Tenshi Auction Service Review

It has been quite some time, but for you I bring this interlude post. I am an avid online-buyer, being a Lolita, of course. However, I have never had the experience to review any of the stores I have bought from. This is due to me being both shy and not very relevant in any online community, as well as having bought from stores that have previously been reviewed, and thus it seemed unnecessary.

The description I have just given will probably make you think, "¿Then why are you reviewing Tenshi, who has been immensely reviewed?". Well, firstly I am very, very excited about what I have gotten, and wish to share it with whomever I may. Secondly, I wanted to. Thirdly, I already did it.

Now, without further ado, the review. (Mind yourselves, it is filled with lots of text.)

What I got from Tenshi was the BTSSB Velveteen Black OP with Capelet, and a headdress from  Angelic Pretty in lieu of the original bonnet. You may have heard me speak previously (and quite often) about how much I love Old-School, and to me this is a rather iconic Old-School piece, even if it is not the Elisabeth OP.

I sent Tenshi an Auction Service Request (available in her website) on May 20th at around 8:30 PM (Cancún Time), and she replied to me on May 21st at 7:50 PM. It was an on-schedule 24h response, but I remember panicking during the course of that day because I did not want to lose the dress. (My very first experience with Y!J was quite a monumental loss, with the price rising about $300 in the time I was asleep, so I was afraid). After the bidding, we just had to wait for the auction to expire on May 25th.

After we won the auction, she invoiced me the total price I had to pay, which included both shippings (from the seller to her, and from her to me) and the ending auction price of the item. She has a handy calculator for the final price in her website as well, which is incredibly helpful if you have a budget. That way I was sure that I'd have no problems affording the service. I paid, and now I had to wait for the item to arrive to her so she could send it to me.

The next time she contacted me was on May 31, after shipping my dress off to me. She offers 3 shipping options, EMS, Airmail, and SAL. I chose EMS because it is the service I always use for packages from Japan, and have never had a bad experience with them. Shipping from Japan to Mexico takes around 2 weeks, and the dress arrived on June the 16th.

So, now it has arrived to me. This entire endeavour took about 27 days.

So now, the fun part!

Arrival and Unwrapping

As soon as my father arrived holding the package I was elated. I took it and immediately went off to snap some pictures. I had to fight my instinct to strip my dress of its paper bindings and try it on, since I absolutely had to make this review (as a personal goal).

So, the package arrived in standard EMS packaging, everything in perfect condition. The dress was wrapped with a teddy-printed plastic bag, accompanied by a Lumiembre catalogue, a Gothic Lolita Bible flyer (is that called a flyer?), and a cute little handwritten note from Tenshi wishing me a happy cording time. There was a sticker taped to the note, so that I could use it myself. Since I'm very apprehensive about using stickers (because they are just too cute to waste), I think I will be adding it to my collection.

Here are some quick coordinate pictures, front, back, and cape-less. My face has become a gardenia because the light wasn't too kind on me. The dress is quite lovely, and it does have a feeling of being worn and washed quite a bit, since the velveteen is a little spent and faded. It is still absolutely gorgeous, and I love that it does not make that "new fabric" rustling sound (you know the one!).  Some detail shots of the dress, so you can get a closer look at it. I am smitten by the amount of details and things you can tie.

The included headdress is actually not velveteen like I had understood, but it's still absolutely gorgeous. I have been developing quite a taste for black lately.

The dress itself is stainless, just has some slight dust smell from storing. The sleeves are a little tight around the elbows when I bend my arms, but it is otherwise very spacious and comfortable. It is also unlined, so it is not too heavy. I prefer my dresses to be cotton-lined, or unlined, on the bodice at least. Since I wear an undershirt and bloomers anyway, I appreciate the lack of an extra layer.

I'm definitely going to continue using Tenshi's service. I very much like that she invoices you once she has the item, unlike other larger Shopping Services that charge you before bidding, and then charge you the first and second shippings separately. I understand that such a process is to ensure that the buyer will not back out of the sale without paying, creating a loss for the company. However, that makes me, the buyer, worried about the extra charges and about what is going to happen to the money I gave them in case I lose the auction. Of course, such worries are due to me being inexperienced in Shopping Services and not having a lot of leisure "cushion money" in case that I have to pay more than expected. 

I definitely would recommend Chibi Tenshi to be your first shopping service, if you're a "beginner" Lolita, like I consider myself. Tenshi somehow inspired a very trustworthy feeling in me, so I felt very at ease. She was very pleasant to do business with, and I can't wait to use her services again!

Leur Gardenia