company faceup variations

Mar 2, 2018

    1. a bit of a weird question, but one im curious about nonetheless!
      SO, i usually think its a charming aspect of the hobby that even from the same company, and the same artist, doing the same faceup on the same sculpt, they will never be totally identical - the human element in dolls will make no two exactly the same! i think its a really neat detail -- but, what do you do when you see some differences dont match what you would want?
      here is an example, which will hopefully explain my mess of a question;
      fairyland eva, whose face and makeup i love! im looking to order one once this semester is over, but i noticed when looking at owner photos,
      company photo-eva 01-eva 02
      those eyebrows..!
      on the middle eva, her eyebrows are placed much higher on her face! you can see the gap between her eyelid and eyebrows is much larger, compared to the eva on the right, whose eyebrows are much further down; the middle one looks a bit more surprised, and the far right looks more like a furrowed pout.
      what do you do when such differences are apparent in owner photos? have you ever seen something similar in a doll you were looking to buy? do you roll the dice anyways and hope you get the faceup youre looking for? or do you wait it out and hope one pops up secondhand with the look you want?
      if this is a bizarre question, or in the wrong place, let me know! my personal preference is the lower brows, but now im a bit worried i might get ones that are higher, which, while still lovely, just arent really the look im going for! it seems like such a small thing, but to be quite honest i love eyebrows, so theyre super important to me in a face!
      • x 5
    2. I actually noticed this too when I was buying my doll. I bought my first doll second hand and I actually fell in love with the second hand photos of the doll the owner took rather than the company's original stock photos. I feel like they used a thicker eyeliner on my doll and she got the perfect little moles positioned on her face. Here's hoping you get the faceup you want ;) maybe it theres a notes section when you purchase the doll you could probably let the sculptor/artist know
    3. I've bought a couple of dolls with faceups in the past, and honestly, that's why I don't anymore. Sometimes, they're really close, but I had a Ringdoll Shao once, who had a soft brown/pale pink based faceup in photos, but mine was more grey/orange based and I really didn't like it. I also had an Angel of Dream arrive with bright pink eyeshadow and black dots in the corners of his mouth, which wasn't like that in the photo. I'm too picky about my faceups to take the risk, even from companies who are more consistent.

      If the company faceup is important to you, you could either tell the company in the notes that you want the eyebrows a specific way and hope for the best, or you could wait and buy one secondhand so you can see the exact doll before paying.
      • x 1
    4. I had purchased a doll with an exquisite limited faceup from the company and when she arrived, I noticed one eye's bottom lashes were thicker than the other one's*_* The faceup was really beautiful, but that one eye bugged me so much - I ended up selling her. I haven't purchased a company faceup since - I've been commissioning faceup artists instead. I figure, since the artist is painting a unique faceup each time, they'll pay more attention to details than say a faceup artist from Fairyland -who has to do the same faceup a bunch of times they kind of don't notice if the eyebrows are too high or too low, or if one bottom lash is thicker than the other. That's my thinking of it anyway. But yes, I agree with @CloakedSchemer send a request to the company of how you want the eyebrows done.

      O btw, I really like you profile picture! What is it from if you don't mind me asking? Or is it art you've done?
    5. Yet another reason I'm more likely to buy secondhand than new. Cost is way down on the list of reasons.
    6. aah, i guess i really shouldnt be surprised that this happens often! thanks all of you for your thoughts, and im so sorry if youve had something like it happen to you...what a sad disappointment ;_____; hopefully i can just figure out how to word it properly in 100 characters or less when ordering!
      and, @krystina my icon is utena tenjou from 'revolutionary girl utena'! its a wonderful show, id totally recommend it if you like retro princely girls dueling for love and honor with swords!
      • x 2
    7. o awesome! Yes those things are totally up my ally!
    8. To be honest, that was a main reason why I didn't buy Doll Zone's Gray - I fell in love with his face in the company photos, but then saw how his face-up looks after unboxing and it was nice, but totally different. Of course, I would give pay an artist to do a face-up, but I really want my first doll to be customized.

      Then I decided to buy Loong Soul's Domimi, but I didn't like the blue shade on his eyelids and his little moustache, so I ordered him without them. And I hope he will be alright.
      • x 2
    9. I can't speak from personal experience of actually owning a doll, but I noticed when looking for my first BJD to buy that the faceups in MYOU Doll unboxings tend to have brighter, more saturated colours than in the promo photos. It makes me think that they desaturate the promo pictures afterwards, and made me skeptical about buying one of their dolls since I was really feeling the more muted faceups that the pictures have going on.

      #9 Xyzzy, Mar 13, 2018
      Last edited by a moderator: Mar 15, 2018
    10. I've bought dozens of dolls with company faceups... Most do a pretty good job of keeping them similar to the company photos. But you still have to take into consideration how photos can drastically change the colors, and also how hand-painted faceups can vary, particularly if there are different resin colors available.

      I've got to say that I've been mostly happy with all the faceups I've got. I do have a Ringdoll that wasn't painted exactly as the official photos---but I knew that RIngdoll does that, and it wasn't totally off, so I could live with it. I've found Doll-Chateau can be close, but not quite the same in-person. Sometimes it's good to have owner-photos to see before ordering... but many times the order periods are too short and you just have to take your chances or wait and buy second-hand (although the problem with photos and lighting changing things still applies there). But most companies do a good job with at least getting things close!

      However, if you know you're very particular, order accordingly! The problem is-- how do you get the perfect faceup? I end up doing them myself, but I'm not as good as the really good faceup artists, so I usually get the company faceup. Sending off to a customizer... I don't quite trust that either. So I usually take my chances with the company, and I'm overall VERY happy that way. Other people will prefer different methods, though.
      • x 1
    11. I kind of picture company faceups as the same risk as buying a faceup from any artist. They are going to vary slightly from the sell pictures. The company faceups offer less customization, and a ball park range of what to expect, but it can be hit or miss. At least with a custom faceup artist you have some room to pick out details and aim for the look you want. I don't mind seeing differences in company faceups. It's interesting. So if I like the style of it I will roll the dice.

      I started out buying company faceups, and they were all pretty close. I was really happy with the one on my Iplehouse Daniel. Very natural and light. The only time I was unhappy was when Soom sealed one fantasy foot, and not the other and that looked very weird. So even the companies are possible of flaws. But hey we are all human. I imagine it would be quite difficult to sit there and do a faceup over and over again to produce the same results each time. So a little variation is to be expected. As a person who has done faceups I don't think I could easily do for example 10 dolls the exact same way. It would be a little repetitive for me if anything. So I do respect their attempt at making them so uniform.

      But when I look at a company faceup I treat it like buying a custom one. Do I like their work and style on the doll? Is it what I am going for with mine? If yes I will for sure get it from the company despite the fact it could be hit or miss. I've been happy more than disappointed for sure.