I've been trying to think of what I am going to do with my hair and I think I want some kind of updo with a tiara and veil. I have a big dress so I think it will need to be a big tiara to balance out. I've seen one on a website with a design that I like but it is made of swarovski ab crystals. I've never seen these in real life.

In the photo of this particular tiara, the ab effect on the crystals seems to make them look a bit plasticky and I'm worried that on such a big tiara it will look cheap and tacky and I will look like a little girl dressing up. In other photos of other tiaras though it doesn't look so bad, and I'm wondering if maybe it is just a bad picture?

There is an option to have it made with clear crystals and I am thinking that might be the safest bet. What do you all think? Are ab crystals tacky? Are clear crystals better? Should I avoid them altogether? What do you think of this particular tiara (link to the photo on my profile).

Advice appreciated!

it is a gorgeous tiara, but i would go for the clear crystals i cant put my finger on it but there is something about the ab crystals that dosent look to great!

i have made my crystal posy in swarovski ab and they are sstunning in true life, the difference between the ab and the clear is the ab give off a stunning rainbow affect and when the light hits belive me they really are stunning,i also have a huge dress but have gone with a more plainer tiara as im having the swarovski posie and didnt want to look to bling xx

just seen your tiara u are thinking of might just be a bad picture but the design i do like :) as it probably comments on the time of year u will get married :)

Im sure its just the picture they never take them in natural lighting or anything!

The style of it is beautiful but before you spend money on it go into some shops and have a look at them! See if you like the crystals :-)

I have been into shops but it never says in shops what they are made of, so I don't know if I'm looking at AB crystals or clear ones. I like the ones that sparkle in a kind of silvery way... those sometimes have a slightly rainbow effect but I've never seen any that looked as obviously coloured as the ones in the picture of the tiara that has the design I like.

I don't know if the clear ones also have a slightly rainbow effect in some circumstances just due to the fact that they separate the colours in white light. If that's true then I have probably been looking at crystal clear ones in the shops. The alternative is that the clear ones would just look like normal glass and the rainbow effect with the AB ones is much more subtle than I have been imagining, and the ones I have seen in the shop are actually AB.

Enny, I looked at your tiara in the photos and it was lovely, just the kind of slightly coloured sparkle I am looking for. Are they definitely CLEAR crystals and not AB crystals??? (Also I know that this is incredibly paranoid but what if the Ebay seller said it was a clear crystal tiara and then he sent her an AB one and she didn't notice!)

I like the snowflake design far better than any others I have seen but I don't know if I would be better to choose a generic design from a shop that I am not wild about, rather than run the risk I get something wildly different from what I expect!

oh well mine are completely clear but if the light catches the edges of the crystals it sparkles in all colors of the rainbow :) just sooo pretty

i honestly dont know the difference. I like the tiara as it is but perhaps may like a little better if they were clear? Can you ask them to send a pic of the tiara done with ab and clear crystals as it says it comes in both. My tiara i THINK is clear crystals with a mix of diamantes (in profile) so perhaps you could mix it that way even?

If you don't mind me asking how much is it Tattiesoup for each of them? x

And Enny how much was yours?

I really like it alot!!! xx

Mine didnt look tacky at all.I love a bit sparkle!

If you can't have sparkle on your wedding day, when can you?

They all look lovely, thinking of changing my tiara now as not got alot of sparkle xx

It isnt mine, it was my best frined, I had it as my something borrowed. I can ask her how much it was x

Laura - The snowflake one that I ordered was £80 including £5 delivery.

There was no difference in price for AB/Clear/Mixed crystals, and there was no difference in price for having a gold or silver base.