Competition: Love Yourself First

As RuPaul says:

If you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else

And what better excuse than the Valentine's season to think about how awesome you are!

In the lingerie industry, Valentine's Day is one of the key selling times of the year, that's no secret. While we love to think about our lingerie being gifted to a partner (not necessarily just for a man to buy for a woman), we know that the constant push of V-Day makes some people feel left out.

So, while we might shout about our Valentine's Gift Guide, we also want to make sure we do something special for those that may not be celebrated or celebrating this Valentine's Day!

We're giving away a goodie bag worth up to £100 to a winner picked at random.

All you need to do to enter is comment on this post telling us what you love about yourself*

It doesn't have to be something physical; maybe you love that you have a certain skill, or that you have conquered a goal that you recently set for yourself.

For extra chances to win, you can become a fan of us on facebook, follow our twitter, follow our Pinterest or sign up to our newsletter (which also happens to give you a little discount code as a thank you!). Follow the instructions on the rafflecopter below!

*please do not enter if you are planning to give the goodie bag to someone else, you should buy them lingerie to show them how much you love them instead ;)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy New Year!

We've reached 2015! Happy new year!

We had a cracking year, here's a little run down of our favourite bits!

January

For the past few years we've been teaming up with other indie brands for the big Love Bomb! In January, we decided, rather than shoot models in the designers' lingerie, we'd shoot the designers themselves (apart from Curvy Couture who couldn't join us). For 6 days each brand ran a different offer or discount in the run up to Valentine's Day, and we all talked about what we loved about each brand.

We started to launch our SS'14 collection, featuring the neon pink Nancy and peppermint green Penny sets!

February

One of the most common pieces of feedback we get from our customers is the need for a wider range of sizes. As a small brand, with the cost of each different bra size being significant, we just aren't able to please everyone and create as many sizes as are requested. Our standard size set went up to 36DD, and the most common requests were for E and F cup sizes, so we took the plunge (no pun intended)! 

In February we launched the Lily collection, which included 32E, 32F, 34E and 34F sizes in both an open cup bra and a balconette bra. The feedback we received was amazing! The E and F cups almost completely sold out within a matter of weeks, which proved to us that the extended sizing was a good idea, and worth including in future sets. We have since re-stocked this line and included 36E and 36F cups also.

March

Starting with our friends, Kiss Me Deadly, we launched guest brands on our website and in our Boxpark boutique. Soon followed by French brand, Maison Close.

April

We started to bring in our AW'14 collection, including our Jackie set! We were really happy with the lookbook for this collection too, as it was quite different from our previous ones with it's minimal, 60's feel.

May

As we work a year ahead, we shot our SS'15 lookbook in May of this year. This allows us to take the collection to tradeshows and show our stockists what we will have available for the next year. Many stockists plan their next seasons based on pre-orders they place at trade-shows. 

Here's our model Laura with her "bodyguards", our makeup artist Cheyenne and hair stylist Dee!

June

This year marked our 10th birthday, and we wanted to celebrate in style! Emma, designer and creator of Playful Promises, planned and organised an extra-special collection to be manufactured in the UK. We teamed up with artist Karina Akopyan for a special print featuring an exclusive circus illustration (photo on the left), theming the entire project around vintage circuses. 

The result featured gold fringing, bodysuits, bra sets and more, each a new style for Playful Promises. Each piece is an incredibly limited edition, and once they are gone, they are gone!

August

We said hello to Mia, another F Cup set featuring an exclusive print designed in-house and detachable suspender straps!

September

We had a fabulous time at the London Fashion Week Catwalk Edit show!

We began stocking makeup from Sugarpill and Shien Cosmetics!

October

We shot a new Halloween lookbook inspired by Victorian Spiritualism, which mixed and matched pieces available at Playful Promises.

November

We began stocking boudoir accessories by Spanish brand, Secret Play

We took part in the Lingerie Secret Santa campaign, with fellow independent designers! This box of goodies went off to our secret santa all the way in the US, Clare Bare.

December

We shot our AW'15 collection with some of our favourite models, Miss Miranda, Miss Deadly Red and Veanne (IMM)! We are SO excited about this collection, which should be arriving from April onwards!

The stunning retro-inspired Brigitte arrived, as the final part of our AW14 collection.

The first part of our Spring/Summer 2015 collection, Gwendolene, has just arrived!

What's next for 2015?

We've got so much planned already for 2015, and so excited to be able to show you what we've been working on!

Makeup Tutorial: Autumn Glitz

You may have noticed that we've started stocking makeup from Sugarpill and Shien Cosmetics!

I was very, very excited about this as one of my obsessions (other than lingerie, of course) is makeup, and lots of it. I love being creative with colour and style, and Sugarpill's colourful pigments are perfect for this. 

I'll be putting together fun and creative tutorials to show you what you can do with these products!

In this tutorial I'll be creating a vibrant Autumn-inspired look with some of my favourite Sugarpill pigments; Poison Plum, Love +, Flamepoint, Buttercupcake and Hi-Viz Neon. I'll finish with the Glitzy lashes and Shien Cosmetics Cobra Lily Lipstick.

I love my makeup bold and bright, but you can lay it on as thick as you like, and be as creative as you like. The great thing about these pigments is that with less product on your brushes, you can create a more subtle look!

Step 1: Using a fairly thin brush, or one that's flat, apply Love + along the crease of your eyelid and curve outwards in a flick. Don't worry about being messy on the lid at this point, as you'll be blending upwards. Take time on creating the curve of the flick; if you have trouble keeping the line, you can cut a curve out of some paper or card and use this as a template.

Step 2: Apply Poison Plum just along the crease of the eyelid, creating a smaller flick inside the red. Using a small blending brush, soften the edges where purple meets red. To do this, load a small amount of Poison Plum onto the blending brush and gently buff where you want to blend.

Step 3: Using a clean brush, tidy up the lid below the Poison Plum. Using a slightly larger brush, apply Flamepoint above the red, higher up towards the inner eye, sloping down to meet the flick of the outer eye.

Step 4: You may need to start building colour up in layers in order to blend everything together. I added more Love + in-between the orange and purple to blend the two together. Leave the area above the orange while you do this, as you don't want any purple/red getting up there.

Step 5: Apply the Buttercupcake above the orange, along the bottom of your eyebrow to define shape. To make my eyes pop I also add the yellow to the inner eye and the eyelid, which also defines the crease. Add a touch of Hi-Viz pigment to the inner eye, and sweep along the yellow just below the eyebrow.

Step 6: Using liquid or gel eyeliner (I swear by Collection's Liquid Liner), create a cat-flick, starting low on the inner eye and gradually sloping upwards to the outer eye. With the eyeshadow flick already there you can mimic this shape. Add your favourite mascara.

Step 7: For a really glam look, add the Glitzy False Eyelashes to your upper lash line. I find eyelashes always seem a bit big for my eyes, so I cut mine down slightly.

Step 8: Use red lip liner and Shien Cosmetics Cobra Lily Lipstick to add the finishing touch!

I'd love to see how you get on! #playfulpromisesmakeup or @playfulpromises on instagram with your looks!

Your Xmas Wishlist Results!

The results of our wishlist survey are in!

You told us which Playful pieces you had your eye on this year, with the top results above. 

The French Knickers (available in black and ivory) were designed as easy gifting options, and it seems that you agree! The limited edition camisole and french knickers (available in teal or lipstick) followed along with the autumnal Edie set. 

Gift Vouchers and Frilly Knickers also make wonderful gifts, and Anastasia still remains a firm favourite!

We believe that lingerie is all about the wearer, and results of the confidence that lingerie brings are just a bonus! So we were very glad to hear that our fans like to treat themselves, even at Christmas. And why not? As Ru Paul says, if you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love somebody else? 

It's also interesting to see the age range of our fans, which seems to be quite varied! Pants for everyone :)

Make sure to shop our Xmas Gift Guide and Stocking Fillers!

Lingerie Secret Santa

Karolina of Karolina Laskowska came up with the brilliant idea of a lingerie Secret Santa between the independent lingerie brands. 

As the person behind Playful Promises, I can say it is a brand born out of the love of lingerie, so I was more than up for sending out a secret gift in return for secret gift back! After working hard all year it seems like such a nice treat to receive a mystery gift.

Last year I received an amazing sheer black and red underbust from Pop Antique with a matching fascinator.  It also touched me when I contacted her to thank her that she’d taken the time to stalk me on Facebook and look at my photos, going to the trouble to choose a set she thought fitted with my personal style. How awesome is that?

The other nice thing about this range is it is an opportunity to introduce some other independent brands working hard and to give us a chance to support each other and encourage our customers to shop independent this Christmas.

There are a number of independents brands taking part this aside from the ones I already mentioned year including:

Kiss Me Deadly – good for golden screen inspired glamour and they support the feminist cause. I like brands with a conscience.  We all have to make a living but no need to sacrifice your principles in the process.

Ayten Gasson – good for silk and UK made. Knowing the designer personally I can also say she is very nice. I like to spend my money with decent and nice people. Don’t you?

Clare Bare – if I had to pick a lingerie brand to represent California dreaming through English eyes this is it! 

Angela Freidman – the designer behind this brand used to run the NY Ballet Costume Department and you can really feel this when you look at the level of craftsmanship in her work. 

Karolina Laskowska - recently graduated Karolina works with beautiful fabrics and lace, including vintage kimono fabrics. I especially love the latter after having lived in Tokyo!

Now this is my Secret Santa  - can you guess who it is for?

The full list of brands taking part are:

Previously Chicago, Alexandrea Anissa, Betty Blue’s Loungerie, Dottie’s Delights, Evgenia, Kiss Me Deadly, Playful Promises, Angela Friedman, Harlow and Fox, Clare Bare, Karolina Laskowska, Made By Niki, Nearer The Moon, La Lilouche, Ayten Gasson, Pop Antique, Britta Uschkamp, FRKS

Follow the lingerie secret santa on instagram with tags #lingeriesecretsanta, #lingerieinsidertips, #lingeriegifts & #shopindependent

Shop independent this Xmas – be inspired by our secret santa!