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Stella, May I know how your Evolution Bra is holding up? knixwear Evolution Bra review

Of course you may. First off, I want to say welcome to all of you from Kickstarter who have read my initial impressions. That post was more of an unboxing and first thoughts on the bra, today's post is a review. Secondly, I have only been wearing and washing the bra for about six weeks. This is going to be an update to how I have been liking it and how it has been holding up. I have been wearing the bra about 2-3 times a week and I have washed it about 4 times.
How has it held up?
For the most part it hasn't shown much wear except with printed writing on the back clasp. As you can see most of the writing has faded away. There is a slight shadowing or staining left behind, but I suspect that will wear out too. Most days, I wear the bra on the black side, so the the writing is directly in contact with my skin. Other than the writing bit, there has not been any fraying, the shape has held up, and nothing has "loosened." The fabric stretch is still stretchy and I have not needed to tighten the straps or move in on the clasp. I have read that the band should be perfectly snug on the loosest setting of your bra; and as you wear the bra, the fabric and stitching loosens and you would tighten clasp setting. That's how I determined the fit of this bra, on the loosest setting.
How has is been wearing? 
This is the bra I wore throughout my DC trip. I wore this bra for about 36 hours straight! I didn't have to adjust it once! My activity was not strenuous nor high impact, as I was just driving and walking the whole day, but I would have thought by the 12th hour I would want to change out of it. It's that feeling of wanting to release the pressure after a long day. However I didn't have that feeling! I barely felt it on. The straps didn't fall down once. When I did take it off there was barely any red marks. Other than the DC trip, I would say it has been wearing fine. It stays put and doesn't shift around as you move.
The Evolution Bra has light support. I am able to go about everyday comings and goings, but I don't plan on running or other high impact activities. Initially, I thought they were more supportive, but I believe that's because they run small. I feel like the sizing changes day to day. Some days I feel bigger and others I feel smaller, and I usually choose a bra that would suit what I was feeling that day. With the knixwear Evolution Bra, I can wear it basically everyday and I would not have a problem with the fit.
That said, I don't think this would be supportive for larger than D cups. There is no wire and the cups are quite thin. They are so thin that you can feel the fabric of the material of whatever you are wearing over top. That brings me to the shape.
Why I don't wear the Evolution Bra everyday. 
These don't give you the traditional, perky boob shape. I would say the Evolution Bra gives you the shape of slightly-covered-and-flattened-but-you-are-basically-not-wearing-a-brassier-shape. It's fine for lounging around the house or more baggy, shapeless clothing, but I am definitely limited to what I can wear with it. That's why I would say this is not the bra I would wear daily unless I am just in the house, running basic errands, or wearing lounge wear. I am not wearing it as much as I thought I would have.
I mentioned that the cups are quite thin and I have noticed that they are so thin that they are basically see-through! When I wear it on either side, I would be able to see what I am covering and that's not under direct light. So if I was wearing light colored tops, I would wear the nude side of the bra; and I would be able to see not only the shapes, but also the different colors under the bra!
How do they compare to other bras? 
I would say the Evolution Bra is closest to simple bralette but will a lot more support. It's not like a sports bra since it's not supportive. (The knixwear site shows models in the water with the bra, but I have not tested this out.) The bralette gives a better shape, even though it is also thin, wireless, and without padding.The bralette above is made of a thin spandex. After a day wearing the bralette, I would feel like the fabric is "tired." It's like it's done its job and needs to rest and regroup. With the Evolution Bra, I can wear it the entire day and even sleep in it and it continues to be supportive. As I have said this bra isn't for high impact movements, but I am able to walk up and down stairs without wanting to hold anything in and nothing is bouncing. Because of the thin material used, there is some rippling that happens in the section right under my arms. This might be due to sizing, but it's not that noticeable and it doesn't show through the clothes I wear on top.
I also mentioned previously that you can see the boning/lining through the fabric. You can see it slightly in the picture above, but there is a better picture where I hold it up to the light in the first post so visit that post to better see it. After 4 washes, this lining has not become more pronounced nor has it affected the wear. (I have washed it in warm water in the provided laundry bag, then line dried.)

Closing remarks 
The knixwear Evolution Bra has held up, but bras don't usually break down that quickly. Because of how thin the material is, I have to be careful in choosing what to wear with the bra. But the thin material also makes it very comfortable to wear. It's also easy to just throw in the wash. The Evolution Bra is nicely constructed and I can see it holding up through multiple washes and wears. I would say the bra was worth $55, but I don't find the need to buy multiples of them. Thanks for reading my genuine review of the knixwear Evolution Bra. I bought for my Evolution Bra on kickstarter back on September 2015.

links: my Evolution Bra first impressions post
knixwear website
pre-orders (indiegogo)
kickstarter campaign
Fashion, Kickstarter, Review
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Stella, May I know what you think about the knix wear Evolution Bra?

I know today is Tutorial Tuesday, but before today's tutorial I have this special review to share with you first. That means I will be posting twice today! Happy February!
Inside the box, under Popcorn, is the world's most advanced bra.
Knix wear claims that this Evolution Bra is the "world's most comfortable, versatile, and technologically advanced bra." It's an eight-in-one wearable option (more on that later), that you can wear from work to the gym. Mine finally arrived yesterday and I wanted to finally share an unboxing and first impressions with you! With these Kickstarter campaigns, you never know when you will actually receive your reward. I pledged for the Early Bird Bra that was estimated for delivery in November 2015. I've learned that those estimated delivery dates are really optimistic. Onto the bra unboxing!
Here Popcorn is posing there to show you the size of the packaging and to hide my address. Also, when this bra ships the only thing sealing the box is that shipping label.
 When you open the box, you see a brochure. Inside you will find information about the brand knix wear and testimonials.
Under the brochure, you get a fine-mesh-zippy bag. This is the free laundry travel bag included with the Kickstarter pledge.
That is all that is included in the package. There was no padding, nonetheless everything arrived intact without any dents or dings. However if it had been raining, there is no saving the insides from getting wet.
This box is packaged as if you can find it on the shelves of a store. There is no seal to the box. If this were sold at the store, anyone could easily open the box. Inside the box, you can see the bra folded neatly inside and the extra straps tucked on the side with its own compartment. Knix wear states that the packaging is reusable, but I don't think the box is sturdy enough and because the pictures are printed on the box, I would want to cover it to use it.
Here is the the world's most advanced bra, knix wear's Evolution Bra! This is the unpadded version, there is also a padded version that I'm sure wouldn't look as sad when you take it out for the first time.
This is one of the ways of wearing the bra. Black with black adjustable straps in the traditional front to back fashion.  Don't get too excited though, the other seven ways are not impressive. You can also cross the straps to have a racerback option or then change it to the nude straps. So far that is four "different" ways of wearing the bra. Then you can reverse it to the nude side and have that whole strap changing fiasco for another four "different" ways. I would not consider this an 8-in-1 bra, but rather a 2-in-1 bra. It's a reversible bra with changeable straps. The straps are adjustable.
 This is that reverse nude side with black straps.
As you can see with the nude side with nude straps, it's not completely nude. There is a black square where the straps connect. This was not clear on the Kickstarter campaign. Their mock up drawing shows the same black and beige option that I have (although it looked more pink to me), and it didn't show this little black square.
On the plus side, the connector is much sturdier and larger than any other bra that I have. (VS, Gilly Hicks, Aerie..) From this picture you can see that the tab formed to connect the straps is a sewed down fabric folded over from the black side.
The racerback or criss cross option. Besides the deceiving multi way bra, the straps that make that happen are great. The straps are wider than most other straps and have slight padding on the underside. You can also see from this picture that the clasp is a three hook variety. This will be my first time using this kind, so there will be some getting used to on my part. The clasp part lays flatter than other bras I have. After the first day from wearing it, the bra strap never fell down and stayed in place. This would be true from any new bras, so I will have to do more wears and see how it holds up after a few washes.
When you reverse the bra, the clasp also reverses and it is covered. When I first tried to wear it, it took a couple of tries. It might be because I am not familiar with the three clasp but also because the hooks and eyes are switched. So instead of guiding the hooks to the eyes with my right hand, I end up blindly trying to lead the eyes to the hooks with my right hand. It is probably easier to hook the bra from the front and sliding the bra to the correct position. It is certainly the faster option.
 The clasp for the black side.
The material is 60% nylon and 40% spandex.  I've read some negative reviews where they were disappointed that the fabric is just nylon and spandex. However, most sports bra on the market are made of a similar nylon/polyester and spandex blend.  This bra is incredibly thin and has lots of stretch, but doesn't compromise on the support. It has medium to high support. Because of how thin and sturdy the material is, I think that this wears differently than other performance, seam-free fabrics. It may seem like a simplified sports bra, but I think it's more complex than that. I can definitely wear this bra comfortably the whole day! I even took a 4 hour nap and was not bothered by the bra like I would normally be.
As you can see in the picture there is a outline where the underwire would be and the cups meet. I found this out when I tried the bra on. I was able to feel the different support from the two areas.
When you hold the bra up against a light you can clearly see that the cups are very unpadded and thin. This is not cold temperature friendly. There is a padded version of the Evolution Bra, but Knix wear says that it is a thin, non-removable padding. I chose the unpadded version since I didn't think it would make that big of a difference. The other major difference between the Evolution Bra and other unpadded bras is that there is the support on the top of the cups. There is no gap between the bra and your skin.

Overall, I am very pleased with the bra and I would recommend it. It is different than any other bras I have tried and it will need some getting used to, but it is just so comfortable. The light, thin material provides support that lasts the entire day without the marks left when I take it off. I don't feel the need to hold myself while going down stairs, if you know what I mean. I also like that while being seam-free, the bra doesn't roll up like other seam-free materials. Even though there is virtually no padding at the cups, I don't feel like they shift. Definitely no uni-boob here. So far I am happy with this new type of bra.

Edit: I have an updated review post here. It's a full review where I talk about how it has held up after 6 weeks, why I don't wear it everyday, and whether or not I will be purchasing another one.

www.knixwear.com
Currently available for preorder on indiegogo
Fashion, Kickstarter, Trends
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Stella, May I ask why you have a giant unicorn light?

 How can you resist a giant unicorn lamp? After months of waiting (kickstarter campaign shipping issues), I finally got my unicorn lamp. This may be an extravagant, unnecessary purchase, but I think the joy it brings me was well worth it. In the picture above, you can see how bright it is compared to the humidifier behind it. I would not recommend it as a night light but as a daytime decoration piece. The humidifier on the other hand would be perfect for that. The dim green glow right behind the unicorn is the humidifier. Until I learn how to GIF, you'll only be able to see this one color, but trust me, the cool part of this gift to myself is that it changes colors.
Excuse my scowl, I was really happy in this moment. It just wasn't captured in this picture. This is the giant box my new obsession came in. Also this is the outer no-hiding-what-is-inside packaging. There is no surprising anyone with what is inside. (Beware of nosy neighbors or postwomen.)
 Inside, you can see it was fairly well packaged. There is styrofoam blocks on the bottom and top that keep the lamp from moving. The plastic bag on the bottom right is the power source. It's a fairly short cord, about 3 feet. Plan accordingly.
Finally it's mine! Now you can see my joy. This picture it probably the best depiction to show you the size. It is a GIANT unicorn light. It would take up a small side table, as long as it is right next to an outlet. 

 Styrofoam packaging, or new hat. Maybe possibly Halloween cheese-head costume?
All the lights off and only the unicorn light on. As you can see the horn part of the light isn't really lit up. This was an issue that the makers were aware of but didn't fix. It is really such a shame, the horn is quite integral to the this light.

The Kickstarter campaign has ended now, however you can purchase your own at their website. Last time I looked, they were still shipping out the rest of the rewards from the campaign, so if you buy one now it would be a preorder. They have distribution centers in US, Europe, and Asia. I would still be wary of those custom fees. Keep in mind that these are big items, so they will take awhile to ship. Even though the campaign has ended, you can buy these lamps at a better deal now. I suggest waiting for a sale to buy it. After calculating the latest sale (20% off and free shipping over $100+), it would have been better for me to wait until the campaign ended to buy it. It ended it up cheaper and the shipping date was earlier than the kickstarter shipping date. I would have received it even earlier. Also you can return the item on their website, but you can't return it on kickstarter.

The right picture shows me holding the tiny very of the light. This tiny one is much brighter than its big brother and runs on batteries. I use it when I have to bumble around at the middle of the night. It also bumped around in the packaging since it appeared they just dropped it inside.

Purchase here.
Fiddle-Faddle Fridays, Home, Kickstarter,
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