Angry Arya

Ok, so I know I said that I was never going to buy a 2003 My Twinn doll ever again.  I may have even said it more than once.  However, when I saw this pale, squish-faced, angry-looking Danielle on eBay for a very good price,  I knew I had to break my own rule:

2003 My Twinn doll with the Danielle face.

This Danielle suffered the same affliction as Squish-Faced Scarlett: her head must have been compressed while she was stored in a hot environment or something like that.  Whatever happened to her, the result is that the whole front of her face was dented inwards, changing her expression and making her look grumpy.

I don't blame her for being cross, though.  Not only was her face dented in, but she had dirt, scuffs, and stains all over her face and eyes.

Fortunately, Scarlett taught me that squished-in faces are easy to fix with just a little bit of heat.

Even though this doll's face was in bad condition, the rest of her body actually came to me in great shape.

She has very few picks on her cloth torso, and the vinyl of her limbs matches her face well.

The stitching of her back seam looks a little strange to me, but it is secure and even:

Let's take a closer look at this fascinating face, though.  I feel like it looks really different from a typical Danielle:

Here's a side-by-side comparison with Lumi (another 2003 Danielle):

This doll had such a unique personality, I wanted to give her a special new name.

I love all of the people who work at my local post office, and one of them is a beautiful young woman who often talks with pride about her strong-willed, brilliant little daughter, Arya.  I decided to name this doll after that little girl.

Here's a close-up of Arya's face:

She had ink stains all around her eyes.  My guess is that somebody applied eyeliner to her eyelids, and then, over time, that color smudged over other parts of her face

Arya's biggest facial flaw was a big scuff on the tip of her nose.  In addition to that, her lips were streaked with black and she had a few orange spots on her nose and cheeks:

I removed Arya's head (and her wig) and took the head into my workroom for closer inspection:

Arya's eyes were bright blue, but the color had faded unevenly and the scleras were covered with ink:

I was a little worried about the scuff on Arya's nose.  It was pretty large and deep:

I wasn't worried about the marks on the mouth, though, since I was planning to repaint the lips anyway:

The indentation in Arya's face was focused in her eye region.  The eye sockets were warped so that the eyes were both looking inwards.  This was slightly more pronounced on the right side than on the left:

I washed Arya's head with regular soap and water.  Several of the marks washed away pretty easily, but the ink around her eyes was more stubborn:

At this point I used dry heat to remove Arya's eyes and let her head relax back into its normal shape.

The head reshaped beautifully, but the eyes melted as they were coming out.  This always startles me (and it smells bad, too!).

With the eyes out of the way, I washed the head more carefully and then applied Remove-Zit to the stained areas:

Here's the head after I washed off the Remove-Zit:

The eye sockets looked great,

but the scratch on the nose was still a big problem:

After several rounds of sanding, I finally got the scratch under control:

The damaged area is still visible if you look really closely, but it's pretty hard to see at this point:

I've had some trouble fitting new acrylic eyes into 2003 heads in the past, so this time I decided to go straight for some flexible silicone eyes.

For Arya, I chose these beautiful Dreamy Blue Platinum Glass eyes from Eyeco.  This is one of my new favorite colors!

I wanted the lip paint to match the pale coloring of the eyes, but my first attempt was a little too bright:

So I washed that paint off and tried again.

I'm a lot happier with my second attempt:

I used the same pale pink color to blush Arya's cheeks:

And then I gave her some blonde eyebrows and a few light freckles:

Here's a better look at the eyebrows:

I wanted Arya to be blonde, like my friend at the post office.  However, it's hard to find nice blonde wigs for My Twinn dolls these days--or at least that's been my experience.  Dollmore has some lovely options, but most of them are currently sold out.

One of my favorite Monique blonde colors is "Sunburst Blonde" but the only wig I know of right now that comes in this color is the Aria wig from Dolleanne.

This wig has bangs, which I don't tend to like, but the bangs are wispy and suit Arya's face well.  I also like that I'm using an Aria wig for a doll named Arya.  Seems fitting!

The last thing I did was give Arya some new blonde eyelashes:

Before I glued the wig or the eyelashes, I cleaned Arya's body and reattached it to her head.  I always forget to chronicle that step!

I really love the time in a doll's makeover when I get to dress her up in a new outfit.  For the Unicorn Twinns, this has been especially fun since the outfits are so colorful and uplifting.

I found what I think is the perfect unicorn outfit for Arya's complexion.  This one has a pink shirt to match her rosy cheeks, and hints of blue throughout the whole outfit that make her eyes stand out:

Here's the wig from the back.  It has lovely curls that are relatively easy to control:

I really like how this doll turned out.  She doesn't look directly at the camera very well, so I'm not sure her photos do her justice, but she's one of my favorites.

Let me show you some of the details in Arya's lovely outfit:

Her pink shirt has a unicorn decal with crisp edges and nice colors.  There are some white lines through the flowers, but they're not especially noticeable:

The skirt is a little tight on Arya, which is apparent because of a slight indentation at her waistline:

There's a pretty big range of size in My Twinn bodies, so this isn't surprising.

The skirt itself is really beautiful, with a floral lace overskirt:

And a tulle underskirt:

I paired the skirt with some baby blue tights and white boots:

Arya has a really great horn headband, too:

I love the metallic silver of the horn itself, and the muted colors of the flowers are really flattering:

Clips don't work as well in Arya's hair as they do in some other wigs, but she still looks cute with a high clip on either side of her head:

As usual, I'll take this chance to show you Arya's comparison GIF:

I don't always feel confident that I've improved a doll's appearance, but Arya's makeover was really rewarding.  This is why I love working on these dolls so much!

I let Arya's hair down for a couple of photos.  Despite the bangs, this wig does not have a center part or anything, so the hair can be flipped around in any direction:

The headband can be used in a decorative way, by simply setting it on top of Arya's head amidst loose hair:

But I think Arya looks best when the headband is being used to pull some hair back away from her face:

We've been having a streak of glorious weather here in Maine--warm without oppressive humidity--which is great because my whole household has been outside working on a deck and shed project in the backyard.  One thing about the coronavirus is that it's inspiring lots of projects for one reason or another!

Before the good weather ended this morning (in a drenching rain), I got a chance to photograph Arya in natural light:

I tried photographing her on a really sunny day, but the light was a bit too much.  Here's one photo from that day just so that you can see how lovely her hair color is in the sun:

Unlike her Unicorn Twinn friends, Arya ignored the flowers in my yard and chose to explore the shady woods.  She was fascinated by the new leaves on this pine tree:

I took advantage of the new deck to get some shots of Arya standing near our fence:

I loved watching this endearingly grumpy doll transform into a little ray of sunshine.  She almost makes me re-evaluate my decision to stop buying 2003 dolls, but I've still been disappointed more times than I've been won over by this particular group, so it's a tough call.

Arya's body was in great shape when she came to me, but her head needed almost all of the tricks I have in my book!  Here's a summary of the work that was done on her:

-her head was removed and washed with soap and water

-her vinyl limbs were cleaned with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

-her old eyes were removed and her head was re-washed with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

-stains on her face were treated with Remove-Zit and then Formula 9-1-1

-a large scuff on her nose was sanded down

-her factory paint was stripped away

-her head was sprayed with Mr. Super Clear sealant

-she was given new Eyeco Platinum Glass (silicone) eyes

-her face was repainted, including lips, blush, light freckles, and eyebrows

-her head was reattached to her body using professional strength hot glue

-she was given a new Monique Aria 13-14" wig and blonde eyelashes

-she is dressed in a unicorn-themed outfit from Fairy Tale Blessings that includes a top, skirt, and headband.  I have added new blue tights and white boots to the ensemble.

Arya still has a small mark on the tip of her nose where the large scuff was sanded away.  She is also a 2003 doll and is not of the same quality as the Denver-era dolls.  Overall, Arya is in great condition with just a few random spots and rubs from being old.  Arya is now an art doll and is not intended for small children.

I have at least one more Unicorn Twinn to share with you (maybe two?).  Thank you for stopping by, and I hope everyone is doing ok out there.