Boddywood and Day Dream Carnival Review

I recently placed an order with AP Paris via boddywood.com and I shall be reviewing it today. For those who don't know, Boddywood is the store that AP Paris is based in and you can now buy AP on their website.

Ordering Process

The website is fairly easy to use and set out quite well. You are able to change the language on the website, although I found in some areas the French did not translate. But despite this, I was able to navigate my way around the website with ease. When it came to going to the checkout I couldn't find the United Kingdom on their drop-down list of countries they ship to, but I then clicked on the Pay With Paypal button and it turned out fine. I was emailed a confirmation quickly and I was confident my order had gone through correctly.

Shipping

I placed the order on a Thursday and it arrived the following Tuesday. It would have come on the Monday, but it was a bank holiday weekend. I think this is very fast and i was impressed. The last time I ordered from AP Paris I had trouble with the La Poste tracking, but this time I was able to track it. It showed up fine on the Parcelforce website anyway, if it hadn't been working.

My order was shipped in a cardboard box. It was sealed well but the cardboard was a bit flimsy. Luckily my order wasn't fragile anyway. Although it is good to see Boddywood recycle.

Inside my order was neatly packed inside AP shopping bags and I had a lovely note to greet me when I opened up the box!

And here is my wonderful new dress. I love it! The size the AP listed the dress at seems fairly accurate. The material feels very light and when I tried the dress on it didn't feel heavy at all. 

My pictures do not do the print justice. It is beautiful in person. The print is crisp with clear lines. The colours are exactly how I expected them to be.

Cute pony lace!

The straps are a bit fiddly at first but you soon get used to them. I admit I did want the other style of JSK, but that had long sold out... I did worry the tulle straps would be a bit flimsy and I would not recommend attempting to stretch this dress beyond the maximum measurements.

The tulle belt is easily adjustable. I love the star buttons too.

Although I preferred the other style of JSK, I admit that I do like the patch on this one. I love the dangling star chain.

And here is a back view. The bow on the back is not linked to the belt at all and it sits very beautifully on the dress when worn.

The dress is lined by both a soft layer and then a stiffer layer, which helps to give the dress shape. In fact, I have discovered that you don't need much petticoat with this dress because it already has a bit of shape to it. The soft layer feels really lovely against my skin.

I also got the matching head bow. It is bigger than I was expecting it to be. The shape is also a bit different, but it is growing on me. I love how it is lined with gold and has the 2 lines of pearls. It compliments the dress perfectly.

So overall, this was a very positive experience. The one thing I would say is that ordering from AP Paris may not always work out the cheapest, but if you live in Europe you wont get hit by customs, which is something to consider. Also, whilst the other AP sites sold out of DDC stupidly quickly, I was able to order DDC from Boddywood without feeling rushed. Boddywood's service lived up to my expectations and I would recommend them highly.

Angelic Pretty Paris Order (Facebook Store) September 2012- Neutral

Today I will be reviewing an order I did with the AP Paris Facebook store this month. As I have ordered from this store before, I thought it was going to be simple. But I was wrong. 

Ordering Process

I fully intended to order these items way back near the start of August. I was waiting for some money to clear and I was stalking the AP Paris Facebook every day, just to check the items I wanted were still there. Unfortunately, 2 days before I got my money, AP Paris decided to do some sort of update on their page. I didn't really think anything of it and I placed my items in the cart. Only when I put my address in, it kept saying that it didn't ship to my country. I thought this was a bit strange seeing as I had previously ordered from here and I knew they did ship to the UK. I tried to do different addresses, under different names and nothing worked. So I tried to email AP Paris to explain the problem I was having. They never bothered to reply to me, and I did wait a couple of weeks as I thought that maybe they didn't have English speaking staff available to answer me. But I got absolutely nothing. So I couldn't place my order and I couldn't contact AP Paris. I was essentially 'locked out' and unable to place an order. I was not impressed!

If you have ever brought anything over Facebook then chances are, you may have heard of Payvment. Well Payvment are now connected to lish.com which is a website that requires you to be invited. So we contacted Lish just to double check that it wasn't anything to do with them, and it wasn't, but we got given an invitation anyway. So AP Paris was at fault. Eventually, I randomly decided to try ordering again about 2 weeks ago, only to discover it now worked. So I placed my order.

We paid using Paypal via Lish and this time I remembered to pay in Euros. We were not too happy with using Lish as although it was secure, it publishes what items you have brought. It would be nice to have a bit of privacy. What if I had been ordering a present? And sometimes you simply don't want anybody knowing what you are buying as it is not really their business.

Shipping

I had to track my order through Lish. I noticed it took AP Paris a week just to process my order, which seemed longer than last time. They did remove the items off their page right away though, so I knew my order was safe. I wasn't really happy tracking my order through Lish as it was a bit vague and although I had a number, we couldn't find anywhere to track it. I knew AP Paris used La Poste, but we couldn't track it there and that stops working when the package leaves France anyway. So again, it was a case of waiting and seeing what day my parcel turned up. This is really frustrating, as I like to know where my parcel is. Once AP Paris had finally processed my order it took 2 days to get to me. My husband James answered the door but we were surprised to find we didn't need to sign for the package. Even the postman remarked it was a bit odd.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw the box because it is not the usual bright pink packaging that I was expecting! I read on the side that it had previously been used to hold risotto packets so it is good to know AP Paris recycle and the box was clean anyway. The box was very sturdy and sealed well with parcel tape, so it was quite secure. I thought it was a bit big considering how little I ordered, but I think getting a box is better than just using a postal bag or something.

 I opened the box and was greeted by loads of pink! The items inside had a bit of room to move around, but they were well padded. I didn't order anything too fragile anyway. AP Paris used quite a few sheets of tissue paper.

My order! It was wrapped up inside an AP shopping bag. I was glad to see that my points card had been updated (but there is no way I am going to fill that book up in time!). I also got given a Milk and an AP postcard, plus a leaflet about the Maki AP Collection. 

I ordered the Dreamy Horoscope barrette in navy to go with my Dream Sky skirt because I couldn't find the DS one anywhere and when I finally did, it was out of my price range. The navy is a bit darker than Dream sky but not noticeably. I am may finally be able to make an outfit for Dream Sky soon! The barrette was a bit bigger than I was expecting, but I actually prefer it this way. The fabric used is lovely and soft. I really like the star studs on it. The barrette looks a bit wonky in my photo but it is not wonky in person.

Oops! Blurry photo! The back has your standard barrette clip.

I also got the Glass Bottle of Tears necklace in pink. I had a really hard time deciding between pink and blue, but thought pink would match more of my wardrobe. It was on my wishlist and I figured I should get it before it sold out! I really love this necklace. All the parts feel strong and secure and I don't think it is going to break any time soon. It is quite see-through and I had problems photographing it, but in person you can see the pink colour quite well. I think the bow detail is really sweet. My favourite part though, is the crown. It is so pretty and detailed! I kind of wish I brought the matching ring as well. Maybe next time (if there is a next time). The chain is a really good long length. The chain is also decorated with beads near the perfume bottle which is a nice finishing touch and I think it is better than a standard gold chain.

I was also pleased with the thickness of the necklace. You get a good thick chunk of plastic. I was expecting the plastic part to be really thin, so this was a nice surprise.

So I have to give this order a neutral feedback. I am totally in love with the items I ordered, but the whole ordeal with ordering it was a nightmare. I am not saying I wouldn't order from their Facebook store again, but it did leave a bitter taste in the mouth. I tend to view AP Paris as a last resort option when the other stores have sold out of items anyway. But seeing as AP Paris appear to have fixed their initial problem with locking people out of ordering, maybe next time things wont be so bad. Just watch out for any updates!

Angelic Pretty Paris (Facebook Store) Review

So I recently did a review for the International AP Site, and today I will be focusing on the order I placed with the Paris Store. I noticed on Facebook that the Paris store had one of my wishlist items and so I went ahead and placed an order.

Ordering Process

I ordered via the Angelic Pretty Paris Facebook page. They have an online boutique on there. The shopping cart was easy to follow, although Facebook was being a pain, so I had to do 2 attempts to add my item to the cart. It was still relatively quick to order though. I paid with Paypal. I thought that we had paid with Eurors but it turned out Paypal sent over British Pounds. After a few days, we contacted AP Paris to ask if everything was okay and they explained that they had received the payment in pounds. So we had to be refunded and then we paid the invoice they sent us. This was our own fault for not realising Paypal hadn't sent the right currency, however, it was a little off-putting that AP Paris hadn't said anything to us until we had contacted them first. But luckily, they said that they had kept my item aside, which is very lucky because it was the only one left! It is worth mentioning though, that when they responded to me, they did so fairly quickly and in fluent English.

Shipping Process

I really hated this part! AP Paris used La Poste to send my item. I have never used La Poste before and I really hope I don't need to use it again for a while. For starters, I could only use the French version of their website because for some reason, the tracking didn't work on their English language version. I don't know if this was a website issue or an issue with my specific parcel. Oh well, that is what Google Translate is for! But what really concerned me is that La Poste's tracking did not provide a massive amount of information on my parcel and it was worded in such a way, that it was hard to tell where exactly the parcel was. In fact, I didn't know where my parcel was at all until my postman came knocking at my door with my package. This is a little unsettling, especially when you are not familiar with the shipping company.

My order was simply wrapped in an AP shopping bag with lots of parcel tape. As I said in my last AP review, their bags are quite strong, so I knew my item wouldn't have gotten damaged by the weather or anything like that. I did feel the insides moving about a little bit.

After I opened my parcel, I was greeted with this postcard. It turns out my order qualified as an entry in to their tea party raffle! Aww... they even dot their exclamation marks with hearts! I didn't know about this and it will be interesting to see if I get picked. If I do get picked, I promise I will get loads of photographs!

Despite moving around a bit inside, the item was wrapped securely in bubble wrap and the item was not damaged at all.

And here it is! My Sugar Hearts bracelet! I absolutely love it. The writing on the hearts is so clear. It feels quite strong, so I think it will be very durable.

I did quickly try it on. The clasp was a little fiddly because the chain holes are quite small. It is so cute in person. I adore it!

So whilst Angelic Pretty Paris were relatively helpful, I dislike the shipping service they use. Angelic Pretty Paris get a positive score from me, but La Poste definitely does not get my seal of approval. Would I order from Angelic Pretty Paris again? Well, as far as I am concerned, the Paris online store is right at the bottom of the AP food chain. I consider using AP Paris as a last resort and if this bracelet had been on the international site, I would have used them instead. That is not to say that I dislike the AP Paris store, but that I feel more comfortable with the international website. So yes, I would use AP Paris again but only if the item was not available elsewhere.