Freeing my Boobs with Mish Lingerie and Panache! #FreeTheSqueeze

About a week ago now I was invited to attend a blogger event here in Cornwall by Mish Lingerie with Panache. I was super excited to be invited and couldn't wait to find out more. We were to have a talk about Mish Lingerie and Panache, see some beautiful underwear and swimwear by Panache which Mish stocks and then see some more underwear in their upcoming Autumn/Winter range. We were also told to look forward to a Cornish lunch and a professional fitting! I was concerned that no bra would fit  being a 36B (or so I thought!) but after I checked online I knew they'd carry ranges for the smaller busted woman as well.

The day arrived and I was collected from the station by Stevie aka A Cornish Mum. We quickly clicked and had a nice chat before finding Mish Lingerie without too much trouble. Inside I met Mish and her fab team, Zehra who was there to represent Panache (and who did my bra fitting) and the other ladies attending the event ranging from bloggers and WI members to willing volunteer models! 

First Zehra spoke about Panache, which was first established in 1982 and has grown massively over the years. We started by looking at one of its ranges. (Panache has many ranges including Panache Black, Cleo by Panache, Sculptresse and Panache Swim) The Panache Sports bra has won several awards in 2012 and 2013. Mish talked about how comfortable they are as a wearer herself and demonstrated their fit and flexibility. You can read Sam's post about Panache Sports Bras below. These sports bras go up to a H cup but are going up to a J cup for the A/W range. There are now more colours to choose from and I liked the racer back style for more support. There is now also a sports swimsuit available too!

Next we got to view some lovely swimwear and lingerie both available and some sneak previews of the A/W range coming soon. All the lingerie looked very supportive and pretty! I'd like to say a big thank-you to these lovely ladies for modelling the lingerie for us, everyone had great fun and it was great to look at the underwear and swimwear on women that are more my size and not airbrushed. 

Penny in Cleo by Panache Lucille Bandeau bikini I really loved this bikini, was one of my favourite items on the day.

Bikini Elle by Panache modelled by Jocelyn  and  tankini being modelled by Claire. Hidden bra in the tankini to give you that extra support and confidence.

Nautical swimwear Claire in a bikini (you can move the bow!) and Penny showing off the tankini. Claire in a longline bra. I nearly bought a Panache longline bra but went with my t-shirt bra instead! They are very comfy. All sets to come!

Tallulah by Panache Swimsuit with bra for that extra support!

The ladies showing off the coming soon Autumn/Winter range. 1) Tango bra and knickers 2) Kitty by Sculptresse with high wasted knickers. Gorgeous colour 3) Cleo Baby doll, beautiful. All by Panache.

Mish spoke to us about her store in Bodmin and we had a chance to ask some questions. Mish then spoke to us about bras in general and in particular about fitting and caring for our bras. A few things I picked up, about 80% of women are most likely wearing the wrong bra, Mish reckons by their experience this could be more like 90% which is sadly not surprising!

When wearing your bra you should not feel like it is extremely tight. The band should not ride up your back and if you can fit your whole hand between your band and back then you need to get it checked! Your boobs should not be squashed, your straps shouldn't pinch you and you should be able to only lift them about an inch- so if yours reaches your ears, again, get those boobs fitted! A woman's body changes many times in her life and anything from medication, breastfeeding, pregnancy, losing weight, gaining weight, hormones can change the size of your boobs so it's important to get fitted properly if you notice any of the above. As for bra care, avoid washing bras in the washing machine, especially moulded ones. Instead, opt for washing in the shower!

After lunch (which was yummy!) we had a bra fitting. The lovely Zehra fitted me. So here's the moment you were all waiting for yes? I walked into the event wearing a horrible looking 36B bra and came out a...34DD! The difference! I think all of us were wearing the wrong size and we all left feeling pretty chuffed with our new sizes and with the knowledge we were going to be supported and more comfortable in future!

I'd like to say a big thank you to Mish and all her staff at Mish Lingerie for inviting me, catering for me and for their gifted items (which will be blogged soon), also to Panache for their goodie bag, fitting and for making beautiful lingerie!

Goodie Bag!

Please read these other blogs all about the #FreeTheSqueeze event!

Stevie - A Cornish Mum- Does my Bra Fit?

Elle - Garden of Eden- Free The Squeeze!

Sam - Sofa Dodger- Why I Love my Sports Bra

Jo - Slummy Single Mummy- TBA

Alison - Shut The Frock Up- Panache Bloggers Day with Mish Online

Cupcake Mumma

#Paperhaul Box 6!

I am in love. Every month I look forward to my #Paperhaul monthly subscription box and I always get so excited to see the theme revealed! I avoid the hashtag and sneak previews on the internet all in order to not ruin the surprise for myself! (Anyone else?) Here is Junes' rather wonderful and rather tasty box!

#Paperhaul always has a quality themed washi tape which is easily one of my favourite items in the boxes. I love the stripes on this months offering and think it'll bring a nice bit of colour to my happy mail this summer.

Postcards are my other love. I have a suitcase dedicated to my postcard collection so every month I look forward to seeing what postcards I'm getting to add to my collection. This months cards are simplistic, bold and yummy!

I love this months scrap papers. I have quite a collection now this is my sixth #Paperhaul box and I'm saving them up for that day when I decide to get that scrap book out and do some sticking! I love both sides of the papers this month so it's going to be a tough choice (or a half and half job!)

Milkshakes and Pudding. Yum

There are always 2 unique and high quality cards in a #Paperhaul box, plus 3 smaller cards all of which come with their own envelopes. All cards are totally blank and ready for your personal messages.

Pink lolly sure to make one of my pen friends hungry!

My favourite card this month

Beautiful mini cards. I'm sure they're water colour?

These gift tags remind me the Magnum ice creams! I love these and can't wait to use them for several upcoming birthdays and a gift swap.

Finally another one of my all time favourite stationery items: stickers! You always get a set of stickers to suit the theme of the box as well as two easy to peel larger stickers which are fab for brightening up those boring parcels.

I adore every item in this box but my favourite items are definitely the selection of ice cream stickers, the bold ice cream cone postcard and the washi tape. Do you subscribe to #Paperhaul? What were your favourite items from this months box? If you don't subscribe (you're missing out!) you can do so here!

I am part of a group of bloggers who get a slight discount for reviewing a monthly #Paperhaul box. All opinions and photos are, as usual, my own.

Cupake Mumma

Fixing The Future with Sugru!

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I've heard a lot about Sugru. I've seen it on you tube, I've seen it on blogs and several people have mentioned it to me for crafting. Those of you who don't know about Sugru, here's a little information:

Sugru is a mouldable clay which comes in a variety of colours (and right now Sugru has gone festive for Christmas!) you can use it in crafting, diy, fixing those broken toys, even for hanging up items and hiding those unsightly wires on USB cables you haven't quite got around to replacing yet! Here's a bit more about Sugru and what you can do with it on their website

As for me, well, naturally I don't think in terms of DIY or mending broken items, I think crafty! So I spent an evening making two rather sweet little models. A mushroom which I can easily turn into a badge/broach/keyring and a funny little worm which will become a keyring!

I'm not very gifted in the modelling department unfortunately so any further makes were firmly cast aside and the clay was reused for other things...

Like sticking my sons train track bridge together. It always comes apart and it upsets him a lot. Not anymore! It's not as neat as i'd like it to be but it's a very awkward object to stick together. I also got the chance to finally mend my beloved skiing Cheer Bear Carebear. She was dropped a while ago and I've only just found the missing ski! I was gutted when she broke but now Sugru has fixed her right up.

I still have more left and I'm sure it'll all come in very handy. My husband usually tapes everything up but now he has no excuse for that horrible habit! Sugru dries in a fairly quick time if left alone and it does dry rock solid. It's worth remembering that just like real clay and playdoh, if you don't look after Sugru it will become rock solid if left lying around and will get covered in bits if you drop it etc so do remember to pack it away again when you're finished!

Sugru is a long lasting mouldable clay and is also very strong. I have seen photos of this product holding up pans after being moulded into hooks and stuck on to tiles! It is also waterproof which is very handy if you need a temporary fix in the shower or around a tap before you can get to the hardware store. So basically, whether you're into make do and mend, DIY or crafts, Sugru really is a product anyone can make a use of!

I was sent a pack of Sugru in the colours yellow, blue, red and white for this review. A limited festive edition has now been released exclusively online which could be perfect for those stocking fillers! The best thing is that Sugru is under £10 and can be purchased from B&Q, Maplin, Wilkinson and more stores! So, let's fix the future and banish the electrical tape habits of a life time! (Seriously it's not just my husband is it?)

Cupcake Mumma