Bella Band by Ingrid & Isabel Review

The bella band is a stretchin 11 inch band that you wear around your waist during your pregnancy. It is not used to support your stomach, rather it is used to extend the life of your clothes. The product designed by Ingrid and Isabel claims to allow you to wear your prepregnancy pants longer by allowing you to wear this band over your pants. It will hold up the unbottoned pants and even unzipped pants in the beginning of your pregnancy. When you are almost ready to wear those maternity jeans, but have a little too much strech in the fabric that is supposed to fit around your belly, you just put on the bella band and they should fit. When you are really pregnant, and your shirts don't even cover your stomach the bella band can look like a layered shirt underneath so no one has to see your belly bursting out of your pants.

I was so very excited to try the bella band because of the promise of wearing my maternity clothes sooner. I had a few pairs of cute maternity pants from a previous pregnancy that I could not wait to put back on. I ordered the suggested size bella band in a size three, which according to the width of my hips and my regular clothing size was the right fit. One size is supposed to last you your entire pregnancy so when I got this in at about three months pregnant I couldn't wait to try it. Here is what I found:

PROS:

It comes in a wide variety of neutral colors. I chose white because a lot of my clothes early on in my pregnancy were orange and red and I didn't think an exciting color or basic black would work. I went with the traditional bella band, but they also offer the bella band with lace on the bottom.

The fabric of the bella band is nice. It is thin, but not cheap. The product is not seem cheaply sewn together. I have not had any rips or tears wearing it throughout this pregnancy. I wish I could sa y the same for all of my maternity jeans.

The product really works well in late pregnancy. I am at a point where I can not wear any of my maternity clothes without wearing my bella band. My stomach just sticks out and my pants can not hold them in. I feel like nothing fits, but with the bella band I can at least go out in public without flashing my belly.

CONS:

It did not work for me during the beginning of my pregnancy. I would highly recommend getting it in one size smaller if you intend to wear it during the first part of your pregnancy. I reverted to the old ponytail holder around the button of the pants. This was the main reason why I bought this, and thought that the whole purchase was a bust because it just didn't work.

There are so many knock-offs out there right now. This is not the fault of the makers of Bella Band, but you need to be very careful that you are buying the real thing and not a knock-off made with lower quality material.

The bella band is priced at $26.00 at most stores online. This is a pretty reasonable price if you actually use it. If you are not sure whether or not you would like this they are often sold on ebay or craigslist. Just make sure that it is an Ingrid and Isabel bella band.

In my opinion I am glad I own this, but I won't be buying them for everyone on my baby-shower list. It's a good purchase, but if I were to do it again I would buy it on ebay.