set from By Caprice, I would suggest you look into Littlewoods and Very! They have a nice selection of By Caprice for great prices. By Caprice also produces smaller sizes so if you are not D+, you still have a good shot at fitting into their brand.

How do you like By Caprice and the Love Blossom set? If you have any questions or comments leave them for me in the comment box! Have a great Sunday, loves xx