Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Venice Cat, Ribbon Cake, Sosic Shop, Haw Berry, Girlism, and More: Taobao Stores Review


I bought a bunch of things on taobao again, but this time for a few different stlyes. Shoes, blouses, accessories, and volumes 2-4 of Girlism magazine! This came awhile ago, but I've finally had chances to wear most of these things out to write a better review. As usual I used SpreeNow as my shopping service and they were wonderful! They have the best customer service and communcation out of any SS I've ever used. You can read my full review of them here.




Navy Blouse
The material is thin, as to be expected with the price, but it's a nice lightweight piece for hot weather, and there's very petite sizes available! I haven't worn it out yet so I haven't washed it but I'm not too sure it would hold up in the washing machine well. I'll try to remember to update this when I do, although I think I would recommend using a delicate setting or just hand washing this to be safe.




Sweet Dreamer / Cutie Creator / Cici Works - Hair Accessories and Gloves
The clips are all nice quality, all of the charms seem really secure on them. The small pink clip has both a pin and a hair clip on the back. The bow I've reviewed before in other colors and just like the last ones I'm happy with this one too. I added some metal studs to it so it would match one of my punk coords better.
The gloves are on of the more expensive pieces on their website but I'm glad I took the risk, I'm pretty happy with them. The lace is all nice quality and they hold the shape well at the part where it flares out at the end. The ribbons are just a little wrinkly from shipping right now, but that can be fixed easily. The stones look nice, they're a blue/grey color. Usually I'm not one for the gemstone look but the muted color makes them look better and not tacky. I'm excited for a chance to wear these!



(Store 1) (Store 2) - Punk Lolita Accessories
These were all really cheap and just fine for the prices. The bracelets fit my tiny wrists which is great, and they're adjustable to 3 different sizes. The belts only seem to come in men's sizes though, so expect it to be a bit longer. I looked for women's versions in multiple stores but found nothing. It's nice for wearing it loose though, it looks a bit more edgy haha.



Girlism - Girlism Magazine
They're not very long in terms of pages, but the first thing I noticed was what nice paper these are printed on! It's very heavyweight, which is a nice change from typical magazine paper. However, you will need to keep in mind that these could really increase the shipping cost of your order. The images are all very crisp and sharp. I got issues 2, 3, and 4. I feel that each issue was improved from the last in terms of content. They have outfit snaps, event coverage, hair and makeup tutorials, etc., just like GLB's and Kera magazine. I'm planning on scanning in some of my favorite pages from each issue to share in future posts. Please let me know if that's something you would be interested in seeing! I really wish I knew Chinese so I could translate them, especially the hair tutorials, they're so beautiful!

Another fun thing is that each one comes with freebies like posters, stationary, folders, and postcards. Girlism tends to clearance their magazines out once they start getting a bit old, and they even package multiple issues together at cheaper prices. That's how I purchased these three, and they still came with the freebies.


Wig
Despite the store not having the best feedback I decided to take the risk and order from them anyways because they're so cheap. Surprisingly, I was not disappointed!? The wig is very voluminous and even after wearing it twice it hasn't really started to tangle yet. I'm really shocked but also impressed because I wasn't expecting anything this nice. The color is a very pretty light brown with a strong lavender undertone to it. The bangs are flat, but they're not thin like most recent taobao wigs, which is the one thing I absolutely can't stand in a wig. The store sells mostly cosplay related styles, but a few of them are suitable for j-fashion too.




My Melody Cardigan
She's missing her bow, (this was stated in the listing) but I think it will be easy enough to sew one on. It's not spectacular material or anything but it's unbearably difficult to find cardigans on taobao, so I sort of just take what I can get. I'm literally desperate for cardigans, so if you know any good stores please let me know!




Pearl Tiara
This was such an incredible find, it's so pretty! I'm having a very hard time trying to style it, but I'm not too good with hair to begin with haha, so I think it's just me. It even came with extra crystals and pearls to fix anything that may fall off. The store sells mainly bridal acessories so everything is very princess-y. This is one of the things I'm happiest with in this order, so beautiful! I want to wear it with aquarium carnival whenever I finally wear it out.






Sosic Shop - Shoes
Not quite as comfy as my other shoes from Sosic Shop, so I'm in the middle about them. I wore them for a day of walking around at pride which probably wasn't the best idea, my feet were definitely sore afterwords. The glitter flakes off a tiny bit, but I don't think it's noticeable. My flat glitter shoes from them don't flake off at all though. I've worn both pairs out multiple times now. They fit pretty true to size in terms of length. For maximum comfort I would wear these with tights instead of OTK's, they feel a bit too tight with most socks, and I do have pretty narrow feet to begin with... Overall I'm not completely disappointed but I don't know if I would order these again, and originally I was hoping to get them in more of the available colors.





Venice Cat - Dress and Top
The dress is comfy and oversized, soft material with lots of detail. It runs short so be careful with the measurements. It's intended to be a dress, but on me it's more of a top. The blouse is so cute, but ridiculously itchy to the point that it's unwearable, which is disappointing. For sure my least favorite piece of the order. So overall I would say Venice Cat is hit or miss, which kinda sucks because they have a good collection of very colorful designs which I also feel isn't easy to find on Taobao because most current trends only focus on muted colors.



Haw Berry - Necklace and Wristcuffs
They were pretty slow with shipping my things to my SS, but the items are super cute so I think it's worth it. Maybe don't buy from them if you're hoping to do a quick order though, or you're rushing to finish an outfit before an event. The big strawberry on the necklace is a little cheap looking but thta's my only complaint. The wristcuffs are adorable though and the bows are detachable so you can wear them on your outfit or on an alice bow.



Ribbon Cake - Hair clips and Necklace
TERRIBLE customer service, omg!! It took them over a month to ship out items that were already all in stock! My SS had to keep messaging them to send the order. When they finally did it, most of the items that were the reason I bought from them actually sold out, so I completely missed them. The items themselves are cute though, the prices are cheap and I'm happy with them, but still I would shop with them at your own risk.


Thank you for reading! If you have any questions about any of the items please feel free to leave them below.

Check out my other Taobao reviews here:










2 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, whenever you post a taobao haul I add soooo many new things to my taobao bookmarks!

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    1. That's awesome to hear! I'm so glad that they can be useful :D

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