[DOLL] Pullip MIO Make It Own

How exciting~ Today I received my Pullip MIO kit and eyechips. I got them from amiami. If you search Pullip in the search bar, you can find the MIO stuff as well as the Pullips they have currently. Watch out because a lot of the listed items are actually marked as 'sold out'. So try not to get too excited until you've checked that! (voice of experience) You can find the wigs by searching "wig selection". I actually didn't buy a wig from them because I didn't find the wigs until after I had ordered. The listings aren't marked with Pullip for some reason.... so I ended up getting a wig from eBay! Actually, I'm super pleased with this wig. It's different from the standard MIO wigs and it's really nice quality. I thought it might be shiny but the feel of it is just like the normal Pullip hair that come on the standard dolls. I haven't bought any clothes because I plan to make some myself, but I do have some spare ones from my Mami doll, so for now I'll be dressing her in school uniform!

Without further ado, here are some pictures of everything!

Pullip MIO Tanned Skin unboxed and eye chips (see above for product links)

 Here's the box! The packaging is really pretty, and it has a little window so you can see the doll's skin colour too. I bought the Tanned Skin version, because I thought it would be nice to have some variety within my dolls, since all the official ones I have are very pale. I thought it would actually be darker than this, it's really not very tan at all! The body and head are a good colour match though, although it doesn't look like they are in that photo.

Back of the box - instructions in English and Japanese

Here's a close up of the face.. unpainted and waiting for AWESOME MAKE UP!

Eye chip mechanism, eye lids etc

Here's the wig I bought on eBay (see above for link) I love the colours of quality of this so much! It needs a bit of styling help but it's over all a very neat and pretty wig.

Close up of the colours

So that's everything! I'm really excited to start my MIO kit. I live in the UK, so you might be wondering what it cost me to buy all this. It works out as quite a bit cheaper than a regular Pullip, although I haven't bought any clothes for her.

MIO kit and eye chips with air mail shipping to the UK: ~£38
UK customs charge: ~£13
Wig from UK seller: ~£17

Over all cost:  ~£68


With the customising supplies and purchasing clothes, you are starting to look at paying the same as a lower priced Pullip, so while it is cheaper in some ways, if you're not sure then it may be worth getting your favourite Pullip doll instead!

I'll be doing blog posts about my customisation, but for more information on putting the doll together and customising, I recommend this blog post!

Thanks everyone! See you in future for customisation adventure~ I'll hopefully be doing some Monster High updates soon too.

New doll, customising materials + update

Hey everybody! It's been a while since I posted on my blog, but I'm back now... and there are a lot of cool doll happenings going on in my world at the moment. 

1. I ordered Pullip Mami Tomoe from Amazon US and I have received her!~  There's a photo I took of her up at the top there. I'll be doing a more in depth review soon :D

2. I've ordered a Pullip MIO kit, eye chips and a wig. I should have everything this week, so I'll be documenting my process for that too.

3. My Monster High customs are coming along too. I've had a lot of set backs trying to find a good surface primer and sealant, but I've found something that works well now that I can buy in this country. Sadly Mr Super Clear isn't sold here and you can't import aerosols into the UK where I live. I've been using Tamiya Acrylic Color Clear Matte after trying a few other options. I tried Game Workshop's Purity Seal but I found it left a sticky residue and didn't have a good 'tooth' surface. I tried painting on matte varnish but I didn't find it made a surface that could hold pastels easily enough either. I'm pretty sure I tried another one too, but I can't remember what it was! I've recently bought some Testor's Dulcote so I'm going to be trying that out on my Pullip MIO and see how it goes.

I bought the smallest brushes from Games Workshop and they were still too big for painting details onto my Monster High dolls! So I bought these small nail art brushes from eBay, and they are BRILLIANT! So much better for avoiding a blobby look.

Since I had to take off and put on the different sealants so many times, the surface of the doll's face is a little damaged. As a result, it doesn't hold pastels very evenly, some areas are taking the blush much more than others. I've learnt a lot with this doll, but after I redo the face I'm going to move on to a different one with everything I've learnt because there are a lot of mistakes and accidental damage etc that I'm not happy with. 

 I haven't redone the face with the new brushes. I'm going to be repainting my first doll head since the brushes were too big, but for the sake of documenting my progress, here's my first attempt!

What happens if your brushes aren't small enough!

I also think I need to make an eyebrow stencil of some kind!

So there's all my updates for now... I will hopefully be writing more on this blog over the next few days!

Special edition doll of Ever After High's Apple White? What are the differences?

Whilst I was browsing one of my favourite websites for doll information - dollienews - I came across this set of photos of a special Apple White doll! Some people are saying it's a special OOAK edition for a charity auction from Hamleys, others are saying it will be released as a limited line at Harrods! I can't find anything about the auction or this doll anywhere - I am really excited to find out what this doll will be. The only place these photos seem to have been put up is on Amazon's product listing for the regular doll, which seems a bit strange.
 It looks like she'll be expensive... but wow her details are amazing!

Comparing to my Apple doll, here are the differences I've seen

Differences: Tiny sequins on the patterned white sleeves, less 'shading' on the criss-cross pattern, possibly a shinier fabric? A real-life quality necklace, and the lace looks finer and better quality too. The stitching is black, not red.

Instead of flat red lips with 3 dots of lighter pink, this doll has red with a shimmering finish. Her earrings, ring and bracelet have transformed from their plastic counterparts into beautiful real-life looking pieces.

Her hair piece crown is hollow instead of one chunk like her previous crown. The crown is red but it seems to have been painted with a shiny gold paint, and the bow looks like it's been painted with some glitter too. It looks like her hair is parted both ways, whereas on my doll the hair of her fringe is only going one way.

Finally we have the dress bottom and her bag. The bag is quite different, having been tranformed into a shiny metal apple which clips to her arm. She's also gained some bracelets on the other arm. The material of her dress skirt is slightly different - there's a dark red lace petticoat or trim which is not on the original doll, and the original doll has printed gold patterns whereas the new doll has a golden layer of fabric. The pattern on the outer dress seems to be the same, although again her lace seems more refined.


I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this doll and finding out where she's going to be sold! It would be amazing if all the dolls were remade like this too.

[PULLIP] Recent and upcoming releases Jan 2014 commentary

Recent and upcoming Pullip Releases: commentary

Note: In these segments I'm not going to discuss all the recent dolls because I don't like some of them that much (Pullip Classical Queen for example) and I don't really want to waste time being negative, especially since that could be someone else's absolute favourite doll!

So first up to discuss are Pullip Varele and Pullip Canele. These are exclusive dolls and if you want to know more about them, I think this is a great blog post! I'm new to the world of dolls so I don't know a lot about the various exclusivities and events, so posts like these are super helpful! However, despite this they are for sale on Pullip Style, which is where these photos are from. 

Canele

Varele

For me, I prefer Varele by quite a lot. The gold, black and purple scheme is absolutely adorable to me, and aren't those the cutest little tights ever? Canele is cute too, but I think she would have looked better with blue hair. The dress details are stunning, and I just love the intricacies with the puffed sleeves and lace under skirts. It's adorable!

The one thing I dislike about these dolls is the hats. I feel like they're a weird shape - I get that they're trying to be a circus tent or merry go round type thing but I just don't think it works! They're just too tall and throw the balance off. I think if I owned these dolls I'd end up taking the hats off - which you can see a picture of on Pullip Style....

Varele and Canele without their hats and curly bunch attachments.

They still look adorable of course, but it does look a bit bare -  I'd have loved a side bow instead! I'm not good at customising yet so I'm not going to risk any Pullips until I'm good! Haha! Well I might try a MIO kit at some point. I'll blog that of course....

Next up, it's.....

Pullip Princess Dahlia Cinderella!

Although she's actually Cinderella, I really like the idea of this being a doll of Elsa from Frozen, complete with gloves. I loved that film, and I'm sorry that I missed the exclusive Disney store dolls. I think the resemblance is pretty good, and I could deffo see this doll breaking out some awesome ice power!

Princess Dahlia Cinderella

Here's some offical art of Elsa from Frozen.

Finally, let's look at the Baby The Stars Shine Bright collaboration. I love these dolls, I'm a great fan of Lolita clothing brands like Angelic Pretty and BTSSB, although I could never afford or fit into the clothes! So having one of these dolls would be a good way of fulfilling those dreams just a little....

Each of these Pullips has a dress you can buy in real life, so I'll put the BTSSB pic below!

The La Robe Clair Vert dress

and... Pullip La robe vert clair!

Favorite Ribbon BTSSB dress

and the doll!

OK firstly, how amazing are those dresses? Especially that last dress.... I cannot cope with those adorable ribbons...! I love that they've turned real dresses into doll clothes. I love both of these dolls, but I like the second doll slightly more just for the long hair and I like the red dress slightly better. The headband on the blue doll is so cute though, a little princess crown! I also worry that the curled hair on the blue doll would be difficult to maintain and become easily messed up. 

I really hope I can order one of these sometime, they're so wonderful.

The red doll comes with a nurses outfit (not entirely sure why) but it's super cute, and cool that you get a change of clothes since clothes can be quite expensive! It doesn't seem like the blue doll has another outfit though.

So there are my thoughts on some of the latest Pullip releases! What are your thoughts? 

Most Wanted Dolls

Like every doll collector, I have a mental list of dolls that I really adore and would love to own. 

Here are some of my top most wanted dollies! (Pictures are the stock photos)

Monster High New Scaremester Clawdeen

I love this doll so much! Usually I don't like dolls with short hair because brushing and styling long hair is one of my favourite things to do with my dolls. But Clawdeen looks so fab in this green and purple short bob! Love that black jacket too! 

Also, have you seen that eye make up?

Adorable! I love the leopard and the pink eyeliner. 

Monster High: Clawdia Wolf Hauntlywood

OK I've got to be honest with you, I'm not really a fan of the original doll here. But I have so many awesome ideas for customising her! Firstly I'd like to reroot her with black curly hair, and maybe lose the shoes and gold accessories... her grin is the cutest thing ever, there's just a few things I'd change. I don't know why they gave her such a weird colour of hair to be honest, I think it's because otherwise she'd have looked too normal, since MH dolls always have something quirky (I realised the other day that Cleo (and Nefera I guess) is probably the only female MH doll that you could strip down and repaint, reroot etc without having to change the skin tone and make a totally natural looking doll. Like, Clawdeen has a natural human skin colour but she has ears.... Frankie is too grey/green and has bolts.... Operetta has the weird carving and pink skin... Ghoulia is too grey... Abbey is blue....Well maybe Draculaura but her skin is a little bit too pink to seem real....)

Monster High: Elissabat Hauntlywood
I absolutely adore this doll! There's nothing I'd change about her, and those shoes rock! I also think the dress is one of the nicest MH dresses I've seen.

Ever After High : Cerise Hood
I love this doll! Her colour scheme is an awesome take on little red riding hood, and her boots are seriously awesome. Doll shoes have really stepped their game up since I had dolls as a kid! I love how her long hair is hidden by the hood too. 

Ever After High : Raven Queen Legacy Day

OK I only have six words to say about this:
KNEE HIGH OPEN TOE LACE UPS

Actually I have one more:
CAPE

Pullip Puella Magi Madoka Magica Akemi Homura

Moving into the more expensive dolls, here's the Pullip of Homura from Madoka. Madoka has quickly become a very popular anime and manga in Japan as well as internationally, so I think it is not a surprise that these dolls exist. There's also a Madoka Dal (cute) and a Tomoe Mami Pullip. None of these dolls actually look very much like their animated counterparts, since both Pullip and Madoka are stylized in their own way. However I love this doll (as well as the character) and would love to own her. 

Dal Heart Macaron

Here we have a Dal collaboration with Angelic Pretty, a famous Japanese Lolita clothing brand. I really love her little smile and long purpley pink hair! Not to mention the adorable dress!

Pullip Favourite Ribbon (Baby The Stars Shine Bright)
Here we have another Pullip collaboration with a famous lolita clothing brand! This time it's BTSSB and how adorble is that dress? All lace and ribbon and shiny! I love her hair and bow too, as well as the pink and red theme! This is new for 2014, and one of my most coveted dolls!

Pullip Pere Noel

I've ordered my first ever Pullip! A Pere Noel!
I find it kind of bizarre how she's called Pere Noel (meaning Father Christmas) so I'm going to choose my own name for her when she arrives. I think once you see a doll in real life, you can truly know the name of her! (or him)

I'm super excited for my first ever Pullip, and next I'd love to get a Dal Macaron!

In other news, I'm in the middle of rerooting my Frankie, I'll post some progress pictures soon. 

[REVIEW] Retro Dolls UK order!

Last week I did an order from retrodolls.co.uk. I wasn't sure where to buy doll rerooting things in the UK but luckily I found out about this store! All the items are great and were packaged really well. One item I ordered (paint leveller) was out of stock, but otherwise everything came really fast. I got the rerooting kit which had 3 packs of hair, the doll needles and forceps, and also came with a PDF of instructions which seems good - although quite similar to online materials - and also some glue, matte and gloss varnish, and some paint dabbers and dolly hair bands!

The saran hair is really pretty and well priced too at £2 per pack! I honestly can't wait to start rooting the doll. I picked 'Songbird' because I thought that the shade would match well with Frankie's skin.

What do you think? I love it! It's even better than I thought it would be.

I'm hoping to put in some highlights of Pink Gin and also some tinsel!
Saran can be boil permed, so I need to choose a style... I'm wondering about loose curls!

Let's just hope I'm not magnificently terrible at rerooting and face ups! Haha~

[DOLL] Lalaloopsy Scraps Stitched N Sewn

My other Lalaloopsy - Scraps Stitched N Sewn! I love her unique colour scheme and gorgeous pink cheeks. I know that some people find Lalas scary, but to me they are just SO CUTE!

Again I imported this doll from Amazon US since it was cheaper that way. She's got a cute little dress which again is beautifully sewn!

Her details are just lovely~

So far I've been very impressed with Lalaloopsy! I feel like they are cute and different dolls. In the UK you can find them on Amazon, or if you are willing to wait a little longer, they can be cheaper on Amazon US!

[DOLL] Lalaloopsy Dot Starlight

Ever since I first set eyes on Lalaloopsy, I knew that I wanted a Dot Starlight.

Dot Starlight

At the time, she was pretty expensive because she was one of the original dolls and so not being made any more. I also couldn't find her anywhere except in the US on eBay! But then, with the release of the TV series, the original line of Lalas were rereleased in new packaging! They were going for a great price on Amazon US so I grabbed a Dot Starlight as well as my other favourite - Scraps Stitched 'N' Sewn, who for brevity purposes I will from here on out describe as 'Scraps'. One of the things that always put me off doll collecting was that some doll lines never seemed to be cute and individual, but I feel like Lalaloopsy fits this perfectly! 

My Lalas together

In this post I will just cover Dot, I'll do a separate photo post for Scraps soon instead!

Dot's dress

The large Lalas come with a fabric dress! The detail on these dresses is super nice, and each one is sewn to match their personality. Since Dot is an astronaut, she has a space dress! (So cute!)

The layers under the skirt stack up to make a really pretty effect, blending the blue and red! I really love it

Another super cute thing about the big Lalas is their little 'stitched' tummy button! It's so adorable! You can also see the legs here - they can swing forward into sitting. (but not backwards)

The plastic formed hair is one of the most unique things about Lalaloopsy, and I really like the style. It looks like giant pieces of wool, but the over all look still has a charming plastic quality to it.

Lalaloopsy always seem to have gorgeous long boots with laces! 

They have cuts in the back for easy clothes swapping! There's also a little heart on each foot, labelling the shoes L and R! Cute~~

The quality of Dot is wonderful, and she makes a really striking display piece. She can't stand or even sit on her own, which is difficult - (due to her extremely large head), but nevertheless, once positioned, she looks eye catching!

Stay tuned for my Scraps photos!

[PHOTOS] Rochelle Goyle Scaris: Monster of the Night

Rochelle Goyle was my first ever Monster High doll, given to me by a friend, and so she has a special place in my heart.

I tried to capture an atmosphere of creepiness in the following photoshoot - a gargoyle lurking in the shadows atop a building. I hope you enjoy these pictures! (Please do not take out without credit)

Light shines through a cracked wing

A familiar face peers out from the shadows

A flash of pink and blue

Light and shadow

In the distance, a figure!