After Midnight Lucky Pack Review

The seal is broken, people! The first Lolita lucky pack of the season has arrived. I couldn’t wait until a more traditional lucky pack time to open the one I got from After Midnight, so here is a review for you.

The Brand

After Midnight is a UK-based indie brand who specialise in hair accessories of all kinds. Their flower crowns is probably what they’re known for best, although have expanded the range with some necklaces as well as other accessories. When they announced that they would do lucky packs, I knew I had to get one. Here was my chance to support a great brand and not have to make the decision myself as to which colourway or even which item to get. There are three lucky pack tiers available: Bronze, Silver and Gold, ranging between £20 to £40 plus postage. Unusually, they also offer a choice of three colourways: Dark, Sweet and Rainbow, although if you don’t select one or don’t wish to make that decision, you will get something at random.

After Midnight at DMC. Photo from their Facebook page.

The Order

I opted for the Gold Lucky Pack and decided to leave colourway choices up to fate (and the brand’s owner) and went for random. Postage within the UK cost £3.90, for which I got a Royal Mail 2^nd Class Signed For. Despite weather disruptions (because if you don’t know, the UK literally stops at the slightest sight of snow), my order was shipped on December 9^th, a day after placing the order, and arrived three days later on December 12^th.  It was wrapped only in brown paper, but the contents were in a plastic tiara box additionally wrapped in a plastic bag and with some tissue paper inside, so everything was well and truly protected.

Contents of my lucky pack after removing the brown paper
and the plastic bag.

The Items

The Gold tier packs contained four pieces: two headbands, one small hair accessory and one piece of jewellery, all handmade items. To be specific, I received one full flower crown, one flower side headpiece, one pair of flower hair clips and one necklace. And as soon as I tore the paper, I knew that this was a good pack for me!

The necklace was originally made as pre-orders for Dream Masquerade Carnival in London, although I believe they either had some stock left over or made extras. There were two designs available, a Sweet one called ‘Sweet Dream’ and this Gothic one called ‘Haunting Nightmare’, originally going for £12 plus postage. Even though I don’t wear Gothic, the necklace is beautifully made and very classy, so I might still find opportunity to wear it. From afar it’s not much different from any other Victorian-esque cameo necklace, so I’m thinking of wearing it for some darker Classic looks, once I feel inspired to put one together.

The flower hairclips are actually sakura blossoms made out of lovely cotton fabric (or similar) with centres made out of pearl beads. I don’t recall ever seeing these on either the Etsy store or at DMC, so I can’t tell you more beside what I see. However, they feel lovely to the touch and very well made – no worries of any of the beads falling off, anything ripping or the flowers coming off the clips. They’re also a perfect size: big enough so that they can be seen and recognised without getting too close, yet still small enough to be a subtle and casual accessory which would also work well outside of Lolita fashion. Of course, it would be ideal if I could wear them for hanami in Japan with a cherry blossom print dress, but since I don’t own one like this, nor do I own any pink dresses, the clips may have to play along with other flowers for now.

Then we come to the headbands. The first one, with the side flower piece, is a beautifully rich shade of wine, perfectly complimented by all the gold details and accents. It sits on a slim hairband which would almost disappear when worn, so that the focus remains on the flower arrangement and underneath it’s lined with felt for extra security and comfort. The colours are simply perfect for Christmas season and again, this headpiece would easily work with non-Lolita outfits. For something quite so bit it’s a lot lighter than it seems and the headband stretches comfortably, so it should be fine to wear for several hours without any bother. These are still available on the Etsy store in a range of different colours and cost £30 plus postage, but the quality is impeccable. These fabric roses look unbelievably real, both on photos and in real life, and they feel like they were made to last, so for the quality the price is more than reasonable. And if you can’t find a colour you like, After Midnight also does custom made orders, so don’t hesitate to contact them. I have already worn this for my work Christmas party and can confirm that it was very comfortable, although it slides a little, so maybe a bit of fabric or tape at the ends of the headband could help keep it on without mishaps.

The necklace is After Midnight as well!

Last but not least is the full on flower crown, which I received in white. These are also still available on the Etsy shop for £12 plus postage and also come in a variety of colours. (There are also similar ones with extra pearls or other crystals that go for £25.) The fabric roses are the same quality, so the only difference is colour, arrangement and finishing. But it’s the finishing that makes all the difference! The headband is thicker and covered in a matching satin ribbon, which improves comfort at the small cost of slightly less stretch and potentially less grip (I haven’t had time to test that yet, so this last opinion may still change). At the back the roses are adorned with little bows out of the same ribbon that covers the headband. It’s a small detail that makes a lot of difference – now people seeing you from the back will see some extra adornment instead of a bare flower or leaf back. The leaves feature a bit more prominently here than in the side headpiece, but it makes sense for them to do so here. To me the flower crown feels truly virginal and I’d love to put it together with Baroque’s Repose of Queen dress and a matching veil, so here’s to a chance to do that coming soon.

Overall

As you can guess, I am very, very happy with my lucky pack and its contents. All four are items that I can see myself wearing (yes, even the Gothic necklace) and that will add to my wardrobe. They’re also all fantastic quality – so while things like flower crowns may be easy to get offbrand, especially around summer and festival season, these feel and look much more realistic and lovely, not so plasticky as the cheap Primark ones. The pack was also great value for money, as promised: while I don’t know how much the clips were, just the other three items retailed at £54, whilst I paid £43.90 total for the pack and postage.

So to cut to the chase: brilliant stuff, 10/10 will wear and don’t miss out on After Midnight lucky packs while they’re still up on the website. If you’re after hair accessories, then you won’t regret this, especially not with all the different price/value and colourway options granting you that little bit more control over your lucky pack experience.