With the arrival of my new breast forms, I need to make space for them, which means sale time!

I have put on sale the last few pairs of my older versions of my styles, which you can see here: 

I also have some pairs that are not up to my high standards, with various issues such as cosmetic blemishing, and I will be adding those over the next week to my bargain category here:

I have very limited stocks, so grab them while you can.  If you have any questions, just contact me.

"Gender medicine is not feminist. It's about real science...later the patient will reap the benefit"  Dr Alyson McGregor, Brown University. 

As someone who relies on medication to keep my health conditions under control (Lupus) this is a topic that I'm very interested and it catches my eye if I see it in a magazine/paper.  I also run a business that caters for women, as well as women with specific health needs such as having had a mastectomy, and issues around gender with women transitioning from a male body to a female one.  Health, medication and gender are around me in my professional and personal life every day.

My Dad subscribes to the BBC magazine "Science Focus" (formally just BBC Focus) and an article in there recently about gender and medicine was fascinating. If you'd like to read it, I can scan and send you a copy, but to summarise the writer Simon Crompton wrote:

• Only in the past decade has mainstream medicine started to realise that different drug doses may be needed for men and women
• This was accelerated by the findings that a sleeping and jet lag treatment caused women to act bizarrely with no recollection of what they have done. After the US drug regulators investigated, it was found that women needed half the amount than men do, as women metabolise it slower than men, meaning it stays in their system longer. 
• The old medical view of a woman with regard to medicine was that they are essential men with "boobs and tubes". 
• Since changing ideas, it has found that women experience heart attacks differently.  For men, look out for a tight pain in the chest, shooting pains down the arm and dizziness. With women, look for shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea and pain in the lower jaw or back. 
• We have found that women have faster and stronger immune responses than men, as testosterone dampens men's responses. 
• This results in men being more likely to die of infectious diseases
• Women are more likely to have autoimmune diseases (like lupus, which is a "woman's disease"). The believe percentage of autoimmune diseases is 78% women. 
• Women and men have different metabolisms and different experiences of pain.
• Biological sex and gender with characteristics and identity shapes by society and the environment and now both being studied on their influence over medicine.
• Women and men tend to experience Alzheimer's differently. Look for behavioural changes and aggression in women, and physical impairment and aggression in men.
• Gut function really seems to vary, with women taking twice as long to digest food and medication, being more likely to get gall stones have IBS. 
• The main reason behind the assumption, until now, that medicine works the same for men and women, is that all medical trials were carried out on men.  It was believed that women of childbearing years etc should be protected from harmful testing.  As a result, the differences in medication influence were not seen in a lab environment and when women are involved the results tend to be combined so the differences between them are never discovered in the same way as separate testing for men and women. 
• Gender medicine has been slow to grow due to cost. Trials on women are more expensive. Hormone fluctuations mean as woman needs checking more often, depending on where they are in their menstrual cycle. 
• Despite the costs, Dr Alyson McGregor states that it is important for the evolution in excellence in health care. Afterall, currently mixed trials are potentially making the results inaccurate for men too.  

Clearly, we are experiencing a change in the medical and pharmaceutical industries, but this change will take time. I await with interest the day that I see the first change on a medication packaging, detailing the dose for men and the dose for women. 

For more information about Dr Alyson McGregor, you can read her TED page here and watch her TED talk on the subject at the bottom. 

The article I read was written by Simon Crompton, a science journalist, and you can read some of his other articles for free on The Times website here.

Keeping my store environmentally friendly has always been something that I am passionate about.  

I will always struggle with that the silicone breast enhancers themselves are not recyclable, but I hope this will change in the future, and it is why I work on making top-quality products.  I don't like to go along the lines of other stores, with cheaper products, even if those cheaper prices do mean it attracts more customers. Instead, I would rather spend more in manufacturing the products, so I can not only make the manufacturing process as environmentally friendly as possible, but also make products that are designed to perform well and last as long as possible.  

I do my best with small changes as often as I can make them:

• I have always recycled all the business waste possible. 
• I moved to fully recyclable Jo Thornton labels in 2011
• Not long after I introduced recyclable tissue paper packaging as the packaging that most of my products go out in.  I knew that most customers would not doubt that they could recycle tissue paper and paper recycling is on of the things we are best at out of all recycling types. 
• I added natural cotton organza bags and fully recyclable cardboard boxes as other product options, later that year, rather than plastic based bags.
• In 2013 I made my fashion tape rolls have recyclable backing and a recyclable inner roll.
• I took active steps in 2014 to audit all my storage and I now only use cardboard and wooden storage in all my storage areas.
• My mailing bags have always been recyclable for the bigger sizes and biodegradable for the smaller sizes.  Technology has moved on in this area, so I am working with a factory to make bags just for me that will dissolve to Co2, water and eco-friendly biomass. They will use vegetable inks and there will be no residue left of the bag but those compounds, and this is the most eco-friendly option that is available. These are nearly finalised and will be packaging your goodies very soon. 

My next steps:

• My next step is to look at the bags that all my tapes come in.  The problem that I have is that the tape is adhesive, so I am unable to use a paper or cotton based back as the tape will remove some of that packaging and be hard for you to remove.  I am going to try other biodegradable plastic types to see if I can get one that ticks all the boxes.  
• I will also continue to check for biodegradable jiffy bags.  At the moment the only ones available are the padded bags with shredded paper in and these are often not recyclable as the fibres clog the machines when they break open. I will keep checking to find a bag where the bubble wrap lining is made of biodegradable plastic, or see if some other options appear as an option.  For now, I will try to use cardboard boxes whenever possible, but as these are around 6 times the price, it can be very difficult whilst keeping my prices low for my customers. 

I am glad to see the sway in thinking towards protecting the environment and I will always do all I can to do the best I can.

  xxxx

 

The breast form stock situation has been going on longer than I wanted it to, so I just want to update you all about where I am at.

I decided a couple of months ago to make some changes to my breast forms shapes, and to increase the thickness of the back on the breast forms in order to help with using the tape with them.  I thought this would be like one of my normal tweaks, but it turns out I was wrong!  This is what has happened

  I looked at customer feedback for the shapes and did some slightly edited designs.

  I brought in more boobylicious tape, and the feedback was great.  Quite a few customers said that a thicker breast form back would really help when removing the tape.  This makes absolute sense, and with the extra pressure put on the back of the breast forms, make them stronger too. 

  I chatted to my factory and we started working on the new designs.  It all seemed to be going really well!

 Once the moulds for the breast forms were made, we found out that the thicker back was not possible with the kind of machinery the factory has.  By this stage, I was really determined that this is the best way forward for my breast forms.  I've tried working hard with the factory to make it work, but it has failed.

 Undeterred, I have chatted to one of my other factories which make my smaller breast enhancers, and they felt ready to take this step with me, which is very exiting!  They share my vision and have the machinery needed to make it a reality, so we just needed to make the moulds.  We made a prototype and it was fabulous!

  The moulds have now all been designed for all the styles now, apart from teardrop 2.

Finally, we are getting there! 

Production is now beginning on teardrop style 1, pear, round and triangle.  These will be made first, and sent out asap.  

The final design and moulds will begin soon for teardrop style 2.  These will then be made ASAP and in my store as soon as I can get them in there.

In the meantime, I have some breast forms still left, and some sample runs from my departed from factory, so I will get those up in the store for you at some great prices :) 

I will keep you updated as it progresses.

UPDATE - 6/9/19

The pear and triangle shapes are now in stock!

A friend of mine told me to listen to this, and I'm glad I did.  It's such an eye opener about the attitudes that some women used to have, and how attitudes about women have changed.  

I thought she was wonderful as she had such conviction in her thoughts.  She was born in 1901, in a time very different to now, had a privileged upbringing and that clearly shaped her views. She went on to have the most amazing novel-writing career, writing one a week, and wrote a total of 723 in her lifetime, which is just phenomenal.  My favourite part though was when she said that she had a very poor upbringing, with only 2 servants! 

She left the most amazing legacy and she was fascinating to listen to. I didn't agree with most of her views, but it was so interesting to hear her perspective on why she felt women's lib is terrible and how a woman should please her husband.  If you want to hear her interview on "In The Psychiatrists Chair" you can here, for as long as the BBC allow.  It's worth it!

First of all, I've been so happy with hearing how well you've got on with my boobylicous tape, so thank you for all the emails that have helped me see that it was worth the effort of introducing this tape :)   It is such a hard balance with tape, with creating the right ratio of stick to not causing discomfort or problems when removing tape.  I will never get that balance right for all people, as everyone has different skin types etc and I'd rather be cautious, but your emails show me that the tape has been really helpful to many people and has really opened up the ability to wear less supportive bras and to go bra-less in many cases. I hope I've got a great balance, and the feedback has been really positive so I am so pleased.

You may have also noticed that I've grown the range of tapes that I have, thanks to your feedback. I was approached by many customers asking for a sheet that is bigger, so that it can be cut down exactly to size or trimmed around a smaller breast form or enhancer for the perfect fit.   As a result, I introduced my A6 size sheet.  For those of you not so familiar with the paper size concept, it's a postcard size of 10cm by 15cm.  

I also introduced the strips in normal and wider size of 2.5cm.  I love to give you flexibility and choice, as it seems that some customers prefer to use one wider strip rather than 2 thinner ones for some bras/enhancers and this ultimately offers better value.  Some enhancers are too small for the wider tape and only need the one narrow strip, so by offering both you can choose exactly what you'd like.  

I've also got the discs in 8cm and 11cm sizes, which are perfect for the different size breast forms.

The next step is for me to see if I can get it to release better from the clear backing side, as I know that some of you do struggle to get that side off.  I will be working with the factory to see if they can make the tape release easier for you when I do my next big production run of the tape.

Whilst writing this, I've also thought of another thing that might help you...the introduction of a sample pack.  If you are going to use the tape then it can be tough to know which would be best I should imagine, especially now I have so much choice with 2 sizes of strips, 2 of discs and the sheet.  I know some of you use a combination for the bigger breast forms, so offering a selection pack with a few of each type would perhaps be useful.  I'll put together some packs with some of each in, so you can try the different types rather than having to commit straight away to one type of boobylicious tape.  I'll get on to working out the best numbers of each for the pack and the price and pop it in the store asap!

I read about Theresa Kachindamoto this week and I just had to share some of her story here in case you haven't heard of her.

Theresa is a Malawi Chief nicknamed "The Terminator" for her annulment of around 1000 child marriages since she became Chief of her tribe.  Not only has she done that, but she has also sent as many of those girls, and sometimes boys, as possible back to school. 

In a country with high rates of child marriage, Theresa has done an amazing job of protecting girls from early marriages and the huge risks that come with child pregnancy.  

When asked about the annulments,Theresa has famously said:

“When girls are educated, everything is possible.”

It's not been an easy road for her of course, with opposition from male chiefs and parents who benefit from arranged, child and forced marriages, but she has fought them with courage and kindness. Recently, in February 2017, the country took a major step to end child marriage by adopting a constitutional amendment that raises the minimum age of marriage from 15 to 18 years, for both girls and boys. 

I'm happy to see that has received global recognition for her work and has been visited by Emma Watson, the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, generating more support for her work and more financial aid to ensure girls can remain in school rather than be forced into marriage.  

I'm sure you will agree, what a woman!

You can read more about her here and here.

It's been a tough 10 months for me.  I've been physically unwell with nausea, vomiting and tummy pain mixed with headaches, on-and-off since June, and it's really taken its toll.  Getting so run down, for this unknown reason, kicks off my lupus and my mental health took a nose dive.  I was spending chunks of the day in bed and this was happening many days in the week at the rough points.  

Then we finally found out I have stripped the lining in my stomach and developed ulcers in my digestive system, probably caused by my steroids and things I take for lupus. Not good, but great to know what had kept flaring up and making me feel so rubbish.

So, now I am getting physically much better (with yet another medication) and trying to lower my lupus medication so that it helps me but doesn't cause all this to happen again.  I am still finding it hard, but I am certainly feeling a lot more positive. I was wondering a little while ago what I can do to help myself more, as self-compassion is something I am very bad at.  I'm a real do-er, so I get frustrated when I get knocked for six on a poor health day and I'm not very good at stopping.  The fact I had so many bouts, meant my mental health and ability to keep positive and keep going, went out the window.  With more energy now, I can work on that even more, so I decided to subscribe to two delivery boxes with my mental health in mind.  Like everyone, I am not keen on just getting bills, so I thought I'd try something nicer arriving on my doormat.

The first to arrive was my Buddy Box, from the Blurt Foundation.  

At £21.50 it is pricey, but that's because there is so much in it.  You can always go for the Buddy Box lite at £12 if it's too much for you to afford.  What I did like, is that a one-off box is the same price as the monthly subscription, so you can feel happy about trying it out or treat yourself every 2 months etc. if that's better for you.

I tell you what though, it's an absolutely lovely box.  As the foundation say themselves, 

The contents of the BuddyBox vary from month to month and remain a closely guarded secret. (The surprise is very much part of the experience.) All the items included in the box are intended to make you feel good: helping you de-stress, find calm, feel pampered, relax, get creative, or simply have fun.

It was exactly what I wanted and it is beautifully done. It's a social enterprise, so profits are channelled back into helping those with depression, and the foundation is also there for you should you need them.  So, with at least 5 top-quality items in the box, and knowing that you are doing good with the profit money, it's a real boost.  

I got the box that we are all "Winging It", so it has a fab bird theme.  I received some  a lovely Gull Notebook, a winging it card, a sew your own bird pencil topper, a wooden badge saying "Kindness Matters", some lovely tea bags and some very expensive rose facial oil for my skin.

It's all just so lovely and my cat thought so too.  If you fancy receiving a box of surprise gifts, to remind yourself to sit down and take some time out/that you are not alone/to get you trying something new, give them a go.  You can also visit their website for some fantastic resources if you are suffering with depression.

https://www.blurtitout.org/resources/

Hi lovelies.

Just to let you know that I am making website changes, including my template/design.

I am trying to find a solution that works well on mobiles, tablets and desktops, and it's quite hard to make sure it displays well on all three!  

Hopefully, you love the new design and as I tweak it, it will be more intuiative for the way you'd like to use the site. 

If you have any problems with the site, or notice any links that are being silly and not directing you to the right place, please do let me know by emailing [email protected] or using my contact form.

I'm trialing a live chat!  

I've always wondered about them, but have never been able to find one that I could customise, but now I have at last.

I run the business on my own, with some packaging help from my Mum and Dad now that they have retired, so I can't always be available to chat, but I will have it on as often as I can.  If I am doing a quick job that takes me away from my computer for up to 10 minutes, ,I will pop it on that I am 'away'. If I am doing something that takes a little longer, like getting orders ready or cataloging in a delivery, I shall pop it to invisible and you can just send me a message.  That way, you can decide if it is worth checking back for me if you have a quick question.  

Hopefully it will be on plenty so that I can help many of you quicker than if you were waiting for an email.  

Let's give it a try to see how we get on.  To chat to me, you just need to click the "Let's Chat" icon down on the bottom right.