New Polish Brand Impimi ordering + Nicoll bra 65E

Ordering:

As you can see, I paid about $48 for this bra

Impimi is a Polish brand I recently became aware of. The main reason I chose to buy a bra from them, was because I saw an everyday bra that came in brown (I’m a sucker for brown bras). When I initially contacted them, I asked how much the shipping to the US was, because when I tried to complete my purchase, my address wasn’t accepted. I also asked how the sizing of their bras compared to Ewa Michalak, and Comexim. They responded a few hours later (if my calculations are correct, it was around 10pm in Poland), saying the shipping was about €6, and their fit was similar to Ewa’s. So I decided to go with 65E, which is the size I mostly wear in Ewa. (Although now I kind of do wish I went with 65D). But going based on their size chart, I’d need size 65F, which is what I had in my cart before I received the email. I placed my order July 14th. The ‘confirmation’ email I received from them:

 

 

 

 

After that, I never received an email from them. I did email them and ask if they could lower the gore to 6cm (2.36 inches). I didn’t receive an email saying whether they would or could do that (but the gore was about 2.4 inches). July 25th, I received an email stating the my order was complete. I want sure what that meant. Did it mean my order was processed, or did it mean my order was shipped? I didn’t get a tracking number, so I decided I was going to wait a few days, to see if I got an email. But later that day, the package was at my parents’ house. So it took 11 days from the time I ordered, to receive the bras (not bad at all) The bras were packaged in boxes in a big bubble mailer. One of the boxes was crushed.

 

The straps

The straps are stretchy, but not overly so. When I stand  the straps are in a good spot, but when I sit (slouching) the straps feel like they’ll slip off my shoulders.

The cups

Fit wise, the cup shape reminds me very much of Comexim. The difference look wise is that this bra is a 4 part cup, instead of a 3 part cup. The cup height for 65E is 5.75 inches (14.61 cm) (the same as an unaltered 65G Comexim basic). I think if you have short roots, this particular bra will be too tall in the cups. When I stood straight up, the bra fit fine, but when I was slouching (on the couch), it almost seemed like there was too much cup, the whole upper portion was empty. (I have breast tissue that extends up to my collarbone, but it gets shallower the higher up it goes.)

The sides of the cups come up very high. High enough that when I wanted to adjust the straps to make them tighter, I decided not to, because the side of the cup was already slightly irritating.

The wires

The wires in this bra are hard. Panache hard. Painfully hard. hard enough that I wondered where I can buy softer wires that would fit the wire channels.

The gore

If I only had one word to use to describe the gore, I would use “painful”. Within seconds of putting the bra on, I knew the gore was not going to be my friend. The two issues are: 1 it’s high, and 2 the wires are not soft, like at all.

The band

There is boning on the sides of the band. The band seems long, but firm (the stretch ratio is 1.2), unstretched it is 24 inches (60.96 cm), stretched it is 28.5 (72.39 cm)

The pads

The pads are removable and quite thick. A lot thicker than most pads I’ve come across. The pads are labeled so you know where they should go (or which breast they go with). The pointed edge is towards the gore, and the rounded edge is closer to your armpits.

 

*I was not wearing the pads in any of the pictures

Ordering from Comexim

I’m going to write what it was like for me to order from Comexim directly.

I often browsed Comexim’s site (as I’m doing now), looking for some bras to buy because apparently I don’t have enough. 😐

I think I initially put about 5 bras in my cart (Mystic, Tropical Garden, Eris, Pantera and Rita). I ended up actually purchasing two (Eris and Mystic). I ordered both with reduced gores, and was emailed letting me know that reduced gores makes it a custom bra, and it would no longer be returnable. I wanted to try a non custom bra for my 1st order, so I could see how the bras would fit me. But I liked the idea of having a lowered gore.

When I made my order I accidentally ordered a 65E mystic and a 65F Eris. When I realized I ordered two different sizes, I sent a message in the comments box. And hoped for the best.

I placed my order April 2nd (US) here is a screenshot of the email I received after placing my order:

I want you all to really look at this picture, because I am going to discuss a part of it.

Mystic was 125pln, and Eris was 130pln which adds up to 255pln. We are not going to pay attention to the shipping because it’s not important. What we are going to pay attention to is the line directly above where it says “total paid”. We are going to look at where it says “total tax paid”. The total amount of tax that I paid for these two bras is 47,68pln (which comes to almost $12). The tax is about 21% of the total of the 2 bras.

The reason I bring this up is because a lot of people say they don’t like buying from Ewa because she charges tax. Well in case you didn’t know you are also getting charged tax from Comexim.

{Tangent} Back when I worked in retail, I had a lot of customers that were tourists. They would almost always be confused when they were buying an item (let’s say for $24.99), but paying more than what the advertised price was (26.02). And I’d say, ‘It’s $24.99 plus tax‘. And they’d oftentimes say ‘in my country the taxes are included in the price’ or something along those lines. Most people didn’t like it, because it seemed like we were dishonest about the price. Which is understandable. If you only have $25 in your pocket, you wouldn’t have enough money. What they do in other countries (as it pertains to tax) makes a lot of sense. You know upfront how much you’re paying. If the sign says 200pln (or zł) you would know you’re not going to pay anything more than that.

So after thinking about this it dawned on me. Whenever ‘we’ (Americans) buy abroad, we will be paying their taxes (VAT). The only way we won’t be paying VAT is if we are actually in the country and getting on a plane and can get our money back that way. (Well we won’t be paying taxes if we buy from someone on bratabase).

So: you buy from Ewa, you’re paying tax. You buy from Comexim, you’re paying tax. You buy from Misterna, you’re paying tax. Etc. etc. (Since this post is about Comexim and not Ewa I won’t be discussing the 6% Paypal fee Ewa charges). The only difference between Ewa and Comexim is that Ewa seems to charge 25% and Comexim charges 21%.

So when I made this known, I was told that I should contact Comexim and get the refund because I shouldn’t be charged tax (because I don’t live in that Country).

I did email Comexim asking if they refund the tax because I don’t live in Poland aaaaaannnnnnddddddd I never received a response. 😑 Not a “yes we can do that”, not a “no the tax comes up automatically”. No response at all. So I let it go. Should I have followed up? Maybe. But I didn’t. But just so you know, when I emailed them letting them know that I needed to change the size (because I ordered 2 different sizes) they didn’t respond to that email either.
By April 23rd I hadn’t gotten any sort of confirmation about my order, so I emailed and asked if I could add a pair of panties to my order. 2 days later they responded and said I could send the 47,00pln to their Paypal and they would add it. When I sent payment I did put my order number in the notes section to be on the safe side.

5 days later (April 30th) I received an email notification saying that my package was shipped. 🎉🎉🎉

My package was out for delivery May 5th. I was off, and at my parents house (where I get my packages delivered) and I didn’t hear the mailman knock. 😔  The package was sent requiring a signature. So the mailman left a little slip at my parents door saying I could pick up my package (and sign for it) at the post office the next day at 9am. Only problem was I worked the next day 8-4 post office closes at 4. I worked Saturday and then all day Monday and Tuesday (11 hour shifts) so at the earliest u wouldn’t be able to pick it up until Wednesday. Which was almost a week later. Thankfully my mom was able to pick it up. I wasn’t sure if she would be able to because it had my name on it. But she was. 😀

I know a lof of some comment about how padded bras are shipped, so I thought I’d include photos of my comexim packages

  

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Since writing this post, I’ve ordered from Comexim two more times.

My second order I ordered: The basic in black 65G w/ reduced cups and gore, straps moved in & no bows; Tropical Garden 70G w/ straps moved in, cups reduced, and overlapping gore, no bows; Burgundy half cup 65G w/ reduced gore & cups & straps moved in.  After I placed that order, I noticed there was a 75D Jacqueline bra for sale, which is a sister size to 65F (since comexim doesn’t do DD), so I emailed and asked if they would shorten the band so the bra would essentially be 65F. They said they would. They did email me to ask what I meant by ‘straps moved in’ and ‘no bows’. So  I sent my request back to them all in polish! and for the noes I sent a picture with the bows crossed off. I don’t believe the cup was reduced on the TG (cups  are too tall), and I don’t believe the gore was reduced on the burgundy halfcup, but there wasn’t any bows on the basic, tropical garden, and only one bow on the Jacqueline (which I didn’t request there be no bows)

Order was placed May 16th, shipped June 14th & received June 22

 

As you can see the bras are packaged better. They’re one on top if the other, instead of folded into each other

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Third order, I ordered the new snake bra 65G, Eris 65G, and tropical Garden 70F all as 3HCs. I put in another comment saying “If possible please move straps in 2cm, reduce cup height and reduce the gore” I think those are ‘nice alterations’ but since I don’t know if they were done on my previous bras, I can do without them.

This order was placed June 24th , shipped July 13th, and miraculously delivered July 21st (I say this was a miracle because I was going on vacation and the mail was supposed to be held from the 21st until the 25th, but somehow the mailman missed that, and still delivered it the 21st. I just so happened to still be at my arenas house when the mailman came– there were a few delays so we ended up leaving a little late for our vacation. But luckily I got to wear my bras on vacation)

The tropical garden is below the Eris.

I do want to mention that when you ask for alterations on bras they may or may not get done. For example: I ordered the burgundy directly from Comexim, and I ordered an Annika from Zathiya. I asked for a reduced gore with both. The gore on the Annika was definitely reduced (it’s 2.25″ -6cm) whereas the burgundy is 2.6″ -7cm. I can wear Comexim unaltered with no issues.

The only alteration I can say was actually done, was turning the plunge into a 3 piece half cup. Comexim will turn any plunge into a halfcup (two seamed or three), and any bra into a longline, and I believe you can get a plunge converted into a halfcup longline.

Nubian Skin Essential T-shirt bra 30DD Caramel

Color: Caramel (may possibly be Cinammon, I’m not 100% sure; The pics of me in the bra are the most accurate color)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The straps

The straps have the words ‘Nubian skin’ engraved in the material. The straps are stretchy, but not overly so. The straps don’t seem to be too far part in my opinion.

 

The cups/wires

The cups are lightly lined (I’d say it’s thinner than the VS lightly lined pink® Bras). The inner part of the cups is the same color as the outer part. The material is very soft.

The wires are slightly too wide for me at 5.5 inches (about .25 wider than what I can do, seems like a little bit, but it makes it too wide). The depth is only 7.5 inches, so this bra is too wide and too shallow. AKA, it doesn’t fit correctly. I did try to bend the wire on the right side, but that seemed to emphasize the lack of depth at the bottom of the wire. I have serious creasing on that side, it wasn’t so bad before I bent the wire. It’s odd, because I managed to decrease the width by .25 inches.

I’d consider the top of the wire to be high, but it doesn’t poke. The sides of the cup come up high (due to the high wire and the width of the cup), but oddly enough, it doesn’t rub. It also isn’t visible with the maxi dress I’m wearing today (neither are the straps). I do have some quadding, but it’s not visible through a top.

 

The gore

  The gore is very low, coming in at 1 inch, but it is wide 1.75 inches, but since it is low, I don’t feel it. The gore does not tack at the top, like at all. Aside from the fact that the cups are too small, it may also be because the wires don’t go all the way to the top of the wire channel.

 

The band

<sigh> The band is ridiculously small. It measures 21.8 inches unstretched, and only about 26.5 inches stretched. 😳 My BTT is about 26.5, so without an extender the band feels too tight. With an extender, I need to have it all the way on the loosest setting. Wearing it with 3 extra hooks is comfortable, but I could probably also be okay with a fourth hook (I however will not be wearing this with 2 extenders). I accidentally hooked this on the middle hook today, and I was feeling it (bottom of wires were digging in my ribcage). Also worth mentioning, the band has 3 sets of hook and eye closures. This is very rare for this size. The only other bras I’ve come across in this size with 3 columns is a Godard strapless bra, and the Claudette longline. The hook & eye closure fits perfectly with the extender I bought.

 

Thoughts:

Before I bought this bra, is as told that the band runs small. I obviously chose to ignore that.  I didn’t do it purposely. I was browsing eBay one day for “brown bras 30DD” (I omit unnecessary words when searching on eBay), and this bra popped up, so I bid on it (via gixen- I like to wait for the last minute when bidding). I’m glad I got a chance to try it, but I’ll definitely be looking for a bigger size. If you’re interested in trying this style of bra, make sure you sister size up at least 1, possibly 2.

Although this bra technically doesn’t fit me, it is surprisingly very comfortable. It is like a comfortable version of a VS bra. Comfort is a big thing for me, so I’ve worn this bra quite a few times.

This color is obviously not my skintone, but it definitely works as a nude under light colored clothing.

 

You can buy the bra directly from the website. Nubian Skin carry sizes 30B-40DD (matrix sizes)

Thinx High Waisted Panty XS review

High waisted style

Thinx panties come in 6 different styles, Some are for light days, some for medium, and some for heavy days. The high waisted style is for medium days  and it holds up to 1 1/2 tampons worth.

 

I bought this particular style because I loved the lace on the side. It didn’t dawn on me until right after I hit the order button that a high waisted style is not what I want to wear during my period. I get bloated, so I dislike anything near my stomach– the lower the better.

 

 

I do want to mention that while wearing these panties, I was between a spotting and a light day. I am on the extended cycle birth control, so I {should} generally only get my period every 3 months. The last time I had my period, was somewhere between Jan & Feb, possibly in March (for whatever reason I didn’t mark down in the app I have on my phone when I got my period last). Anyway, I was supposed to get it early June, but it never came. I was not good at taking the pill at the same time everyday (I accidentally forgot 2 pills in a row, and one 2 days pervious). So I had what they call breakthrough bleeding. Imo, breakthrough bleeding is different from a regular period, because it’s always darker (rarely a bright red), and also very hard to get out of panties. The other I times I’ve had breakthrough bleeding, it’s lasted for 1 month. The breakthrough bleeding tends to be light. Some days it’s too light to wear a light tampon (which is very thin), some days it’s even too light to wear certain panty liners. Some days either is fine.

So this review is going to be for the one day I wore these panties, which was the second ( and also the heaviest) day. The heaviest day, still being only about 1 slim fit tampon.

 

The fit

I chose XS, because that is the size I normally wear. Also since they’re high waisted, a small would probably be too big in the waist. The waist on these is perfect. They are high, which visually isn’t good for me, since I short. They come up to my belly button. Even though they were high, and I was bloated, the waist didn’t bother me, it wasn’t too tight. The waist was very comfortable.

 

However, the leg openings were tight. For my size, I don’t think I have thin thighs. My thighs touch. If it helps, my thighs are 21.25 inches (54.5cm) across the top. The actual leg opening for the panties is a hair smaller than 21.5 inches.

 

The leg opening was right enough to be uncomfortable after a few hours. There was a mark on my leg after I took them off. However, it wasn’t uncomfortable enough that I wanted to take them off as soon as I got home.

 

 

The material

The panties are very soft, the lace isn’t scratchy at all (like how the lace on some bras can be). The outer piece of the solid black fabric almost feels like swimwear. The inner portion of the fabric feels like it’s at least 3 layers thick. The material itself isn’t thick (you won’t feel like you’re wearing a pad), it’s just more than the basic 2 layers most panties have. The gusset goes very high in both the front and back (higher than regular panties), so these would be good for sleeping in. The gusset is wider than normal gussets, but not uncomfortable. The non gusset, non lace portion of the panties is lined. 

 

Wearing them

I will say I was hesitant to wear them at first. I love the idea of not having to wear a tampon or panty liner, but there comes an uncertainty when trying a menstrual item out for the first time, especially when you’re at work. (In order for me to do my job, I have to sit in front of people with my legs open, so I can’t have any surprises.  But everything went smooth. There were times at work when I felt fluids coming out of me (a normal thing when I’m wearing a pad/panty liner-because gravity). And at one point, I needed to go to the bathroom. When I went to the bathroom, there was some “period” visible on the panties. When I get breakthrough bleeding it is oftentimes full of clots, which isn’t something that it going to seep into the fabric. So that is what I saw on the panties. And since the clots were on top of the panties, it is something I was going to feel if I put the panties back on normally. So I wiped it down, and put a small piece of tissue there (I didn’t want to feel any wetness). At the end of the day, when I got ready to take a shower, I mixed that there was some sweat in the panties (when I walk into my apartment it’s always hot- I don’t keep my AC on when I’m at work). However, I did not feel the moisture from the sweat (or the period for that matter). So these would be good for working out in. I was amazed, because I could see the sweat, but not feel it.

Also, I feel it’s worth mentioning that there wasn’t a smell. I notice when I wear pads or panty liners, there’s always a smell. I think I read the smell comes from the iron in your blood mixing with the oxygen in the air? The smell from pads/panty liners is something I’ve noticed even after showering & wearing one.

Washing

I hand washed these, as I wanted to wear them the next day, but the next day they were still too wet to wear. I hand washed them in my bathroom sink. I felt as though I didn’t clean them enough, because the water didn’t turn red  or pink. 😳 I let water run on the gusset for about 5 minutes after washing them, and the water was still clear. I rang them out, and put them on a towel in my hot ass apartment and hoped they would be dry by the morning. After they dried I noticed the  gusset doesn’t really seem soft. But I may just need to put them in the washing machine.

 

In the future, I do want to try all the styles, so that I can compare them. I do love them in place of other feminine hygiene products,  and urge everyone to try them.

Ewa Michalak M Jeżynka 65DD

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