For me, samba costumes are a gorgeous splash of colour and bling amidst the grey Finnish climate. When I started making my first costume, I was really lost and if it had not been for a Finnish samba costume celebrity Johanna Vehmas from Helsinki´s samba school Papagaio, my first costume would never have finished as I would not have had any idea where to start. As years have gone by, I have realised that starting is just as difficult for everyone and hence I started this blog - but that is another story.
Anyway, as stated, I am a terrible snob. And from the beginning it was clear that the plastic stones were not for me. I cried and bled for the cost, but even in my first costume, I used Swarovski crystals. Granted, though, my first costume was very cheap. I used the ornaments very sparingly. (Blush.) And in the end, the beads were plastic beads - I was not at all equipped financially for the look that my heart desired.
Photo by Toni Kaarttinen
I ordered the Swarovski crystals from an UK web shop Rhinestonesonline.co.uk/ . At one point, I received a sample for the Preciosa crystals along with my Swarovski order, read about them and have been mainly using them since. Swarovski and Preciosa are both made of glass, not plastic, so the shine and sparkle you get from them is great. Swarovski has something like 12 facets (cuts) per stone whereas Preciosa has 9. So yes, Swarovskis shine even more, but for the prices, I do like to use Preciosas.
Later on I realised I could get the Preciosa stones cheaper from Crystalstoshine.co.uk .
Also, I found out that the owner Cheryl is a darling of a person. So nice, so kind and gives such a great customer service that I could not go anywhere else anymore. :)
The only problem with Preciosa is that their range for colour and shapes is not asd vast as Swarovski´s. So for some special pieces I have used Beadaholique.com . They have a nice stock of everything and sometimes you can get decent bargains from their sale section.
Also, these sugar stones I used for my 2015 costume were from Beadaholique.
This is what they looked like on the finished costume.
Crystal trims sparkling away in the sunlight; you do not get this effect with plastic.
A pink butterfly by Swarovski in the middle of clear beads. The flat back crystals on the sleeves are Preciosa, the crystal trim from eBay.
Photo by Mika Sipura.
(Plastic) Rhinestones are nice because they are larger (in many cases) - and very much more affordable in comparison to the glass versions. That is why I chose the sugared stones. For me, they are a nice midway solution. They do not look plastic-y because of the sugar-look-alike on top. Granted, they do not sparkle like glass but with the help of crystal trim around them, the sparkle you saw in the previous photo is created.
One bad thing about the crystals is that it seems sometimes impossible to combine real crystals with rhinestones or with sequins; the sparkle factor is so very different. So for the most part there is no in-between; you either spend all of your money (and your savings and then some ;) or then stay in the safe zone. :D
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