Re-Do Ramona

I'm doing something a little different with today's makeover.  I mentioned in my last post that Henna was the last Helen-faced doll that I had (in that size), but I actually have one more Helen to share with you!

Some of you have seen this girl before:

18-inch, 2013 My Twinn doll with the Helen face.

This is an 18-inch My Twinn doll that I worked on back in 2016 when I was writing the Toy Box Philosopher.  I stole a few pictures of her from that blog.

I got this doll in 2014, during one of the big My Twinn sales, and I named her Ramona.

This is how Ramona looked when I first got her:

Cutie patootie.

She had terrible eyebrows, but she also had bangs to cover them up!

After a few years, however, her eyes faded badly and she looked like this:

As part of the My Twinn Project on TBP, I swapped out Ramona's eyes and gave her some new lashes.  This is how she looked after that first makeover:

I was pretty happy with her back then, although I didn't re-paint any of her face and I managed to damage the left side of her wig while I was heating her head to swap the eyes.  I always intended to get her back out at some point and make her even better, but she never made it to the top of my list.

But the other day when I was scanning my doll collection, I saw Ramona and had an idea!  I love it when there are differently-sized versions of the same doll or toy.  Things like mini American Girl dolls, for example, are hugely appealing to me.  With this in mind, it occurred to me that I could give Ramona a makeover and she could join Henna in the Unicorn Twinn group as a kind-of mini-me!  The two dolls will be sold separately, but I thought it would be fun to present them on the blog back-to-back, dressed in similarly-themed outfits.

This is how Ramona looked when I got her off the shelf and started my work:

She had a glue blob on her forehead that came with her from the factory.  It's probably why she was on a big sale:

She also had some damage around her eyes, particularly the left eye.  

There's some ragged vinyl at the inner corner of the eye:

And a big scratch under the eye:

I really liked Ramona's original wig.  It was a beautiful color, and actually matched Henna's red wig really well, which I thought was a fun coincidence.

I tried to salvage the older wig by using some boiling water to smooth the bangs, but the hair was really sensitive to heat and I just made things worse.

So, I ordered Ramona a new wig and got to work removing the old one.  This turned out to be incredibly difficult.  The glue that My Twinn was using during this time was extremely durable.  Overkill, one might say. 

Even with the old wig removed, there was a ton of glue stuck to Ramona's head:

I tried my best to remove at least the red-stained glue around Ramona's hairline, but I didn't even attempt to scrape away any of the other glue.

I also sanded away the glue spot that was on Ramona's forehead.  There's still a slightly lighter area of vinyl in that area, but it's hard to see.

I also removed Ramona's factory blush and eyebrows, both of which were crudely-done.

Here she is all ready for some new paint!

I gave Ramona some subtle blushing, a good spray of freckles, and new red eyebrows:

Here's a closer look:

The wig I chose for Ramona is "Sweet Reddish" from Doll of a Kind.  It's almost exactly the same color as her original wig, but it doesn't have any bangs:

I photographed Ramona without her clothes because I wanted to show you some staining that she has on her legs from old clothing (those dark jeans that she was wearing in an earlier photo).  The stains are small, but they're noticeable:

Other than the stains, Ramona's body is in decent condition.  She has a good color match between her head and her limbs, which is not always the case with these dolls.  

Her limbs are not as tight as they were when I first got her, but I haven't learned how to re-string an 18-inch doll yet.  She can still stand up, but I found her incredibly frustrating to work with when compared to the more sturdy and flexible 23-inch girls.

One fantastic thing about this size of doll is that there are tons of clothing and wig options!  It's like a fantasy land of choices!  I had so much fun choosing a unicorn outfit from Julie's selection at Fairy Tale Blessings.  

Here is Ramona's completed look:

The wig came in neat little ringlets, but as soon as I brushed it, it became a thick mass of curls!

With her new look, Ramona reminds me of a fictional character, but I can't put my finger on who it is:

I love her bright-eyed expression:

There are some big photography and coloring differences in my before and after shots this time, but here's a comparison GIF of Ramona's makeover:

I pulled Ramona's hair back with some clips.  This hairstyle made it easier to photograph her face, and it also shows off the insane curliness of the wig:

Ramona can stand on her own and hold a few poses, but like I said before, she's nowhere near as much fun to photograph as a 23-inch My Twinn!  She would definitely benefit from a doll stand, but I don't have any that are the right size.

Let's take a closer look at Ramona's unicorn outfit:

The tank top has some sequined flowers scattered around, and then Julie has added three large fabric flowers on the right shoulder:

The tutu skirt has two layers and is edged with more sequins:

The skirt is also super-short, so I added some white tights (from Doll Secrets) and some fleece-lined pink boots (Sophia's brand).

Oh, and there's a cute floral accent on the waistband of the skirt, too:

Ramona's headband is slightly different from the headbands I've shown on 23-inch dolls:

The horn itself is hard (not stuffed) and coated with silver glitter:

As with the larger headbands, this piece works as a functional headband for Ramona, and can hold back the hair in her thick wig:

I took the headband off for a little while, though, so that I could show you Ramona's wig in more detail.

I find wigs with small curls hard to manage.  It was impossible to keep the original glossy ringlets in-tact, and once the wig was brushed, the curls became unruly.

Another small problem is that there's a small area at the back of Ramona's hairline where some of the icky old glue is still visible:

But overall, this is a thick, beautiful wig, and I think that the curls look amazing, especially on a redhead.

With a bit of patience and some work, the ringlets can be partially re-formed:

But I chose to embrace the curl and let the hair run wild!

I think that the disheveled hair adds to Ramona's spunky personality.

I wanted to include a few pictures with the two Helen-faced dolls together:

Ramona doesn't look much like Henna's mini me, does she?  Not only do the face molds look quite different in the different scales, but Henna has very different coloring.

Both girls have a medium-pale complexion, but Ramona has more green in her vinyl while Henna has more yellow and red.

Something about photographing these two together made both of their complexions look a bit strange, but they're a cute pair nonetheless!

It was an interesting change to work on a small doll after spending so much time with the majestic 23-inch My Twinns.  I had a really fun time re-painting Ramona's face and shopping for her, but posing her and photographing her was not as satisfying as it is with the larger dolls.  Still, this little cutie fits in perfectly with the other happy, colorful Unicorn Twinns.

Here's a summary of the work that was done on Ramona--and please keep in mind that the eye-swap and eyelash replacement were done 4 years ago.

-her old, faded eyes were replaced with Eyeco acrylic eyes

-she was given new eyelashes

-her blush and eyebrow paint were removed

-a glue spot on her head was sanded away

-her face was repainted, including blush, freckles, and eyebrows--her lip paint is original

-she was given a new dark red wig from Doll of a Kind

-she is dressed in a unicorn-themed outfit from Fairy Tale Blessings that includes a tank top, short skirt, and headband.  I have added new tights and new shoes to this ensemble

Ramona's primary flaws are that her legs are a bit loose, she has some damage to the vinyl around her left eye, there's some glue residue at the back of her hairline, there are small stains on the insides of her legs, and her wig (while new and beautiful) is hard to manage.

For those who are interested American Girl dolls, I think that the 18-inch My Twinn face molds add some fun and welcome diversity into this world.  Ramona's happy little face and cheeky curls certainly brightened my week.

Ramona has sold.  Thank you!