Shaping up for DIY boob job? Twins have it taped
BREASTS come in all shapes and sizes and if you want to boost or reshape your cleavage, it could cost you a pretty penny.
With the average boob job costing upwards of £6,000, it’s not exactly an option for people on a budget or those just wanting to look a little perkier for one night in a swanky frock.
But twins from Stockport are changing the landscape for women wanting a quick fix - and the best part is, it’ll set you back as little as £12.99.
Samantha and Charlotte Ryder, 28, from Cheadle Hulme, are revolutionising the way women feel, whatever they wear - and it’s all down to a nifty bit of tape.
But forget the overly sticky, uncomfortable and fall-off-when-sweaty ‘boob tape’ of yesterday, Lift &
Shape Tape from Perky Pear has been designed to be supportive, breathable and, best of all, works for cup sizes A-G.
Samantha said: “I have always had naturally big boobs. Aged 13 I was already a C-cup. When you’re that young and see older guys leering over you, it’s not nice and my boobs kept growing, making some clothes impossible to wear comfortably.
“But it wasn’t until 2016 that I realised I needed a bit of help with lift.
“I was newly single and started going out more often and at that time low cut tops were in fashion.
“I hadn’t worn anything like that for a long time and my boobs had changed in that time, so I felt like I couldn’t wear them without some serious support.”
Despite trying a range of ‘boob tape’ brands, Samantha was unable to find any suitable - and just as she began to accept that she might not be able to pull off certain styles, she found inspiration to create her own version from an unlikely place.
“Nothing that was on the market at the time worked. I tried everything,” Samantha said. “I had tried so many things before I made my own - I even used duct tape, which was really painful.
“I didn’t want a hack, I needed a solution.
“My grandma used to be a physio and she had some strong tape and my brother hurt his knee.
“I remember looking at it and thinking, that would work perfectly for my boobs.”
After playing around with the tape to get the right support and shape, Samantha, whose background is in design, decided to make her own tape.
“Using my grandmother’s tape I cut it into a shape that I thought would look good,” she explained.
“I came up with the perfect shape that cups and fully lifts and is rounded, with no pointy corners.
“Then, in 2017, I started looking for manufacturers.”
Samantha’s twin sister joined the company just three months after Lift & Shape Tape from Perky Pear was launched.
Samantha said: “I asked Charlotte to help and she ended up joining us full time.
“It was a real family effort - after then my mum joined after working as a manager for 20 years.
“At first, I was working in my mum’s living room and was inundated with orders.
“Now we have four offices, a team of 11 and 40 staff in the factory.
“It’s mad to think that I started out making this for myself and now we’re set to break a million by the end of the year.”
The brand is the world’s first cotton-based breast lift and shape tape range, which offers the same results as a surgical breast lift - but without the sizeable cost, discomfort and potential risks of augmentation surgery.
And they have had high praise from some famous faces.
“When I see celebs ordering through the website it’s really exciting,” said Samantha.
“Geri Halliwell recently ordered, and Holly Willoughby is a customer. She messaged us saying how much she loved it.
“Vicky Pattison made an instagram video praising the tape, saying how much she loves it.
“Gemma Collins is also a natural customer and posted about how happy she was on social media.”
For those wondering how a piece of tape can be so life changing, Samantha reveals they call it a ‘flat pack boob job.’
“Some might only see it as a tape but it’s so much more than that,” she explained. “When you put it on your posture and silhouette changes, it gives the wearer confidence.”
It looks as though the brand is only going to get bigger after receiving a cash injection from American investors.
“We are launching in the US in the new year, which is really exciting,” said Samantha. “We have already hit the million mark and next year we will have grown 500 per cent organically.”