I love this bra! I think it is much prettier than it looked online and so flattering on me (which is extremely unusual)! I'm dealing with wide-set, average to wide short roots, upper deflation with some lower projection, very soft. I think this bra is actually the best fit I have found, so far and it is definitely my current favorite! YAY!!!

The flexible, soft cups seem to be somewhat uniquely shaped and it works well for me (but I can see why it wouldn't work for everyone.) I think I generally fit more like a 28DD/30D, but in this model, the 30DD is where it's at. It's ... slightly big, as I have a tiny bit of gaping at the top edge of the cup, but it honestly quite minimal and the lace trim helps hide it. It still looks and feels beautiful.

I want to say the cups run somewhat small, except they are kind of stretchy and I think that it would actually fit true to size if it is the right shape for you. It is not quite as shallow as I thought from the pictures. It actually gives me more forward projection than I expected and a nice lifted, rounded shape. The wings are tall enough to give me the side support I need and the lightly padded cups provide shaping without being too rigid. The band feels true to size. Although a little bit squeaky, the cups and band are so comfortable!

The thin double straps are pretty and feel OK on me, but I can see how they might not be comfortable for people with heavier breasts. (I don't know if they are wider on larger sizes). They don't have any stretch so they do dig in to my shoulders a little. They are also unusually short. While they fit my 5'1 frame, I have to make them almost as long as they can go. The gore is on the wider side (around 1 inch width), so it's going to better fit people with some space between their boobs.

It is worth noting that the 30D, which I also tried in the same colorway, seems like almost a different bra. Something about it seems disproportionate to me. I need short cups, but those were way too short. The cups were definitely too small and gave me serious quad boob, so while I think the DD might be true to size, I think the D runs small. Which is odd. The wings weren't high enough. If I had tried the 30D first, I never would have tried a different size, because it really was that different and I didn't like it at all, even before I put it on. In contrast, I fell in love with the 30DD as soon as I opened the package!
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Dazzling Blue colorway

Updated on Feb 04, 2016 Flag this

I have a better idea of what shape my breasts are now. I've been told they're set close together, so this bra digs into my sternum and the edges of my root. I fill out the bottom of the cup, my breasts are slightly pointy, so I can't completely fill the depth of the cup and there a gap along the top, even when I scoop and swoop.

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Nov 16, 2015 Flag this

This bra is *beautiful* and I so badly wanted it to fit. However, I find the band to be a tight for personal preference (I can fit two fingers under it, but, it feels like it's digging into my ribs) and there's quadboob going on with the bigger breast. I saw it mentioned that the band for 30DDD is tighter than the other 30 bands? https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" /> The straps are also pretty wide set. I like the shape of the cups, they're good for FOB, and the shape/length of the underwire is perfect. But there's too many other sizing issues. Though there's a line on the inside of the cups that's also a little bit irritation, if I get my hands on a 32DDD, I'll still try it. A shame there isn't a 30F option.

Updated on Sep 25, 2020 Flag this

This one fits! Horray~ I measure at a 28DD but have shallow breasts and wide roots, so the tissue expands too much to fill a DD. A 28" band sometimes cuts into my ribs after long wear.

This 30C balconette bra fits very well and is not too tight. It is a very pretty bra, though there are a few things I'm a bit picky about.

The lace is slightly itchy where it touches my skin but I'm hoping with wear it'll soften up. The strange design choice for a semi-scalloped lace trim also looks strange...kind of like gapping issues from afar. ... As with all lace bras it's not super versatile so wear under thicker fabrics. It also gives a more conical than round shape. It's also slightly squeaky if you stretch the band too much when you're wearing it https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" />

The straps are not fully adjustable but it was fine on me. I did not have to adjust to the shortest it could go and I am only 5'0.

Otherwise the lining is very soft and comfy and the bra itself is very cute!

Edit: Ugh almost perfect with this one. The squeaking is audible under clothes and the straps are slightly too wide. They fall off even at the shortest length.
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Vanilla Ice colorway

Updated on Apr 25, 2015 Flag this

It's the only bra that fits both of my assymetric breasts. At the same time, I much better prefer the shape I get in Ewa Michalak or Freya Rio. Also the straps are driving me crazy as most of the length of the strap doesn't stretch so I can't find a sweet spot between having them too loose and falling off the shoulder and too tight.

I got this second hand. I'll try wearing this a couple of times and will sell it if it doesn't work out.

Updated on Jul 20, 2024 Flag this

Edit 2022: This baby is old and kind of stretched out by now. The wires are stiff for sure, and after a long day they do make my ribs a little sore. I'd say this bra fits me well most of the time. I've gained a little bit of weight, the shoulder straps are starting to slip more easily, so it's a little bit too small now.

I feel like this bra is smaller than other bras that I own. Though I'm measured 30E with the ABTF calculator, the 32 band does actually feel snug enough to prevent a ton of ride up, and I do need a 32E to not have the horrendous quad boob in a 30E. The underwires are wide enough. Just kinda sad that Wacoal doesn't make it in 30F.

Night colorway

Updated on Jul 07, 2022 Flag this

Great bra, relatively comfortable with a nice fit despite the straps being too far apart for total comfort. It seems to stretch quickly after the first few wears, or at least conform to your body. Time will tell if that’s just an initial relaxation or if it will feel “stretched out” quickly. Seems true to size but some of the measurements vary a little between colors & individual bras.

Crimson colorway

Updated on Apr 18, 2022 Flag this

I love this bra! It’s beautiful and supportive and comes in a variety of really pretty colors. It fits pretty true to size and stays in place during the day without needing adjustment. It gives a lot of lift without extra padding. It’s listed as “padded push-up” but the padding is pretty thin. The lace or the center seam shows under thin, fitted tops. It’s best under a loose blouse or sweater. It’s not a perfect 10 in terms of comfort. My only real complaint is that the straps are too far apart and I feel them near my armpits when I move around, so there’s a time limit on how long I want to keep this on and what activities I want to do while wearing it. The triple satin straps are aesthetically pleasing but not as comfortable as a single strap would be.

Flint Stone colorway

Updated on Apr 18, 2022 Flag this

I've been a big fan of the Ciao Bella Balconette for a while, as I wore the 30DD last winter as my primary "sweater bra" under thicker clothing. The 30DD has been too small for me since the beginning of the year, so this year I started picking up the 30DDD instead, which now fits me very well at 28E/28F. This is one of the few styles where I find a 30 band very comfortable as it is snug but not tight.

When I first tried 30DDD back in March 2020, I was a smaller 28E, so while the cups were a close fit, they were still ... slightly too large and I experienced problems with the outer edge of the cup digging in to the underarm area. However, 30DD was clearly too small at this point, so I decided to switch to the larger size anyway. Now that I am a larger 28E/28F, this discomfort has pretty much gone away as I fill out the cup better.

Some people consider this bra shallow, but I disagree. I would say that this runs about a half cup small, so you should order a cup size larger unless you're on the small end of your range. I think the 2HC cut and sew construction is actually quite projected as long as you are in the right size! In the correct size, this should give you a very smooth and rounded shape, not a pointy shape, and the fullness of the cup will be correctly distributed vertically (if the cup is too small, the fullest point will seem to sit too low).

After wearing this bra for an entire season, I have been very happy with the quality and comfort of the bra. The cups have not lost their shape and the band hasn't stretched out. This is an easily accessible and very affordable bra that comes in many lovely colors, and I would recommend this to anyone who needs wider wires and isn't extremely projected, as long as you fall within the size range. It won't be suitable for anyone with very narrow roots or larger than a true F cup as you will be sized out (unless you can sister size up a band size).

After trying the sister size of 32DD, I can confirm that the cups do fit true to size in the sister size, and the band size increase is rather small, so sister sizing is a great option.

Marlin is a beautiful lilac-tinged grey-blue that looks great on my cool skintone. Certain shades of blue bras suit me well, and B. Tempt'd by Wacoal does blue quite well (they have many pinks and blues in the range). The center bow is a sheer cool pink that is similar in tone to the nude underlay of the foam cups.

I like this particular bra so much that I purchased 3, intending to keep the best-fitting one (sometimes these have sewing issues causing them to fit less than ideally), but I've decided to keep two out of the three! This will definitely be in my winter rotation this year.
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Marlin colorway

Updated on Nov 07, 2020 Flag this

The B. Tempt'd Ciao Bella has been one of my favorite bras over the last 6 months. It's relatively easy to find, very inexpensive, comes in lots of pretty colors, and has a snug 30 band that actually works for me. As I have progressed along my bra journey, I have been going up in cup size in this style. To date, I've tried 30D (never fit, too small), 30DD (fit well up until now), and 30DDD, my newest acquisition and current best fit.

The important thing I've realized about the Ciao Bella Balconette is that even though it is cut and sew, it functions very ... similarly to a molded cup bra. Not the shallow t-shirt bras you find on the racks at Target and major department stores, but a style that is relatively projected through the middle and closed at the top. While the foam cups do have some stretch, you are still essentially limited by the shape of the cup. This is not a flat, shallow cup that will just smush down extra tissue and minimize you--trying to squeeze yourself into a smaller cup size in this case will give you a lumpy and distorted shape.

I've heard this bra described as "shallow" in reviews, but I disagree. To me, a shallow bra is one where there is not a lot of difference between the fullest part of the cup and the area nearest the wire and the top of the cup, i.e. the shape is less convex than standard. I find this cup shape to be fairly standard but leaning towards FOB-friendly. It is not ideal for FOT or tall rooted shapes since the top edge is relatively closed. You still need to have enough projection to fill out the middle of the cup, so shallow shapes will end up with the orange-in-a-glass effect. The cup size runs about half a cup small.

The 30D has always been too small, but I have been wearing the 30DD for a while (and collecting more!). In 30DD, I consistently wear this style with the straps fully shortened, and I have complained that the straps don't get any shorter. After receiving my newest 30DD, I realized that this is because the cups are actually too small for me right now by at least half a size. The cups do stretch a bit over time to mold to your shape better, as the 30DD I have been wearing for the last 4 months still fits pretty well. However, in general the 30DD cups are too short for me, causing the seams to sometimes sit weirdly and look pointy on me. The fullest part of the cup also tends to sit too low on my body despite the straps being fully shortened.

Switching to the 30DDD made a huge difference in the shape of the cup. By sizing up to the correct cup size, the appearance of the seams has been eliminated, and the vertical distribution of fullness is now correctly proportioned to my body. I love the shape that this gives me as it's so much more flattering than in the smaller sizes.

The one caveat is that as the cups get deeper and taller, the outer edge of the cup also gets taller, and since my breast tissue goes up into the armpit, the cup now follows. I am petite and have no room between where my breasts end and where the armpit starts, so unfortunately this results in chafing up in that area that's very uncomfortable. In order to remedy the fit, I've released the straps from their fully-shortened position to give myself 1" of extra length compared to how I wear the 30DD. The 30DDD has a triple ribbon strap and wider strap elastic compared to the 30DD and smaller sizes, but I haven't noticed too much functional difference. I think ideally shortening the cup height by 1 cm would make this fit me better.

Like I've experienced with some other bras that correctly fit my larger side (Parfait Charlotte 28E), the 30DDD fits my larger side perfectly but gaps a bit on my smaller side, with this being pretty apparent when moving. I feel that right now I am right between 30DD and 30DDD in terms of the ideal cup size that would fit both sides, but it's good to have a few bras that run a bit larger for hormonal fluctuations.

As I wrote in my reviews for 30DD, the cut and sew foam is sometimes not sewn very neatly at the center seam, so it's best to try it on in person before purchasing, or order from a returnable source. Even if the measurements are the same, the seam shaping can make the bra look pointy rather than smooth depending on how well it is sewn. Other than this, I think this is an excellent, affordable bra that can suit a lot of people, but you may need to try a couple of sizes to find your best fit as there are pretty big differences in fit depending on which size you try.

Winsome Orchid is a lovely light pink that functions as a nude on my light skintone.
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Winsome Orchid colorway

Updated on Jul 29, 2020 Flag this