Sunday, December 10, 2017

Beautiful Blessings Deborah - Review

Deborah by Beautiful Blessings in her signature box, the front of which contains an insert that reads:
She's kind & ambitious.
Her positive attitude,
faithfulness, & good spirit
shine through. Her affirming
self-image reminds each of us
to be the best version
of ourselves. ♥

Left and right box side panels contain the "I am a Beautiful Blessing" logo, and the company's mission statement.  "Our mission is to empower young females & realign the impossible image standards set by other dolls.  Our unique doll collection promotes a more positive, realistic body image and helps inspire confidence and higher self-esteem in girls and young women."

At Beautiful Blessings (the left side panel reads), we believe "The Average Girl IS Beautiful!"
and every girl should look in the mirror and say, "I Am a Beautiful Blessing."

Noted on the back of the box:
Free Inside
Exclusive Beautiful Blessings
Mirror Card
included with every doll
A positive message card to keep you empowered & inspired everyday!

Deborah's mirror card reads:
You are a masterpiece
that was made strong, beautiful
& confident.  Accomplish your goals
and live your dreams!
Have the abundant life that was made
distinctly for you.  Love yourself & show the
world who you were designed to become.
Reach your destiny!
Remember, you lack nothing.
-Beautiful Blessings.

With a more realistic body, dressed in an elegant fashion, Deborah is part of a three-doll collection created to inspire a positive self-image.  Her physical attributes are described below.

Beautiful Blessings Deborah
Height:  12-1/2 inches
Articulation:  Five-points, at neck, upper arms, and upper legs
Hair:  Black silky textured hair, rooted in layers that are from 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart (styling the hair will be limited to the current style or an up 'do).
Eyes:  Painted, brown
Complexion:  Caramel brown with yellow undertones
Clothing:  Stylish red knit two-piece suit and matching hat; jacket and skirt are embellished with a strip of rhinestones.  Red pumps with black soles and red bottoms complete the look.
Body Measurements in Inches (Breasts, Waist, Hips):  7, 4-1/2, 7
Foot Measurement, Length and Width:  1-3/8 inches x 1/2 inch
Medium:  Soft vinyl head, solid vinyl arms, plastic body and legs, which are hollow.
Ears:  Pierced, without earrings.

Deborah has a lovely face which appears to be exclusive to the Beautiful Blessings line (I have not seen another fashion doll line that uses this head sculpt).  Her red hat was attached to her head with three plastic fasteners, which I removed to examine her hair rooting and texture, which are described above.

Deborah poses without her hat.
Her hair extends just below the waist.
Extra Head Shots Taken Outside




Body Examination and Comparison


Deborah has molded-on nude undies:  a strapless bra and bikini panties.  She has curves in all the right places!

Comparison with Boho Glam Barbie

In frontal and profile comparison photos with Glam Boho Barbie, Deborah stands a full 1-inch taller.  The two cannot share clothes or shoes.

Comparisons with Prettie Girls Lena and Big Beautiful Dolls Dasia prove that Deborah cannot share clothing or shoes with them either.

Deborah and Lena

 


Deborah and Dasia

Unlike Glam Boho and Lena, Dasia's figure is fuller than Deborah's and her feet are larger than Deborah's.  I tried Dasia's dress on Deborah; it swallowed her.


Foot Comparison

Deborah's feet are almost the same length as Draculaura's (Monster High), but her foot is wider than Draculaura's, as illustrated above.

What She Can Wear




The only dress I have available that Deborah can wear is a Sparkle Girlz sundress.  It fits her because of the fuller cut and the jersey knit fabric from which it is made.  Because of her bust size, it was almost a struggle to get the Velcro closed in back.


The white pumps Deborah wears comfortably were made to fit Jem/Color Infusion dolls.  These were ordered for my Color Infusion Janay doll from Facets by Marcia.


Overall Assessment
The adult collector will appreciate Deborah's full figure, but might be hard pressed (unless they sew) to find other fashions that will fit her more voluptuous figure.  The Beautiful Blessings website does have a link to Doll Clothing, but currently extra fashions are not shown at the website.   The adult collector would also appreciate closely rooted hair and more articulation, but because the doll is actually designed for young children the usual five points of articulation will suffice.  The quality of the clothing and shoes is nice and the retail price of $44.99 is reasonable.

The premier doll in the Beautiful Blessings collection, Virtuous Lady, is currently sold out.  Additional quantities will be available in 2018.  Deborah and Mary are still available.   With this three doll collection, the company can easily accomplish its mission to inspire confidence and self-esteem in girls and young women.  Deborah is pinned to my Pinterest board as one of my suggested Black Dolls for Children.


The founder of Beautiful Blessings, Ms. Raveen James, and others provide additional details about the inspiration for this unique line of dolls.



_______

Side Note:  Deborah means "bee" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament Book of Judges, Deborah is a heroine and prophetess who leads the Israelites when they are threatened by the Canaanites. She forms an army under the command of Barak, and together they destroy the army of the Canaanite commander Sisera. Also in the Old Testament, this is the name of the nurse of Rebecca. [https://www.behindthename.com/name/deborah]


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15 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this comparison! Wanted to buy one of those dolls but couldn't tell how they really looks like from promo photos. Hope for new edition of Virtouos Lady and white doll with those face too, as Deborah and Mary face sculpt looks too clone alike for me while Virtouos Lady have really beautiful face. But maybe it's just a matter of bad lighting from promo photos. Maybe you could make another post about Deborah, with clean close up photos of her face, please?

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    1. Hi Jewel Snake,

      Virtuous Lady does use a different head sculpt than Deborah and Mary. I plan to add her to my collection when quantities return. I will add the original head shot I took of Deborah before combining it with the hat photo. I don't think I can take better photos of her face than I have already taken. I hope the extra head shot photo helps. Although she and Mary share the same head sculpt, I think Deborah is beautiful.

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    2. After noticing the shadow that was cast on Deborah's face in the original head shot photo I took, I added three additional new head shot photos that were taken outside. I hope these help you.

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  2. What a gorgeous doll and what a beautiful philosophy behind it!

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  3. A very pretty doll. I love her figure! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Love this doll and the philosophy behind her. It really is good to see so many smaller companies with a specific ethos’ making their way into the market and that there is a desire and a need for dolls that take us beyond the big four. It’s interesting when there is so much debate by the big toy conglomerates on what the future looks like as the market evolves and they need to challenge their stereotypical view on what is successful and what they can sell, there are others forging ahead regardless.

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    1. I love Deborah for the same reasons, Julius: the concept and her elegance. I am always ready and willing to support new companies that create dolls outside the norm that aim to serve the underserved. Beautiful Blessings dolls fall into this category.

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  5. This doll almost made me break my doll buying hiatus when I saw this post last month. However, after going to the link and seeing the Virtuous Lady doll, I'm waiting for that one and hoping that there will be more quantities available soon. Thank you for your thorough review of Deborah! These are beautiful dolls.

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    1. I'll be off my doll-buying fast before Spring 2018 when additional quantities of Virtuous Lady are supposed to be available. I want that one too because the head sculpt is different from Debra's.

      I'm glad you found the review helpful, Roxanne. How long have you been on your doll-buying hiatus? Mine ends on February 1st, but my doll-buying will remain curtailed indefinitely.

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    2. I'd been on hiatus since the first part of August, so just shy of 6 months. There are a handful of dolls that I want to purchase right now - a couple of males, and a few females. There are several more that I will purchase in the coming months, like the Virtuous Lady doll, the Ms. Which doll, and I will definitely need to save my funds for when the seamless Black dolls are released! So my doll buying splurge shouldn't be too bad, at least for right now.

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  6. Your want list isn't that bad for now, as you've indicated. Unless there are new dolls that pique my interest, there are only a three that I plan to purchase next month.

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  7. Thanks for sharing about this doll line and how she compares to other play scale dolls. I'd like at least one of them.

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