Tango plunging: Panache’s classic style in yellow reviewed

Posted on July 24, 2013 by busts4justice

Panache Tango Plunge Yellow

Panache’s classic Tango plunge will be twelve this year, and as the very first ‘properly fitted’ bra I ever owned it’s a style that will always hold a place in my heart-shaped lingerie drawer.

I’ve written previously about the style in black (a bra I’ve bought repeatedly), but never any of the seasonal colours. Yellow is my absolute jam this year though, so I could resist branching out and adding another to my collection.

Except… in yellow, the exclusive-to-Bravissimo Tango plunge isn’t what I’ve come to expect from the style. In my usual 30G the back band seemed up to one size looser, the cups seemed up to half a cup bigger, and the ever-so-comfortable low plunge poked in to my ribs at the front.

Wanting to give the benefit of the doubt to a style I’ve loved and depended on for over five years, I tried my black one on to see if my body had changed and caused the discrepancy. But no – all was as it should be. Whether it was a size mislabelling or an adjustment to the size in the exclusive range, the yellow Tango plunge just wasn’t working for me. A real pity. And my yellow cravings remain unsated…

Panache’s Tango plunge in yellow is available in sizes 28-38 DD-H.

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Sexy Satine: Bravissimo’s push up reviewed

Posted on July 18, 2013 by busts4justice

Bravissimo Satine

When I wrote about the sort of bra I’d need to go under my wedding dress (eeeeeeep), the one name you lovely lot kept throwing at me was Satine by Bravissimo.

Part of Bravissimo‘s own label range, Satine is a simple satin (surprise!) plunge push up bra that retails for £29. White and silky, it’s more ‘bridal’ than I ever envisaged my wedding lingerie to be (heck my dress isn’t white and silky…), but due to neckline restrictions and it’s super-plunging plunge I had to give it a try.

For some reason I expected Satine to be bulkier than she was – possibly in the model of a Deco. But actually she’s much more lightweight than that, making her a comfortable push-up option for sticky summer nights.

Size wise, the back is firm and the cup ran true to size – and the low, soft plunge was extremely comfortable. This is definitely a bra you’d feel secure in all day, whether that day was your wedding or not.

But not my wedding. Not because there’s anything wrong with her – I think she’s a cracking bra – but HOLY WOW does she give an epic cleavage. It actually reminded me of being 15 and first trying on a Wonderbra – after 14.9 years of being a ‘late bloomer’ I was stuck in the changing room utterly transfixed by these new, enormous FHM worthy C-cups (Yeah. Loool.) Satine has the same effect.

And there’s nothing wrong with that, of course. But the wedding brief is very specific – low plunge yet modest cleavage – so because I don’t want to spend 7th September killing off older relatives, I’ll keep looking…

Satine is available only from Bravissimo in sizes 28-38 D-J.

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Tilly by Cleo Swimwear reviewed!

Posted on July 16, 2013 by busts4justice

I’m a big fan of Panache’s brighter, bolder brand Cleo – I’ve actually been rocking Ellie today – and now they’ve transferred the same fun prints to Cleo Swimwear. Fun silhouettes (check out the ‘collar’ on the strapless one piece) and vibrant fabrics make for an eye catching collection. Wedding planning may be consuming most of my time right now, but in under two months it will be the first day of my honeymoon and for that I need some cracking swimwear…

To help out, the kind chaps at Bras & Honey sent me the Tilly balconnet from Cleo’s SS13 range. Print wise, she’s perfect for a summer holiday: the bright seaside print (with gulls!) is perfect for the beach, and she comes with good coverage for fun in the sun.

Unfortunately though, this Tilly won’t be accompanying me to Italy/Mexico/wherever-we-wash-up-possibly-the-North-Sea-at-this-rate. In a 30G, she is extremely tight in the back – so tight that it actually makes the underwires dig in at the front. Additionally, the back straps are much skinnier than I’ve seen on G+ swimwear, and combined with the tightness this creates mega back fat even where really there is none. I’d suggest sizing up in the back to get a comfortable fit.

It’s hard to gauge cup sizing because the back is so tight (so the wire was actually quite a distorted shape at the side of the bra), but she’s is a little big at the top too. My advice would be for women with less full-at-the-top breasts to size down in cup volume as well to find your perfect fit. In bra maths, that would make me a Cleo Tilly 32F.

Not the girl (or gull?) for me alas – but that does mean my suitcase is wide open for other options…

Cleo Tilly is available in sizes 28-38 DD-J.

Thanks Team Bras & Honey for letting me try her! They do international delivery of these beauts, btw…

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Help Me Busts 4 Justice: am I making my stretch marks worse?

Posted on July 13, 2013 by busts4justice

Busts 4 Justice puts on her agony aunt hat (and bra) to help K with the tricky issue of stretch marks on young boobs.

Help me Busts 4 Justice!

I have white stretch marks on my breasts that distress me. I am young and kinda concerned, my boobs give me enough trouble I don’t need them to look bad too! I’ve been told I should try some oils and lotions, but I was wondering about sleeping and bras. Should I wear a bra while sleeping, or at very least a sports bra? I measure out to be a 28GG (UK sizing) so I’m worried that flopping about in my sleep is making the stretch marks worse. Please help my busts 4 justice! I know you can! 🙂

K

Hi K!

Thank you for writing. Stretch marks on your boobs are perfectly normal – especially when you’re young and they’re relatively new -, and they do fade over time. There are lots of lotions and potions on the market that claim to reduce them, but shy away from expensive ones promising miracles. For most skin discolourations, something with a load of Vitamin E in is your best bet. You can use BioOil of course, but I’ve always found Palmer’s Cocoa Butter (particularly the waxy variety that comes in a pot) the best on scars. It’s available from most drugstores, is super cheap, and makes you smell edible all day long.

As for the sleeping issue – I’m actually asked this a lot. There is no proven evidence to suggest that sleeping in a bra has any beneficial effects against sagging, or that it would make your stretch marks worse. But take comfort: I’m guessing I’ve got at least a decade on you age wise, but we’re almost the same bra size (I’m a 30G). My boobs are still as perky as ever and I’ve never used a sleeping bra at night. I put it down to a combination of perfectly fitting lingerie by day, and a little bit of luck with my genes.  If I look – really look – I can just about find traces of the white stretch marks I had as a teenager, but they’re really not noticeable even to me now.

To sum up, you have nothing to worry about! That said if you’re considering night-time support because you’re uncomfortable, then choose a non-wired soft-cup bra (Freya and Panache have really pretty styles) or pyjamas with secret support (Bravissimo make these, but you can get them everywhere). If you don’t like either of those options you could always try the Kush, but if you’re young enough to live with your parents you may want to warn them because it looks rather like something else!

I hope this is helpful – try not to worry about stretch marks. We all have them – and they’re never as noticeable to anyone else as they are to ourselves.

Love from Busts 4 Justice

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Coral cutie: Freya’s Patsy longline reviewed

Posted on July 9, 2013 by busts4justice

Freya Lingerie Patsy Bra Coral

Twitter followers will know I’ve been hankering after Patsy in coral since I saw her in Selfridges’ lingerie paradise last month. She’s longline (love!), polka dot (what’s not to love!), and skin-colour-friend-to-dumpling-white-gingers-everywhere coral (love love love!).

She arrived on my doorstep last week… and – shocker – I do like her a lot. The 30G fitted me perfectly – better perhaps even previous longline Piper, as she’s a little snugger and the longline doesn’t seem to flip up. She gives an uplifted (but not Deco amounts of uplifted) cleavage, and of course the smoothing longline is fantastic for smoothing any errant back bumps under clingy summer dresses. The cups seem true to size – certainly this is the fit I expect and love from a good Freya bra.

That said, as much as I wanted to be she wasn’t perfect. For whatever reason, the straps are positioned slightly wider apart at the back (not at the front, mind…) than on Piper. As you can see below it’s not a huge difference – except as the day wore on I realised this meant the metal hoop was frequently digging to my shoulder blade. A frustrating little niggle on what should be a clean home run for Freya.

Freya Piper vs Freya Patsy

That said it wasn’t too bad: although I really felt it when travelling for five hours by van in to the depths of France; when I’m not strapped in to a seat trying to persuade my fiance to let me play November Rain at the wedding via the persuasive medium of air guitar it’s not really that noticeable…

Personally the frilly pants don’t really do it for me – I’d prefer matching non-thong undercrackers that you can actually wear under fitted clothes – but that doesn’t get in the way of this being a fairly cracking set for the summer.

Freya’s Patsy Longline is available in sizes 28-30 D-G 32-38 C-G.

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