Category: Reviews

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To Bravissimo, Or Not To Bravissimo…

 

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 What do you know about bras and Bravissimo? Do you think they are just an expensive lingerie company?

Until recently, I was blindly ignorant, and knew very little about bras.  I knew I hated all the ones I had worn over the last two decades, and I had spent a small fortune on supermarket cheap brands, and even on some not so cheap brands from some well-known department stores.

I saw bosom holders as a necessary, but evil need to hold in my growing bust.  I hated the way that I looked in clothes, and hated how I always felt like I was not properly supported.  Blindly, I still bought and then stuffed bras that were never going to be any use to me into my bottom drawer.

I did once have my bosom measured by a very efficient and knowledgeable woman at M&S, who supplied me with a bra that gave me backache.   My next attempts were to do the measure with a tape under the bosom, then add-on for the cup size.  I never, ever got that right, and every bra and brand seemed to be different.

Most of the supermarkets and shops I tried bras on seemed to either be out of stock, or they didn’t stock in my size.  For years I have been blindly wearing 40C or 38DD, or just whatever I could get my hands on.  I even stooped at times, to using bra extenders at the back to make a smaller bra feel more comfortable around my back.

When a friend mentioned Bravissimo to me, I almost snorted to myself, but she made a compelling argument.   I tried to ignore the foreboding feeling that came over me when I walked up to the shop in Aberdeen, and climbed the stairs to the secret lair.  It’s best to make an appointment, as I found out when I arrived, as it takes a little time to be fitted at Bravissimo.

I was lucky enough that there was an appointment within half an hour, and I was soon standing in the cubicle with the assistant surveying my existing excuse for a bra.   I cringed as I saw myself in the mirror, but steeled myself to having to go through the fitting process.  She took my current size as a gauge, and from there, the trying on and off of different back size and cup sized bras began.  I was surprised to find that my back size is actually a 36 / 38 E or F, depending on the chosen bra, and there were a multitude to choose from.

In the end, my favourite one was the Panache Porcelein Bra.  I ended up with it in both the Black, and Nude colours.   I love the way that the nude colours totally disappear under white t-shirts.   I instantly felt supported as soon as I put that one on.  It also has enough moulding that our female bits won’t end up on show if it gets slightly chilly.    The shape it gives me under my clothes makes me a happy girl and it seems to hide my belly, as it shapes my boobs so well.

How tight the back was for me, surprised me at first.  Realising I was wearing most of my bras too loose, then totally leaving me unsupported was a revelation.   Since wearing my Bravissimo bras, my backache has disappeared – totally.  I wish I had found out all of that earlier.   They fit you into the biggest hook of the bra, so that in natural wear and wash, if it gets slightly looser, then you can tighten it up a little.  I would also imagine that would apply for losing a little weight as well.

The assistant spent a long time going through many bras with me, and I bought 4 at the time, and have since gone back to buy 2 more of the panache porcelein ones.

 I have also bought a lovely black tankini with fabulous fold over briefs and I have my eyes on a few more items for over the summer.    I am used to buying swimsuits for either the coverage, or the length, as I have a long body.  I find most swimsuits too short, and tankinis always leave a bare midriff.  I was really pleased to find the combination of tankini and fold over briefs means that I got supported swimwear without a midriff on show.

Why am I writing a review?

I hope to help other people blindly suffering along with supermarket style bras, and who con themselves into thinking 10 cheap ones are better value than one or two good ones, but who feel too self-conscious to go for a proper fitting.

I found the staff very helpful.   The girl fitting me went out of the changing room each time I changed bra so that I didn’t feel uncomfortable.  She offered, and I appreciated that very much.  By the end of the fitting, I had forgotten to be embarrassed by my over ample assets, and settled in to the pampering of having a personal assistant to help with the shopping.  It was a luxurious and indulgent fitting, but oh so well worth it.

Yes, the bras are more expensive than I am used to paying for, but in my opinion, already, they are worth every penny for the support and shape.   They are also washing very well, and I can see these bras lasting far longer than my old ones.

ALL my old bottom drawer bras have been consigned to third world support, through the bra depositories that Bravissimo have in store.  My old bras, that have never fitted me, might come in useful for someone from another country who cannot afford any bra at all.

Even though Bravissimo advertise as for the larger figure at over a D cup, I could understand how many B to D cups buyers could actually be wearing too big back sizes with too small cup sizes.

Don’t take my word for how good they are.  Go and visit Bravissimo to see for yourself.  http://www.bravissimo.com/

 

Thank you to Bravissimo for allowing me to use their photographs for my review.

 

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Mothers Day Giveaway from Interflora – Ends Sunday 27th March

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I arrived home to find a lovely surprise on my doorstep.  There were the flowers and box of chocolates that Interflora had sent me to review.    When they asked me to review one of their Mothers Day Gifts, I jumped at the chance.  We are all mothers, who have mothers, so it is a fantastic product to have.

I was given some links on their website to browse, and I had a good old root through all the products they have on offer for Mothers day.   There was a huge choice on offer, from hampers in the Mothers day gifts section, through to gorgeous Mothers day flowers, and the  absolutely fabulous Spring flowers.

As a mother myself, and with special needs children, a bunch of flowers appearing in our house is a rare occurence.   The only flowers that I usually see are the ones that I buy for other people.  I decided that, for me, a gift with some chocolates would be appreciated in our house, with the flowers for me, and the chocolates for my children.  It gave me the best of both worlds.  As tempting as the Spring Gift with a bottle of wine was, I think my children appreciated the chocolates a lot more.

I chose the Scented Spring Perfect Gift with Chocolates, which was priced at £31.95.

I picked up the vase, with their box of chocolates and eagerly took it into my kitchen.  I tried to take a nice shot of the flowers, but I’m not a professional photographer, so please forgive the shots if they look slightly amateurish.

Here are my flowers in all their glory on my mantlepiece, and they certainly brighten up my room.

The smells were absolutely fantastic as I walked along my corridor.   Even my husband who is usually florally challenged said that they had a lovely smell.   I was surprised to see the flowers were in the vase, with water already in it.  I am guessing it is to preserve the life of the flowers, and for me it worked.  I loved them just for the smell.    The vase is quite a sturdy, heavy glass, definately a substantial vase.

The chocolates, well, they were lovely, as my boys could tell you.  The box is rather nice, and with the little chiffon ribbon, looks very swish.  Inside the box, the Maison Fougere chocolates for Interflora looked lovely.  With 12 gorgeous chocolates, in a mix of dark and milk chocolate, there was something for all of us.   There was even a competition here for who would get the red heart….You can hardly make out the red heart in this picture, but it really was a vibrant, lovely shade of red.

Apologies for this photo, as the chocolates have now been eaten, and I have no chance to take a better one.

The best part of all this, is that Interflora are allowing me to give away the same gift set that I received as a gift for Mothers Day.     You, or your choice of recipient will receive the same bunch of flowers, with chocolates and the vase, and you can choose your own message to put on it.    You can see the gift set on the website here.

Scented Spring Perfect Gift with Chocolates

All you have to do to enter is:

1.  Make sure you either follow me on twitter, or google friend connect my blog if you haven’t already.  If you want to do both, thats fab by me.

2. Hop on over to Interflora using the links on this post, and tell me in a comment how many gift sets Interflora are selling in their mothers day categories.   These two things entitle you to one entry.

3.  For an additional entry, tweet the following:

Win a Mothers Day gift from Interflora with @scottish_mum Enter at  http://scottishmum.com/2011/03/mothers-day-giveaway-from-interflora-ends-sunday-27th-march/   Pls RT

The competition closes on Sunday 27th March 2011 to allow the winners entry to go through for Mothers Day, which is on Sunday 3rd April.  The winner will have to claim their prize before midnight on Monday 28th March.  If it is not claimed by then, it will be given to the runner up, via selection through random numbers, of the entrants. 

Good luck everyone.   It’s going to be a lovely arrival on someone’s doorstep.

 

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My Top Kitchen Gadgets

I thought it might be fun to write about my most used kitchen gadgets.   I’ve already written about my close relationship to the soda stream (here).

Favourite gadgets are not always the things you think they are going to be when you buy them.  Pre children I had loads of things that were tucked away at the back of a cupboard, never to be used, and were eventually ebayed or thrown out.

Now I find myself buying some of the same gadgets that I threw out.  Having 6 people in the house means that having enough of any one thing to go around everyone can be difficult if you are buying from supermarkets, as you need to buy multiples of everything.

If you buy a standard large pie from a supermarket for a family of 4, thats one thing, but you need two pies for a family of 5 or 6, or someone has to do without and have something else.  Having to make two different meals is irritating for me.  I like one lot of cooking, and everyone eats the same things.

Yes, I might have one child who only eats the potatoes with cheese on top if its red meat, but basically I like one lot of cooking, and people can work around what is on offer.   Things like bread, cakes, scones, pizza, quiche etc etc are easily sorted at home and will be future gadget blogs. 

I love my Panasonic Breadmaker, my budget price Slowcooker (19.99 from Aldi), Kenwood Mixer, and DeLonghi coffee maker.

I have an electric hand blender, and it comes quite close to my now must have gadgets, but I would happily live without it.

The five must have’s are the ones I would now go out and urgently replace if they broke / wore out.    I am going to do individual reviews on each one over time, but at the moment, I would love to find out which gadgets other people think of as their “Must haves”.

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How a Soda Stream broke my addiction.

One of the things I used to do regularly was buy diet drinks.  I was totally addicted to them.  I would have a raging headache if I didn’t have any, so it was not good.  Last year, I decided that I needed to stop the ridiculous cost that I was spending monthly on drinks if I wanted any money to spend on anything else.

I was drinking up to 4 litres and sometimes more a day, and nothing else if I could help it.  Drinks also had to be super cold to be totally enjoyable, and give the breath taking feeling in the back of the throat when drinking.    All that caffeine and artificial sweetener was not doing me any good.  I had tried to stop a few times, but always gave in with the headaches and went back to my old habits.

The brand I liked, I won’t mention, but it was not easy to stop.   I had terrible headaches for about a week, and a sore throat.  I decided to stick it out, and had one or two cups of coffee a day to try and alleviate the caffeine withdrawal symptoms from such a long term caffeine habit.  Using the coffee did help, and I saved one for bedtime so that the headache would go down a little for trying to get to sleep.

I tried drinking water, which is just yeuch to me.  Ok, I know people like it, and it’s the lifegiving nectar, but I just don’t like it.  If I have to drink it, I will, but I’d rather have something flavoured.  I began to use cordials and got fed up of how boring it was.   Then I bought some bottled fizzy water and that was great with the cordials.

Carrying around lots of bottles again, nearly had me revert to picking up the brand I so desired, and on a whim, the next step was to buy a soda stream (just to try it, as you do).  I bought it when we were on holiday and it was reduced in price, so it was a bargain.

I didn’t really expect very much from it, and at first I thought it would be a flash in the pan, and believed I wouldn’t bother with it once the gas bottle ran out.  I didn’t bother with the soda stream syrups, and use the fizzy water it makes to add to lime juice and cordials.  I have even fizzed up some boring wine to make it more fun to drink.

I order enough CO2 bottles to last a few months at a time from Lakeland, and they cover the returns cost so it works out pretty cheaply now to have fizzy water on tap all the time.  The kids and Mr Scottish also use it a lot, and the buzzing is a frequently heard noise in this house.

I’ve kicked the caffeine and now use decaffeinated coffee, and I can have a caffeinated drink now and again without stressing about it any more.  Freedom from 20 years chained to a brand of diet drink may seem silly to some, but it was a big deal for me.

I love my soda stream, and it is THE most used kitchen gadget in our house next to the kettle, but shhhhhh, I would never admit that in RL.


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Tech Decks and Flick Trix

It’s that time of year again when shops are starting to take away all the year long staple items on their shelves,and replacing them with glittery, twinkling and shiny temptations for Christmas.

This year though, one of the hardest toys to find locally are the Tech Deck and Flick Trix finger trick skateboards and bikes.  In case you have not come across these little gadgets, they are found in the hands of many a grubby 6 – 12 year old boy in our area.

 

September and October brings a totally different perspective on these little toys from one year ago.  Last Christmas, a generous Santa Clause brought a big box with some generic finger skateboards and a huge ramp to our house.  This box was used for all of 10 minutes and relegated to the back of the toy cupboard.  Fast forward six months and the ramp and boards were being pulled out of the cupboard and fought over by two of my minis’.   The change was brought about by the onset of the new boy craze around town.

The generic finger skateboards were not good enough though, and pester power started.  If they are not the “real” Tech Decks, then seemingly no-one will talk to them.  A birthday or two came and went and some “real” Tech Decks arrived in the house, courtesy of www.toysrus.co.uk, along with a couple of ramps by someone called Ryan Sheckler from www.amazon.co.uk.

The two trickster skateboarders started to practice in earnest, and with miniature screwdrivers at the ready had boards with orange, white, black and yellow wheels, so that they would be good enough to swap at school.   The old Top Gear card craze of early summer was well and truly over.

I thought that I was safe, skateboards in place, ramps in place, different colour wheels in place, and lots of skateboard swapping going on in schools and playgrounds nearby.

The peaceful life was not to be.   September 2010 saw an interest in something that is a miniature BMX bike.  Small comments began to be dropped about how fantastic they were.  On the way out of school, many children were trying their hardest to get someone with a shiny new Flick Trix BMX bike to swap for their “best” Tech Deck.  The smart children of the Flick Trix brigade held onto their prizes and slowly, very slowly, the pester power began again.

With no birthdays between September and Christmas to be able to have one of these beauties for themselves, and being from a family that does not just buy everything that kiddies demand, I was struggling to find a way to end the misery of my children by not being with the “in crowd”.

A flash of inspiration hit me and, and suddenly my boys had a new bedtime routine, with deadlines to achieve.  Once they reached 10 nights of perfect behaviour in the evening going to bed, and keeping their rooms tidy – one of these bikes would be theirs.   It took 15 nights for the deadline to be achieved and the day of reckoning finally came yesterday.  After dropping boys off at school, off to www.tesco.com  I go.   Disaster struck as there were none of the £4.95 boards in stock, and they didn’t know when the next delivery would be in.  Also on the shelves were two bike shop packs at three times the price.  In these packs was a selection of different accessories to add to the BMX, and a box to hold all the small parts.    There were only two of these beauties left on the shelf, and after wrestling with my conscience, I decided to buy them.

On emerging from school, the first question that greeted me was a cry for the BMX with moving parts, working wheels and pedals, and I was really pleased to be able to say that I had one each for them.  The look on their faces was priceless, as I had warned them that I might not actually manage to get my hands on them and that they might have to be ordered.

Fast forward 28 hours and these bikes have not been out of their hands.  I have been pestered and pestered and pestered again to help with changing over pedals, bike seat, wheels, grips, pegs and helping with nuts and bolts.  The enjoyment out of this little toy is immense.

When I first bought the skateboards, I baulked at the price of them, and of the ramps to go with them.  On reflection over the last few months, I can honestly say that they have been excellent value for money.  The amount of hours spent with these toys, fiddling with screwdrivers, concentrating, improving dexterity and the sheer benefits of the power of negotiation in the playground between children of all ages is astounding.

The bikes may only have been in the house for 28 hours, but already the signs of being an enhanced version of the Tech Decks is emerging.   Both toys are on the table, the Tech Decks are still being used on the ramps along with the bikes.   Both the Tech Decks and Flick Trix feel quite substantial for such little things and seem to take quite a bit of punishment.  They are certainly breakable with quite a bit of force, but they do give the feeling of quality when you hold them.

The bikes have taken their place in our household as staple favourites, along with the skateboards and the Xbox.  What will come along between now and Christmas I have no idea, but there are rumblings of a special edition gold Flick Trix, and I am now scouring the internet trying to come across this elusive beast for Christmas day.

Am I mad?  Probably, but I have to admit, I have had many an enjoyable hour with my boys using these toys as they sometimes struggle with the tiny pieces, so it has been a “win win” situation and amoung our “best buys” of  the year.

What are your “best buys?”