Sheena's Bella Bows Review- Neutral

 I am a bit late writing this post as I almost completely forgot about it. But today I will finally be reviewing the tricorn I purchased back in July from Sheena's Bella Bows. Sheen's Bella Bows is an Etsy store and can be found here- https://www.etsy.com/shop/SheenasBellaBows

There doesn't seem much point reviewing the ordering process, as that is through Etsy anyway so I will just put in a quick mention that the Etsy website is quite straight-forward and the check out process was very fast.

Shipping and Communication

I placed the order on the 1st of July. The Etsy listing said that orders usually take an estimated 1-3 days. I thought this was quite a short time period, so I was expecting it to take a bit longer than that. Sure enough, the tricorn did take longer to make and I got a notification on the 11th of July (If we ignore the weekend then that is 8 working days later) that a shipping label had been created. As I knew the tricorn was coming from the USA, I didn't bother checking the shipping for a couple of days. But after a while, I became a bit concerned. The shipping label had been created, but USPS didn't have the item from the seller yet. By the 21st of July (10 days after the shipping label was created) I decided to send a message, just to double check that everything was okay. Sheena replied very quickly and was pleasant enough in our conversation, although I felt that my concerns were dismissed. It turned out that the tricorn hadn't in fact been ready on the 11th as she thought it would be. I appreciate the time and effort that goes in to making these items, but I felt it was a bit misleading to say that on average it takes 1-3 days to make on the listing, as in fact it was significantly longer than that. I was told that my tricorn would be shipped the afternoon of the 21st. My tricorn was eventually shipped out on the 23rd, which was 22 days after I first placed my order.

After being shipped on the 23rd, it arrived at my local depot on the 31st. That is just over a week, which is a reasonably quick speed for something coming from the US to the UK. 

My tricorn arrived in a sturdy box which was taped up well. The box was slightly bashed in places, although that was probably done during transit and the contents inside were perfectly safe.

Inside my tricorn was wrapped up with plenty of tissue paper, so the hat didn't have much room to move about during transit.

And here is the final product. The hat looks just like the stock photo and the colour is exactly what I was hoping for. However, I was a little disappointed by the quality of the hat. The material is very floppy and thin. I felt it needed to be a bit firmer. Looking at the base hat that was used to create the tricorn, you can tell it is cheap and of a low quality. Looking closely at the stitching, the folded up sides are only held in place with a few tiny stitches, which I think contributed to how floppy it is.

However, the braid around the edge and the ribbon had been stitched very neatly. The pleats in the ribbon are all the same size. The ribbon used is a little shiny, but of a reasonably good quality.

One of the things that really disappointed me about this hat was the elastic. I knew from the listing that the tricorn would be attached to the head with a band of elastic. What I wasn't expecting was such flimsy, thin elastic. It looks like it will break so easily. The hat also didn't feel very secure when worn and slipped about a bit. So I think I am going to have to replace the elastic. I may add some small combs instead to make it feel a bit more secure.

And as a bonus, here is the free gift I was given for having to wait so long. I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with it but it is always nice to get free stuff. I was thinking of making a medal brooch maybe? 

So overall, I was left feeling a bit disappointed with my order. The tricorn took a lot longer than predicted and I wonder if it would have taken longer if I hadn't sent a message to prompt her. I found the final hat to be very underwhelming. To be fair the tricorn wasn't that expensive, but I felt like I was expecting something a bit more from it. That elastic is definitely a bad choice and the general lack of stiffness put me off as well. I don't feel these issues are enough to warrant a negative feedback but I definitely can't give a positive feedback for my experience. I wouldn't recommend Sheena's Bella Bows as I have had much better experiences with other stores selling similar products.

Mini Blings

I was randomly searching Etsy when I stumbled across Mini Blings- http://www.etsy.com/shop/miniblings

I sometimes think adding a quirky piece of jewellery to an outfit can be fun! A lot of my favourite pieces from this shop have themes which could be used with certain lolita prints, or I would wear them outside of lolita too.

I originally found the shop by searching for violins. This violin brooch is so detailed!

I am a sucker for anything Alice themed and these card suit dangly earrings would be a welcome addition to my collection of Alice inspired jewellery.

This sewing machine necklace made the classic lolita inside me squeal! I think this would be a lovely gift for a lolita who loves making their own pieces.

The print on the tea cup and saucer are so pretty.

Okay, so this one is totally random, but I love the idea behind this cute toaster necklace! That being said, I wouldn't have a single thing to wear with it.

The prices seem fairly reasonable, although you would have to add shipping from Germany on top. Maybe it would be better to order a few items together so the shipping price is more justified. I thought the items on offer were different. I would definitely love to find out what the item quality is like.

Bonjour Honey (Etsy) review- positive

Today I will be reviewing a gold star clip replica which I have brought from Bonjour Honey on Etsy. Some of you may have already heard of this shop because it has been posted to various communities. Why? Because their shooting star clips are almost identical to the Chocomint star clips. Her Etsy feedback is 100% Positive!

Here is a link to the Etsy store- http://www.etsy.com/shop/BonjourHoney?ref=pr_shop_more

I didn't actually intend to buy a replica, but the thing is, the gold Chocomint star is a bit harder to get hold of. Gold was always the most popular colour choice. Most places stock the pink, but not gold. So I gave in because I had heard such strongly positive things about Bonjour Honey.

Ordering Process

Ordering from Etsy is quite straight forward. You will need an Etsy account, but it doesn't take too long to set one up. We were able to place an order very quickly. You can pay with Paypal, which is also a bonus. The owner of Bonjour Honey was very good at updating the order status so I always knew how far my order had processed. I didn't need to contact the seller, but I get the impression that she was a very sympathetic and responsible Etsy shop owner.

Shipping

From ordering, it took just over 3 weeks to get to here in the UK from America. The standard time it usually takes to deliver from the US to the UK is about 2-3 weeks for the type of shipping that was used. So when you take away the item making time, the shipping time was quite reasonable. There was never any need to panic. The item was shipped in a bubble wrap envelope with additional bubble wrap inside. So it was very secure indeed.

So is the replica star clip the same as the real thing? Yes. The 2 clips are almost identical. The differences are very subtle.

On the left we have the Bonjour Honey replica and on the right is a pink Chocomint star clip. There are a few subtle differences. The material used is the same, but the replica is slightly less shiny.

The edges on the Chocomint clip are slightly more rounded and the Chocomint star is also a bit plumper. 

The stitching has been done very neatly. When compared to the chocomint clip, the stitching on the replica's 2 smaller stars is slightly more noticeable, but it has still been done well. 

The replica's clip is a teeny bit smaller.

As you can see, the replica is VERY good. It is very close to the original and if you were quickly glancing, you wouldn't necessarily notice the gold one was a replica. The gold clip cost me about £10 including shipping. I think this is good value for money because of how well made it is.

The good thing about Bonjour Honey is that you can also ask for custom coloured stars. They have all sorts of options. If you have a particular colour in mind, it would be worth asking the shop owner to see if she can do it. Some of the additional options include black and silver stars. You can also change the pearl colour. The only thing which lets the Chocomint clip down is it only comes in pink and gold. If you get the 6% Doki Doki version, you have the additional choices of hot pink and blue (which is harder to find). So Bonjour Honey is also offering you colours which are not available elsewhere, which is brilliant!

So this was a very positive experience. I would definitely order from this Etsy seller again.