Bye bye sore thighs...

With the heatwave we’ve been having in the UK since the end of last week, I’ve moved this post forward a bit because I have seen SO MANY PEOPLE talking about how badly they’re being struck with chafing and chub rub in the sticky heat. First off, I’m just going to say it: chub rub is the bane of my life. It is so painful when it happens, and it takes such a long time to heal; so if you’re one of those suffering from the dreaded chub rub at the moment then believe me I feel you. 

Chafing is something that I was on the receiving end of for a hell of a long time before I realised there was something I could do about it. Any lotions, potions or powders I tried didn’t work and as for the shorts – seriously – who really wants to add another layer of clothing when it’s warm enough already?

Well, it turns out that adding another layer was just the answer I was looking for in the end… and in some cases it can actually stand in for a layer completely.

Just before my holiday the lovely people over at The Big Bloomers Company offered to send me some of their anti-chafing shorts to try out, so I chose the lace trimmed version - one pair in black and one pair in white. As my holiday was a city break, and I knew there would be lots of walking in very warm weather, I figured it would be the perfect scenario to really put the shorts through their paces!

So how did they do? Well, I wore a pair of these shorts every single day while we were away. I wore them to travel: on the plane, on the bus, on the metro and even on a boat. I wore them while the sun was cracking the flags and it was 31ºC. I wore them during the muggiest, stormiest, stickiest weather. I wore them for a full day of wedding festivities from 10:00 through until 02:30 the next day. I’m still wearing them now I’m home.

In all of these conditions the shorts didn’t let me down once, they kept the chafing at bay and crucially the extra layer that I was so worried about adding did not make me too hot. They’re not support knickers or shapewear so they thankfully aren’t restrictive, they’re light and cool, and they’re also super stretchy so fit incredibly well without digging in anywhere. Both colours, even the white, are absolutely opaque; while I was away we had a couple of very windy days but I wasn’t remotely bothered about the wind whipping around the hem of my skirt.

One small thing to note: whilst these shorts were long enough for me (I’m 5’10”), I have seen people who are a little taller than me mention that they found the legs or the waist to be too short for them, so perhaps my height is the threshold for that.

Above are are a selection of some of the outfits I wore on holiday. What do they all have in common? Well, I’m wearing my Big Bloomers chub rub shorts underneath! A couple of times when I sat down (as in the picture on the far right), or just in the process of moving around, you could see the shorts below the hem of what I was wearing – but the lace trim is so pretty I really wasn’t too concerned.

Perhaps my favourite thing about these anti-chafing pants is that you can wear them as outerwear too. No, really, trust me on this! During the heatwave I’ve been in the local park a lot and I’ve found that I can wear the Big Bloomers anti-chafing pants as regular shorts. I team them with oversized tees.

Overall, I’d be very happy to recommend the Big Bloomers anti-chafing shorts, especially these ones with the lace trim. My loves, please don’t struggle on with chub rub in this glorious weather, there is a solution out there for EVERYONE and this is the one that worked for me.

 Blogger review by Zoë at I Knew I Was Next.