July 2017 Haul- Pre-Birthday Edition (picture heavy)

I always find the period just before my birthday a bit of a strange time with regards to shopping. As my mum was going away around the time of my birthday she gave me my birthday money a few weeks beforehand. But I had to be very careful what I brought in case anybody had gone ahead and brought things for me! There were a couple of things that cropped up that I knew I was unlikely to get as presents, so I had a bit of a shopping spree. I suppose I just wanted to use my birthday money to treat myself, so that is what I did. The majority of today's haul is Larme influenced, although there are a couple of Baby necklaces in the haul as well.

Firstly, I noticed that New Look was having a sale, so I decided that this would be the perfect time to order a couple of skirts that I had my eye on. I also got myself these really awesome lilac coloured jeans (not pictured, but you may have spotted them in my birthday blog post) in the sale too. I am sort of still trying to figure out what sort of Larme style I would like to wear and I liked the look of this skirt in the stock photo. As it was so cheap, I got 2 colours! They are made of a crepe style fabric, which gives them a very interesting texture. I really like how it feels. The colours of the skirts were exactly what I was expecting and looked similar enough to the photos on the website.

They have these little side strap details which I think help to stop them from looking too plain.

The zip line was done neatly and well concealed. I have to admit I did have a little trouble undoing the zip at first, as it was a bit stiff, but it seems to be getting easier with time.

I am really pleased to see that the skirts are lined. The stitching on the skirt is done neatly. I feel these skirts were definitely worth the price paid.

Here is a worn photo. There is just one slight issue with the skirt- where I have lost weight, my waist measurement is now considerably smaller than my hip measurement. So this means that I had to order the size based on my hips and the waist is a little bit baggy on me. I found the skirt looked better once I had fiddled about with re-positioning it, but you may be able to see in the photo that it is sitting lower than my waistline. I am not too concerned about this, but there is no way for me to wear a belt with the skirt. This is something I am going to have to consider when ordering in the future. Luckily, New Look offers free returns so I am still able to order with confidence.

Next is a BTSSB necklace that was on my wishlist. But before we get on to the necklace, look at how massive the box that Japonica shipped it in was! I am holding the necklace up to the box for a size comparison. It is no wonder Japonica charged me so much for shipping! I find it a bit wasteful, but there wasn't really anything else on auctions or Mercari that I particularly wanted. The awkward thing about having a smaller wishlist is that things can pop up out of nowhere but then it will be ages before you find anything else. So it makes shipping stuff a bit of a pain, because if you combine orders you have no idea how long it will be until the next item comes up.

Anyway, here is the necklace! I have wanted the Chained Berry Memoir necklace ever since the series came out. This is maybe the second time I have seen the necklace appear on the 2nd hand market, so it doesn't seem to be that common. 

I absolutely love the design. The antique silver colour is so lovely. It really suits the CBM print as well. The strawberry charm is so cute. It makes a slight jingle noise as well, which one of my budgies approved of! 

The chain is of a decent length and there is a bit of room to adjust the length as well. What I really like though, is the small Baby logo charm on the chain. I thought that was a really lovely finishing touch.

Next we have another Baby necklace, this time purchased from Closet Child. I had a bit of a dilemma about purchasing this. Those of you who are familiar with my wishlist on Facebook may be aware that I really wanted the Twinkle Constellation and the Stars of Confeito necklace. This necklace is similar, but it is not the same one (I think this one is called Kitty Constellation or something along those lines...). The main differences with this necklace is that there are fewer stars, the edges of the stars are more pointy and there is a big ribbon on it. So I had to decide if I was happy to settle for this necklace, or wait and try to get my wishlist necklace (which very rarely comes up and usually sells quick when it does). As you can see, I went ahead and got this necklace and I was really pleased that I did. The design is really cute in person. In actual fact, I have made getting the Twinkle Constellation necklace a very low priority now, as I am really content with this necklace.

Going by Closet Child's description, I would say the condition of the item was as expected, maybe even slightly better. My only complaint is that the ends of the ribbon are not properly sealed, so there is a slight bit of fraying. That is easy to seal up though. The stars are so cute and they look a whole lot better in person than they do in my photos. I love to multi-coloured beads as well. It looks really pretty when worn. I am so glad I took a chance on it.

In the same Closet Child order I got this Katie badge. It still had the original Katie packaging and price tag. Although the box was a bit battered, I was still pleased that CC included it when they sent it to me. The original price tag was a bit scary though! I love Katie, but I feel their prices can be a bit steep sometimes, so I am always keeping an eye out for good deals on the 2nd hand market.

The badge is absolutely perfect and looks brand new. There are no scratches or damage anywhere. The design is crisp.

The back has a simple pin. There is no glue residue visible anywhere. So I am pleased I was able to add this to my order. I am still reluctant to pay retail price for Katie though!

Next we have an Aliexpress order. It's been ages since I have ordered from there because I wasn't that impressed with the service last time. But I decided to give this shop a go (I think it is called Adomoe? I will try and find the link) as it has some pieces which can work very well for Larme. There are even a few Mon Lily replicas (including this skirt) on there. I don't really wish to promote buying replicas, but as Mon Lily is by DreamV and I have mixed feelings about their quality (especially for the prices they charge for some things) I didn't feel as guilty about buying this replica as I would usually. The skirt I got is very shiny, but you could see that from the stock photos anyway, so I knew what to expect. The materials are a decent quality for the price paid. However, the only issue is that the material creases really easily, as you will see in the worn photos.

The details on the side were executed reasonably well. They could have been better, but they also could have been a lot worse! I like the use of velveteen for the bows. It offers a fun contrast with the shiny main material.

There is a small shirring panel, which is really well hidden underneath a ribbon on the outside. This panel is not overly generous, but it is nice to have it there. I found the sizing guide on the product listing to be pretty accurate.

The stitching is quite neat. I could find no obvious flaws on the skirt.

And here is a worn photo. Do you see what I mean about the creasing? I haven't checked to see if you can iron this skirt, but my guess is you cannot. Creasing aside, I am otherwise impressed. The skirt was comfortable. It hugged my waist well without being too tight.

I think the ribbon topping the shirring emphasises the size of my bottom a bit more than I would like, but overall I am very happy with the skirt! I just need to get those creases out!

Finally, I got these 2 lacy tops from the same Aliexpress store. They have a cute heart cut out detail. I am not that blessed in the bust department, so I have always been a bit wary of the cut-out trend in Larme, but the hearts on these tops are small enough that it isn't really an issue.

The heart cut out was done quite well. The edge is neat and you can easily make out the heart shape. Although the lace quality is a bit questionable, it actually feels surprisingly soft. It is not itchy at all! 

There is a small ribbon loop on the back to make putting on the top a bit easier. I thought that was a nice touch.

The stitching is very neat and once again, I found no obvious flaws or mistakes.

The size guide on the product listing was spot on and I found the right size easily. The top is comfortable and feels nice against the skin. I like how the neck doesn't cling too much and the way the ruffle around the neck looks when worn. As you can see, the heart shape is easy to make out too. I love that it is subtle and sits well above my bust. The only thing I am going to do is cut out the labels inside. Having a see-through top means the labels stick out like a sore thumb.

And so that is my latest haul. I am really pleased with every single thing I got. My larme wardrobe is really starting to shape up now, and I have added some nice accessories for lolita as well. I am really looking forward to extending and experimenting with my style a bit more and these pieces are really going to help me achieve this. Plus I got some absolutely fantastic birthday presents from my friends as well (thank you!!!). I am feeling very spoilt right now, but also very loved. This has been a really positive time in my life and I can genuinely say I am feeling happy. This is mostly due to the wonderful experiences I have had lately, although a little bit of retail therapy can be good from time to time!

Double Aliexpress Review- Negative

Today I shall be reviewing my first and last experience ordering from Aliexpress. I ordered 2 pairs of shoes from 2 different Aliexpress stores. I will review both pairs of shoes separately. The negative experience mainly stems from the pink shoes but the purple shoe order was not a great deal better (although the shoes were much better than I expected). If I was being generous, I would say the purple shoes order was more of a neutral than a negative experience but I still feel it deserves a negative rating.

My general opinions of Aliexpress themselves is that I didn't feel that my money was ever as "secure" as they made it out to be. With Alixexpress you pay by credit card, not Paypal which means you are relying on Aliexpress if things go wrong (which they did). You can open disputes but the seller can simply refuse your dispute and then you are stuck until you can reach an agreement. If the seller doesn't respond then eventually the dispute will be escalated directly to Aliexpress. I didn't have the opportunity to do this because both of the sellers responded to their disputes right at the last minute. The general feeling I got was that both shoe sellers were not willing to put the effort in to providing good service but were very determined to do whatever possible to hold on to your money.

First up, I shall review the pink shoes I ordered from here- Pink shoes 

I placed this order on the 4th of March and I was given a processing time of 3-5 days. The first thing I noticed is that the shoe chart given on the listing seemed incorrect. I literally had to guess which size I would be and thankfully I did guess right. It didn't exactly fill me with confidence though. So I waited for the order processing time to finish and Aliexpress give a little countdown clock to say when the processing time finishes. If the processing time clock reaches zero then the order is automatically cancelled. The seller was taking their time processing the order so I decided to open a dispute just as a sort of prompt to get things moving. Right at the very last moment, the seller "shipped out" (the quotation marks will become apparent in a moment) the shoes and then refused my dispute, saying the shoes had already been sent out. So I had no option but to accept that the shoes were coming and I couldn't seem to cancel this order no matter what I said in my dispute to Aliexpress. I paid a bit extra for EMS shipping because I wanted the shoes quicker and the waiting time for this shipping option is 5-10 working days. I trust EMS and I was given a tracking number for my order. Immediately I was suspicious because my tracking number did not work at all on either the Chinese EMS website or the UK Parcelforce website. Then, out of the blue on the 23rd of march, I got a message from the shoe seller saying they had given me the wrong tracking number and here was my correct tracking number. So I put this new tracking number in and discovered my package (which was supposed to have been shipped when they refused my dispute) had only been posted on the morning of the 23rd! So the seller had lied about shipping my shoes to me to get around the Aliexpress processing time. I was so angry at this dishonesty. If they can't abide by the terms that Aliexpress puts in place then they shouldn't have a store on there and it amazes me how easily the sellers can get around these rules. My shoes eventually arrived on the 27th- 15 working days after I placed my order and much longer than stated on the website. But what upset me the most was the dishonesty of the seller.

My shoes arrived wrapped in a plastic bag which was very well sealed up. I gave the parcel a gentle shake and the shoes didn't seem to move inside.

Inside I found the shoe box and the shoes inside were wrapped up in little fabric pouches. I think they should have stuffed the toes with tissue paper to help maintain the shape.

And here are the pink shoes. At first glance they look quite cute. The colour is not quite what I was expecting from the listing. The listing gives the impression they are a bit more pastel pink (at least that is how they appeared on my monitor). The shoes were a bit narrow but I had managed to get the correct size. I like that the straps had a bit of elastic to offer more size flexibility, although the elastic isn't that attractive looking.

And after examining the shoes I spotted this big chip where the colour has come off. You can also see a slight tinge along the sole line where the glue is visible. I was very angry about this because I felt that after everything the seller had put me through, I should at least have received damage free shoes. It just made me feel like the seller didn't care about my order at all and was determined to drag it out as long as they could. I put in a second dispute, this time to get a partial refund. As most of the cost was shipping and not the shoes themselves, I felt I could only put in a refund request for about $6. I received an email saying the seller refused my dispute but later found that they had in fact offered to refund me. But it is alarming to think that the seller can simply refuse a dispute and get away with sending damaged shoes. There was no way I was sending the shoes back because I would have to pay for the shipping.

So I decided to test the shoes and after a few hours of wear I found the shoes to be quite comfortable. This was just walking around my house though. I dread to think how they will handle a downpour so that will be interesting to find out.

Next up is the purple shoes which I got from here- Purple shoes 

This order was also placed on the 4th of march. Unlike the pink shoes, the purple shoe seller marked the shoes as dispatched long before the Aliexpress processing time had ended. I was given the tracking number but once again, it would not work. I waited 10 business days after the shoes had been supposedly been shipped and when they didn't arrive, I opened a dispute. The seller refused the dispute and asked me to give the shoes a bit more time. Out of the blue, I decided to give the non-working tracking number another go and I was surprised to find out that it was now working... and the shoes had only been sent out that morning. So once again, the seller had lied about sending the shoes out. The seller was clearly in a panic and stalling for time so I wouldn't escalate the claim directly to Aliexpress. The shoes did eventually turn up on the 30th of March. I was really unimpressed.

Again the shoes were quite well wrapped up when they arrived and the package was well sealed. The shoes had no room to move inside either.

I opened up the shoe box and strangely, only one shoe was wrapped in a bag. This picture is literally how I found the shoes when I opened them up. I was pleasantly surprised that the colour was exactly what I was expecting. And this time, the colour was not chipped or damaged in any way. In fact, the shoes were in perfect condition.

The only issue was that the shoes fasten in a weird way and I couldn't quite figure them out. Again, the strap was elasticated but the elastic is well hidden, as the photo shows.

I wore the shoes around my house for a couple of hours again and they were quite comfortable. They seem quite sturdy. I wanted to do a side-by-side comparison with my Bodyline purple shoes to compare the colours. I discovered the lavender colour of my Aliexpress shoes is a good match for Sugary Carnival. The shoe design is a bit more attractive than the Bodyline ones too.

So I have to say, I have been put off putting in any more orders with Aliexpress. I know this is only 2 sellers but I thought I was going to get better service than I did. And the dispute progress that Aliexpress use does not fill me with confidence. I would be really concerned if my demands were not met because there is a possibility that your money is not as protected as they claim. The pink shoes are not what I was expecting but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the purple shoes. So I wont be recommending Aliexpress to any of my friends. It is not worth the stress.