Jewelry Review: Love Kills Boutique Painting the Roses Red Fake Plugs

I Bought This (with Boyfriend's money)

For the past month, I've been losing the beads for my horseshoes (also known as a curved barbell). It's terribly annoying because it gets expensive to just replace the beads, which means I get more earrings as well, and I have the seemingly uncommon 16 gauge.

Bugger! Enter Love Kills Boutique, brought to my attention via YouTube beauty Sokolum79 and money given to me by Ze Boyfriend as an early birthday present (thank you, Boyfriend ~ ).

Fake plugs have become wildly popular (though I have found 16 gauge plugs and pinchers), in the form of magnetic earrings, standard gauge earrings--only an 18, 20, or 22, and in some cases 16 gauge. I don't care for a lot of the 16 gauge styles offered, and I'm not really a "bling" person. Nor are my ears stretched to a 2 or bigger. Please be aware: I am not against stretching ears; it's just costly and I greatly love my horn and bone spirals!

When I found out LKB offers fake plugs on most styles, I immediately went investigating. They're all 16 gauge! The range of designs is just jaw-dropping; I really want a lot of them but I'm not sure how many of them offer the fake plug option. Also available are vinyl decal stickers and really good looking brush rolls (I need to snag one).

Sokolum!

After you order, it can take up to a week from the day you receive your invoice email. For me, I ordered on the 31st of March and received the invoice that same day. The shipping notice came on the 2nd of April when I thought they were going to ship out next Tuesday or Wednesday. I was really, really shocked and quite excited! USPS delivered them on the 5th of April.

Fake plugs arrive in a gift box in a plastic bag. Certainly not the strangest packaging I've gotten for jewelry; my spirals came in tiny, plastic to-go cups (the good, solid plastic kind) so the box is much nicer. I'd be less likely to misplace a box. All plugs come with O-rings (so necessary) and fake plugs come with a 16 gauge post and black, 0 gauge screw back. Really simple but really nice.

I love that the paint isn't perfect but a little bit uneven and random.

I went for the Painting the Roses Red plugs, which are very cute Alice's Adventures in Wonderland themed plugs. This is a reference to the icon scene from the book and the 1951 movie, certainly a memorable one. (Maybe not as memorable as Chapter VII, The Mad Tea-Party.)

These plugs feature an antique brass filigree disc for the base on which the roses and charms are attached. The 3D white resin roses (the kind you see on decoden phone cases and such) are half-painted red, keeping with their theme and namesake. The charms for these plugs are a rabbit and an alarm clock, befitting the theme. These are a lot more fun than regular rose-decorated plugs!

These are very well put together and I don't have a fear of them coming apart whatsoever. The plug has a very tight seal to the disc as does the rose. The paint is thick and gooey-looking on the rose, as if they were freshly painted by Card Soldiers with a wonderfully imperfect line on the rose. (And they're being sent away to be executed, oh no!)

It's very awkward to take photos of your ear.

The plugs are quite light to handle. I had a little bit of difficulty when I was putting them in since I don't have any earrings remotely like these. These have some noticeable heft in the ears. I'm not used to wearing decorated earrings. Whenever I switch the beads on my horseshoes from the so tiny spikes to the metal balls, I notice immediately. I also noticed this when I would put CBRs (Captive Ball Rings) in. If you're used to wearing decorated earrings, you may have a different experience!

Feminine, funky and light, these fake plugs are amazing. Whether you have stretched ears or non-stretched ears, Love Kills Boutique plugs are stunning. Plugs range between $19 and $25 per pair. Shipping in the US is inexpensive ($5) and there's international shipping offered. Check out the full range of Love Kills Boutique Plugs right here. Yes, I am completely in love with the black rose and bat plugs in the banner.

SPOOKEHDOOM