PinkNova Polaris Mr Grey Review

PinkNova Polaris Mr Grey
53% bio cotton/37% superfine wool/10% cashmere / 288 GSM
1 year and 24 pounds


Mr Grey arrived in a lovely dustbag with a piece of Polaris Zen adorning the bag and a nicely printed brochure. As a tester I don't always get to see those extras, I appreciated them. The colors are soft and light, but the wrap is substantial and has a good weight and density to it. I anticipated Polaris Mr Grey to be both cushy and plush, but strong. The gray is particularly beautiful and cool toned, true to the photos I had seen, but in some lights it looks very blue, which I also love.

The wool in Mr Grey doesn't feel like what I've been conditioned to think wool feels like, there is no itchiness here, but it is definitely still wool feeling, a more luxe wool. I can best describe this blend as feeling velvety, which works quite nicely with the texture of the Polaris pattern. There is Medium-low stretch with great recovery.

The design appealed to me right away, the geometric pattern feels clean and modern, and the more I wore it the more I loved it, especially in carries that show both the "right" and "wrong" sides. For me this design and look that would work especially well in a stash where both mom and dad are wrappers, if I could convince my husband to wrap I know some of my more flowery or whimsical wraps would not appeal to him, but he commented on this wrap many times admiringly.

Mr Grey is rock solid in ruck tied Tibetan with a knotless finish as pictured. I put it thru the paces with FWCC, double hammock, various finishes, but I loved this in a ruck and that says a lot to me, that even for longer carries Mr Grey was amazing in a single pass carry. My first impressions had been that this might not be a newborn to toddler wrap, but after wrapping with it extensively it is, there is a softness here for newborns and though it is a substantial wrap I didn't find it to be terribly bulky or unwieldy. For multi pass carries even though the wrap has a velvety feel, it is also still smooth and passes glide easily and the wrap moulds very nicely. The wrapping qualities for me are amazing, there is the perfect balance of glide and grip to hold things in place. Absolutely no sagging or slipping with Mr Grey, but a wonderful bounce that I didn't expect, this is a wrap that moves with you and your baby or toddler. On my shoulders even in ruck there was a great amount of cush, just a feeling of a comfortable wrap hug, but such strength you can wear for hours and not feel anything aching afterwards.

I continue to be impressed with PinkNova. Mr Grey kind of blew me away. The more I wore this beautiful wrap the more I loved it. I knew it would be a tester favorite since gray is my favorite color, my wrappee's middle name is in fact Gray! This shade of gray is really just gorgeous, soft and cool, but would look great with most any other colors in your wardrobe, and the pattern as well, though bold really goes with a lot. If you are a wool lover this one is for you, superfine wool and cashmere are a higher quality wool than I am used to, so soft and velvety. Bounce and cush are high here in thanks to the wool content. I tested this wrap in Winter which is the perfect time to cozy up to wool, but it's very breathable and could work well in Summer too. There are some extra care issues to be aware of with wool, but Mr Grey is well worth the extra effort. This wrap will perform beautifully in all sizes and while I was partial to testing in my base, Mr Grey will make a fabulous shorty, even for toddlers! The price point is medium high, but the quality of the wrap is high end in my opinion, there is fabulous value for the money here. I recommend Polaris Mr Grey to anyone looking for a luxe wrap with amazing and well balanced wrapping qualities for anywhere from newborn to toddler.

Thank you so much Judith and Ilse at PinkNova for the opportunity to test Polaris Mr Grey!


For more information on PinkNova please visit their website http://pinknova.com/ and also check out there Facebook page here. As well there is a chatter group on Facebook with lots of spam and reviews here.

Minako Naomi Prototype Review

Minako Naomi Prototype
44% Egyptian cotton/32% Merino wool/24% Mulberry silk / 292 GSM
1 year and 24 pounds


Unwrapping this beauty I caught my breath. Minako Naomi features a take on the pattern of a peacock feather and it's a worthy interpretation focusing on the downy barbs and "heart". The almost highlighter pink has a beautiful hint of coral and is more vibrant in person, and the soft dove gray compliments it perfectly. I was immediately impressed with how soft this wrap is, the blend here is all luxury and you can feel it.


The stretch is significant and if you are a lover of stretch as I am you will be delighted. In hand it is floppy with a beautiful drape, perfect to cocoon your babe or toddler in. It is rather thick feeling which may feel a bit overwhelming for wrapping brand new babies in, but the softness is so perfect for a new baby, I would not dissuade wrapping a newborn with this prototype. I also didn't anticipate this wrap to be pull prone as the weave is denser and no large floats in the pattern.

Elegant and edgy, for me this is a wrap that comprises both. I envision many wrappers with different styles loving the look of Minako Naomi. I myself don't have a "girly" stash and this Minako Naomi prototype drew me in right away with the colors instantly appealing to me though they are not colors I have sought out to have in a wrap. This is a "feel beautiful" wrap if ever there was one.

I wore Minako Naomi everyday I had it, pretty much eschewing all other wraps for this one. It wraps with ease and comfort. The passes glide with very little effort and tightening was equally easy. If you are a brand new wrapper you may find that tightening will require more effort than with a thinner wrap, but for an experienced wrapper there should be no issue at all. That said I also found the wrap very comfortable and supportive in sloppy carries which is huge for me with a wriggling 1 year old. The stretch aids in tightening and has good recovery while wearing, nice bounce with no sagging. The grip is minimal, but it's there and just right so you have no problem maintaining tension as you tighten. My favorite carries were FWCC and double hammock with CCCB, my CCCB was just right, bigger and supportive, but not bulky. The silk really gives this wrap strength and the merino wool adds a wonderful cushy feeling, on my shoulders this felt perfect even after long carries.

There is really nothing negative here to say. This is the wrap I didn't know I need to have. Out of all the testers that have been thru here, this one is so far my hands down favorite. It's amazing. Personally I love it in my base or maybe a 4, but it will work beautifully in all sizes and from newborn to toddler. There will be some extra care issues because of the silk and wool, but well worth any extra effort to launder.

Thank you Minako for the opportunity to test! I'm excited to hopefully try more, especially vegan friendly blends.


Find Minako's Facebook page here and chatter group here.

PinkNova Cloudless Birds of Paradise Review

PinkNova Cloudless Birds of Paradise
75% Egyptian cotton/25% Mulberry silk / 240 GSM
1 year and 22 pounds

The first thing I thought looking at Cloudless Birds of Paradise was this is a unique pattern and placement for a woven wrap, you catch glimpses of the pattern, but large spaces with no pattern, just the cool, calm colors. The cream silk side has a fine and not too slippery feel and is a nice contrast to the light cool blue cotton side. Both sides have a smooth flat feel with a low amount of texture.

This wrap will appeal to someone wanting a soft and spare looking wrap that has a subtle elegance. There is an understated luxurious feel and look. Wearing this wrap I felt very calm and serene and and wanted to keep the rest of my attire rather simple to complete my look.

Wrapping with it, there is a lot more slip than I had anticipated just feeling it in hand. Considering this I think a more experienced wrapper would enjoy this wrap over a newbie wrapper. Tightening and maintaining tension is more challenging, particularly for multi pass carries.

 

I really enjoyed Cloudless Birds of Paradise in my base and in a double hammock and FWCC, but it also has the chops to pull off a simple ruck, it is dense and sturdy, though it is on the thinner side. This is definitely a toddler worthy wrap and I would recommend it in either a shorty or base for more experienced wrappers. It is also lovely and velvety soft once broken in for newborns.

PinkNova has an aesthetic that I find very appealing and I think their thoughtful designs are current and modern feeling without being trendy. I've had the pleasure of testing a few PinkNova wraps and love that they offer thoughtful design combined with wrapping qualities that are superb.

Thank you Judith and Ilse at PinkNova for the opportunity to test this beauty!

For more information on PinkNova please visit their website: http://pinknova.com/

Ethos Solace Vesper Review

Ethos Solace Vesper

100% mercerized cotton / 260 GSM

11 months and 22 pounds

Ethos Solace Vesper is a beautiful monochrome wrap, but also more importantly a remembrance wrap. A portion of the sales of Solace Vesper will benefit Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, an organization providing photography services for families experiencing the loss of a child. Ethos is a fantastic babywearing company, making woven wraps from accessible budget friendly machine wovens to luxurious handwovens and donating to worthy charities.

 

I love monochrome wraps, so Solace Vesper appealed to me right away. The pattern is complex, but the cool purple toned gray and black make this a go with most anything wrap. Right side or wrong side they both look classy.

Solace Vesper has a very unique feel in hand, it feels flocked and embossed and slightly starched. I haven't felt anything quite like this before and was curious how it would wrap. Pulling diagonally there was a wonderful amount of stretch.

Wrapping with Solace Vesper was a tactile pleasure. Thin and dense, there is also a good amount of give here that makes tightening and adjusting a dream, and because the wrap is narrower and thin, it is very easy to gather up in your hand as you pull and tighten strand by strand. Passes do not stick and there is more glide than the texture would suggest, that same texture keeps the wrap from slipping though while you are pulling passes over and adjusting. Once wrapped there is a surprising amount of cush for a thin wrap and a lovely bounce that makes for very comfortable carries. There is a lot of support here and not a lot of bulk, so knots are small and my CCCB was on the skinnier side. Solace Vesper is not drapey and floppy, at least not when I tested it, though with use it will get there, but there was still a good amount of pleating.

 

My tester was a size 6 and though I did shorty carries like ruck and rebozo I prefer this in multi pass carries like double hammock and FWCC. That perhaps is my own preference. I don't tend to use shorties as much. If you are looking for a supportive wrap that is on the thinner side Solace Vesper is the one for you. Also if you are looking for a meaningful memorial wrap, this is also for you.


Thank you to Ethos Babywearing for allowing me to test Solace Vesper.

For more information on Ethos Babywearing, please visit here where Solace Vesper is also currently in stock.

 

Bijou Wear Cleo Chicago Review

Bijou Wear Cleo Chicago
45% cotton/55% mercerized cotton / 290 GSM
11 months and 22 pounds

Sometimes you receive a tester that feels very "you", my first glance at this wrap I was very pleased and looked forward to wearing and reviewing. Cool toned blue gray and natural cream, the pattern has an Art Deco vibe that is right up my alley.

Bijou Wear Windmills Equinox and Cleo Chicago

In hand Cleo Chicago is dense and feels fairly smooth, but a touch dry. There is some texture due to the pattern and more grip here than the pattern or feel would suggest, think medium grippiness. It's also very stretchy which gave me more to look forward to as I love stretchy woven wraps.

Style-wise Cleo Chicago has a Bohemian feel. The gray and cream are neutral and would work with a lot of other colors or look especially classy with an all black outfit. If I was going on a European vacation I could see myself packing just this and feeling very chic, with the added bonus of how thin it folds up for travel.

 

First ups in a FWCC and I could tell Cleo Chicago is a great option for new wrappers, easy enough to tighten and secure. There is grip to work with, but not enough that should deter a new wrapper. Passes will need a bit of effort to get into place, but the grip will hold them secure. There is a great amount of stretch here that will help the wrap give as you work to get passes into place and result in a snug and supportive feel once you have the carry in place. Nice support as well for a thinner and not so heavy wrap.

After using this wrap in both front and back carries and in simple rucks to double hammocks I'd recommend Cleo Chicago in a base size for multi pass carries as first choice, but it would also be a great shorty. This wrap is for those who like grip and stretch and it's best quality is the excellent support without being bulky. Also for anyone looking for affordable elegance, as it is priced from $130usd. This wrap could work well for newborns, but in my opinion is ideal for midweight babies up to toddlers. A final note about Bijou Wear is a portion of all profits are donated to The Carrying On Project which provides baby carriers to military families in need at no cost.

Thank you to Jaime at Bijou Wear for letting me test this lovely wrap!

For more information on Bijou Wear please visit bijouwear.com where Cleo Chicago is currently in stock.




Handwoven Melodies Behind the Wall (semi custom) Review

Handwoven Melodies Behind the Wall
100% cotton / aquamarine weft
11 months and 24 pounds, and 2 years and 37 pounds

I was lucky enough to win a draw for a Handwoven Melodies Behind the Wall semi custom wrap back in October. This was my first foray into handwovens and I couldn't have picked a better weaver than Morgan at Handwoven Melodies to take me thru the semi custom process. Behind the Wall is a wrap designed to help raise awareness about the issues of domestic and sexual violence and was inspired by the purple and teal colors of the awareness ribbon for these issues and named for the Tracey Chapman song. Morgan donated half the proceeds from an auctioned Behind the Wall ring sling to a worthy women's charity.

Morgan was an absolute delight to work with and patient with me as I asked to sample many different colors. The process of seeing different color wefts woven in was incredibly interesting. I couldn't believe how different the warp could appear depending on weft color. I ended up selecting a cotton aquamarine weft, and the result is a bright and vibrant jewel toned wrap. Morgan is a true artist in how she puts colors together on the loom. Talking with her about what colors would work best and enhance, or which would detract from the warp was eye opening and I really appreciated her thoughts and time talking me thru choosing the weft. From start to finish the entire process was much faster than I had anticipated. I was drawn a winner on October 10th and the completed wrap arrived November 18th.

 

 

In hand I was surprised how soft this all cotton wrap felt right away, no breaking in needed. I had also learned from Morgan that handwovens are wet finished and ready to wear when received. When something this beautiful arrives you don't want to have to wait to wear it, so I loved that I could wrap with it right away. I was also surprised how weighty it is folded up, I had 4.4 meters woven for me. The colors were exactly what I was expecting from the pictures, just slightly more saturated in real life, beautiful deep purples and bright teals and greens with a few hits of creams and dusty blues. The wrap is thinner and fairly smooth and appears very densely woven, but if you hold it up to the light you can see some airiness in the weave and there is a delicate texture clearly evident which I felt may help hold carries in place.

The colors together are beautiful as the pictures will attest. I've long admired the simple aesthetic of a herringbone weave and here it works perfectly. I received this wrap in the Fall, but can imagine wearing it all year round, the colors are just that good! This is also stunning dressed up or down, a perfect jeans and tee woven wrap in my opinion...a wrap that will make you feel pretty and put together no matter what.

I have worn Behind the Wall in FWCC, ruck, double hammock and DH variations such as TAS and CCCB. I had anticipated there would be a little grip and there is, nothing difficult to work with, just enough to stop this from being a slippy wrap. What stands out to me is that there is a nice feeling of cush on the shoulders, but this is not a thick wrap, more thin to medium. I wore both my 11 month old and my 2 year old. My 2 year old actually has brought this wrap to me on more than one occasion which never happens, as I got into wrapping with my younger son and I've had to beg my older boy to go up before. I was able to wear my 2 year old, who is 37 pounds in a ruck and the comfort was satisfactory, which I think says a lot for an all cotton wrap that is thin to medium in a single pass carry with no additional chest belt support. Floppy out of the box, Behind the Wall continues to get even more floppy with use. Excellent drape and effortless pleating. I love how small the knots are and a CCCB is just perfect in this wrap, not too bulky at all. As a lover of stretch there isn't a lot of stretch here for me, just a very small diagonal stretch, but I find for the most part I do not miss my stretch.

In summary Behind the Wall is a soft, floppy, and easy wearing wrap. Lovers of softness and airy cushiness will be delighted. If you are looking for perfect weaving and flawless selvedges this one is for you! I would not recommend this wrap to someone looking for a thick, very dense, or grippy wrap. Depending on your wrapping style this could well be a one and done wrap from newborn to toddler. It has the softness for a newborn, and is thin enough not to overwhelm a very small baby. For toddlers the support is here, even in a ruck and even better in multi pass carries. This wrap shines in a double hammock and I would recommend it most in a base or base - 1 size. Finally I really love supporting Canadian weavers and Morgan is also local to me in BC, so that's even better. Thank you Morgan for designing and weaving such beautiful creations!

Ethos Phoebe Natural Handwoven Review

Ethos Phoebe Natural Handwoven
cotton/banana silk / 350 GSM
11 months and 22 pounds

This Ethos Phoebe is a weighty and organic feeling natty. Wraps of course are often described as blankety and this wrap is actually blankety. The texture and nubs make Phoebe an interesting looking natty, even with a straight twill weave, while the banana silk adds a slight sparkle and sheen. There are many variations in the weave which speak to the handcrafted nature of the wrap and add to the organic look.

 

In hand there wasn't much stretch, just a bit diagonally. Folding and unfolding is a workout as this is a heavier wrap. The handspun yarn gives Ethos Phoebe a beautiful slub texture, but I anticipated a grippiness that will suit slightly more experienced wrappers.

I don't own a natty and tend to prefer patterned wraps, yet the simple handcrafted aesthetic of this wrap appeals to me. Testing this in the Fall was perfect, as the wonderful nubby texture fits right in with cozy sweaters and toques.

 

Perhaps its watching Frozen one too many times with my toddler, but wearing this wrap is best described as a warm hug! As I had anticipated some work is required to get passes into place due to the grippy texture, but once you do what a soft, snuggly, and supportive carry you'll experience. Using this wrap more, in FWCC and DH, I couldn't think of a wrap I've used to compare it to, it's unique. Airy and Cushy. Soft and mouldable. Yet this is also a heavy wrap, and most heavy wraps I have tried don't have such airiness, nor mould and pleat like Ethos Phoebe does. The longest I wore my baby at a stretch in Ethos Phoebe was 2 hours and no adjustments were needed, but what a knot!

 

Ethos Phoebe was an absolute pleasure to test. I love that banana silk, while soft and strong, is also eco-friendly and vegan! Banana silk isn't silk at all, but is a fiber made from trunks of banana plants and has a similar appearance to silk. Ethos sources their banana silk from Nepal where the wraps are also woven on traditional looms. These handwoven wraps are a great cost-effective option at $70usd/meter, as well as being fair-trade and sustainable. I would not recommend this wrap to a brand new wrapper. Even though it is breathable, it is heavy and could be cumbersome without a little experience. The lovely texture also gives this wrap a grippiness that a slightly experienced wrapper will be able to handle. Phoebe will be a wonderful cushy and supportive wrap from a shorty to your base size, particularly with babies 20 pounds and up and well into toddlerhood.

 

 

Thank you Ethos Babywearing for the opportunity to test Phoebe Natural!

For more information on Ethos Babywearing, and their handwovens please visit here where Phoebe Natural is also in stock.