Lostkeys handmade garters by Shelley Busby.

Hooray! It hasn't been an eternity since posting last! How good is that!? And I now bring to you - the review!

Background information about the purchase.

As many of you will probably know - I have a Tumblr blog. On there I have met an array of interesting, quirky, fun and incredible people. One of which was Shelley (her URL is l0stkeys). We've been talking now for quite a few months and over those few months, I've really enjoyed getting to know her and being a part of her Tumblr blogging experience. So imagine my pure excitement and joy when she announced that she was going to start making handmade garters and wanted to send me one for free to review (normal prices range from £5 - £8)! Not only was I completely flattered, but I really wanted to help to do my bit to promote her store and get her the custom she deserves. Some of you might be sat there like "come on now, Lucy. Your review is obviously going to be biased if you're friends with her." However, let me assure you that I fully intend on reviewing this product as if it were any other - because ultimately, I wouldn't be fulfilling the purpose of why I started this blog in the first place! So, after a few text posts on Shelley's blog notifying me/other customers of the status of our orders, my product was sent out on Friday 7th June by second class post. I received it in the post on Monday the 10th June - safe and sound! :)

Review time!

The contents of the package (and the package itself) went like this:

 The packaging looked quite professional. 

 Oh look! A personalised message :)! A lot of you will probably have noticed by now that I love orders that come with personalised messages. It just highlights that someone has taken the time to think about the little details and that you're actually dealing with a person, rather than the package simply being conjured up out of nowhere and being sent to you without a second thought! 

Here's the lovely garter itself!

And there's the contents of the package.

So how does it look when on?

It fits nicely! Before starting to make my product, Shelley asked me for two measurements - the first being where you want the garter to sit on your leg, and the second being a measurement a little higher up on the bigger part of your thigh. 

And here's another picture! I decided to put a pair of tights underneath. The only thing with doing that though - is I found that the smoothness of the tights meant that the garter shifted around a little more than it did against my bare leg. So that might be something to consider when ordering your garter. If you intend on wearing it with tights more often than wearing it without - perhaps adjusting your measurements to make them marginally smaller might be a better course of action. Unless, you'll be wearing thick tights. In which case - that may not be necessary.

To conclude:

I really enjoyed this experience and I'm glad that I was picked to share it with Shelley. I think she has been very brave in starting something like this because I think people can often overlook the commitment, time, thought and effort that goes into operations such as these. Despite only just starting out though, Shelley has done a marvellous job and I'm very pleased with my product. I was very impressed with her attention to detail and willingness to include me in every step (with text posts informing me/her followers that she was making our products, packaging them, and sending them etc). It really added to the novelty of ordering online. The product arrived promptly and safely. And finally, the product itself is well made and very attractive.

Efficiency: 10/10

Packaging: 10/10

Comfort: 10/10

Quality: 10/10

Service:  10/10

Thank you so much to Shelley for allowing me to do this. I wish her all the very best with her online shop endeavour, and I'm really pleased I got to be a part of it.

Oh, and here are Shelley's links: 

Tumblr: http://l0stkeys.tumblr.com/

Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShelleyBusby

And if you're going to order from Shelley off the back of this review - please let her and I know! I'd be over the moon to hear that my review had inspired people to make purchases! As usual, thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and of course - happy shopping! :).

Vae Nox Personalised Choker Review.

Good afternoon my little snugglepops! 

Firstly, I must apologise for my absence lately. My laptop has been undergoing a spot of maintenance and so I haven't been able to spend much time on it. However, I'm back (for now) and I have a new review in store for you! (Ooh that rhymes).

Background information about the purchase:

On Thursday the 28th February, I ordered a gothic style choker with a unicorn cameo, from a delightful little independent online shop called Vae Nox. I came across Vae Nox on Tumblr and was amazed by how intricate and unique some of her products were. I messaged her, and she was happy to work with me in doing this review! She immediately offered me discount on a product of my choice, which I thought was really very generous. I picked the product that I liked the most, but there was a slight problem (due to me being so darn picky)! I didn't want the actual choker part to be purple and black because I own no purple clothes, and my intent is to actually wear this item of jewellery! (Funnily enough). So upon explaining this slight predicament, she seemed very keen to help and explained that she had a plain black choker in a slightly different material and that she would be more than happy to personalise the product for me! I accepted and within an hour and a half, a message popped up with two photos of my personalised product. She then linked me to her Etsy store where I had my own listing and coupon code for the product. I bought the product and she notified me that she had received my payment both through the formal Etsy guidelines, and through the messages we were sending on Facebook. I was told that my product would be shipped the following morning and that it may take slightly longer to arrive due to it having to make its way across from Switzerland. Excited, I thanked her profusely and awaited my package... 

One week later after making the arduous journey from Switzerland, my choker, along with some cute complimentary goodies, arrived in the post! :D

Now for the review itself!

Here is the contents of the package - which was well protected. 

I love the gift wrapping. It reminded my mum and I of an old fashioned sweet shop. I was particularly amused with the "made with love" at the top of the stripy package. Once again as with the circlet, there was a cute little personalised message on my receipt (which never fails to make me smile).

There's my little personalised message on the receipt. 

Now for the choker and all the little bits and bobs that came with it!

This is the choker in its individual little package. 

This is the back of the choker. I really liked the intricate pattern on it. It gives it an authentic vintage feel and the weight of the cameo itself gives it a very high quality feel.

There's the choker. It's well made, and as you can see - it has a chain at the back so you can adjust it to the size of your neck, which certainly comes in handy! The material of the choker itself is very smooth and it feels delightful against the skin. There is also a strip of velvet that runs along the top of the choker and sits against your skin which makes it feel secure and soft.

I also got a free pair of earrings (middle), a free Vae Nox emblem badge (left) and a free skull cameo badge (right). I have put some pictures below of each of those products separately:

I thought this was such a fantastic, kind, and lovely surprise. I certainly appreciated it and it really goes to show just how much time and effort Kim put in to making this experience special for me. I think it helps to remind the buyer that this isn't your normal high street shopping experience. This is one person, trying to fill in the blanks that the high street retailers miss, by selling alternative but very well thought out and good quality products. 

Let's put the choker on shall we!? 

Yes. Let's.

Et voila! There we have one well made, well fitting choker. I look forward to choosing an outfit based around my new choker. This is a fantastic accessory and I think that it's tasteful for any occasion - whether that's casual or posh. 

To conclude: My experience with this seller was extremely pleasant. She was helpful, accommodating, generous, kind and very thoughtful with every aspect of this purchase. Her dedication to making her customers happy, definitely shows. Everything was well thought out and the experience was smooth, from the very beginning. I came across absolutely no problems and I certainly have no second thoughts about getting in contact and ordering with Vae Nox. Rest assured, I will definitely be looking at her website for any alternative/gothic jewellery purchases in future. 

Efficiency: 10/10

Packaging: 10/10

Comfort: 10/10

Quality: 10/10

Service:  10/10

Thank you very much Vae Nox for making this an enjoyable shopping experience! Here are her links:

Facebook: CLICK

Etsy: CLICK

Tumblr: CLICK

Thank you very much for reading!