The first encouraging bra of my journey to find a bra that fits!
For reference my boobs are a 34DD/E, short, shallow, even vertical fullness and outer horizontal fullness, slightly conical and I'm pretty sure I have splayed roots. Short, shallow and wide seems to be best for me so far.

Onto the bra - the Minx balconette is a very pretty bra, although I can't say that I felt particularly sexy in it. I ordered it from John Lewis in the UK, in the colour gleam. The colour is to die for, a beautiful bronze-toned nude and I especially liked the little beads on the bow in the centre of the gore (If brands are going to insist on giving us bows they may as well make them extra nice - am I right?!). It has a 3-hook fastening and adjustable straps with rose gold hardware and the lace of the cups is brought up the bottom portion of the straps slightly. The unlined stretch lace cups have a small amount of illusion mesh at the tops which gives them an extra little something. Overall a very pretty appearance.

Quality: The quality was excellent. Lovely construction and great attention to detail. I did notice a few little loose threads, but nothing overly concerning.

Pros:
- Attention to detail is off the scale - The band and straps are both made from incredibly comfortable materials, with the band being akin to "seamless" style underwear fabric and the straps being constructed from a microfibre/modal soft touch feel fabric, that is buttery smooth and velvety. The mesh-edged, stretch lace cups are also barely noticeable when wearing, yet somehow provide a gorgeous, naturally rounded shape. It's abundantly clear that Scarlett Blue have considered the wearer's comfort in the construction of this bra.

- The STRETCH in this bra is unreal. The cups are fantastic, yes, but the real star of the show is the band! It appears worryingly small on first glance at only 28" but stretches out to an astonishing 37". The result is a band that moves with you and somehow sucks everything in for a smooth finish, without cutting off your circulation.

- It's short & shallow - my fellow shorties, if this is your style I really recommend giving it a go. I felt supported without being stabbed in the armpit and I also didn't get any gaping at the top of the cup once I'd scooped and swooped everything into position; it's pretty much a dream fit if you fall into this camp with me. I also found that the cups sat at about the right height on me too, which is a bit of a miracle (I'm only 5'3").


Neutral:
- The aesthetics - while I really do appreciate the effort Scarlett Blue has put into this bra, the aesthetics just didn't do it for me. It is very pretty and I'm sure for the right person it would be perfect; that person just isn't me. If I'm going to the expense of spending around £50 on a bra, I want to feel like the sexiest woman alive and I just didn't.


Cons:
- The elastic on the cups - the stretch lace is fantastic, however, the minx has a piece of elastic on the underarm side/outer edge of the cups, leading into the strap. After all of the care that had gone into the comfort of the rest of the bra, this elastic felt decidedly scratchy. It doesn't have the same soft-touch edge as the strap elastic and as a result, I could tell that it would chafe over the course of the day. This is ultimately why I'm going to be returning this bra.

- Strap width - As comfortable as they are, the straps are quite wide on this bra. If you're smaller framed, I think you'll find it difficult to get them in a comfortable position. Combined with the slightly scratchy edge on the elastic, this posed enough of an issue for me to return this bra, so I feel it relevant to mention here.

- The stretch - I know, I said this was a pro, but I do see that this could also be a major con for you if you're "a small 34" so to speak. I am a true 34 back and I genuinely felt as though this bra wouldn't be all that supportive for long. If you fluctuate in size over the month or you're between back sizes, I highly recommend going for the SMALLER back size. I won't be keeping this bra, so I can't comment on longevity, but it is one that I would expect to lose its elasticity fairly quickly.

- The bow - I'm a bow hater. I will never understand why every brand feels the need to put a satin bow in the middle of the gore on bras (or on the front of the matching bottoms but that's another topic). This bow is very pretty as bows go, with it's very delicate look and clear beads, but it's never going to convince me to embrace the bow, sorry!

Overall, the Minx unlined balconette is a great bra for anyone with short, shallow and wide boobs, who wants something pretty and comfortable. The quality is great, but a few key issues I found mean that I've decided to return this and try something else. I'd absolutely recommend to anyone unsure to give it a go!

Gleam colorway

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Nov 30, 2022 Flag this

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