Robyn from Barbie Life in the City

Robyn from Barbie Life in the City before lip repainting

I decided to give Robyn a closed smile. I also changed the pink stud earrings I gave her previously to yellow. 

Initially, I painted over the existing paint and entire mouth area to remove the teeth using a mixture of dark red acrylic paints.

The red look was just okay but it still seemed a bit off to me.

I thought if I lightened the color that would help, but it did not as illustrated here.

So, I darkened the lip color with a mixture of brown and red acrylics and sealed it with varnish.

After a few days passed, I looked at Robyn and was still not satisfied. I realized it was not the color I had chosen. It was the shape and width of her lips that was throwing everything off. 

So, I removed the paint with 100% acetone to start with a fresh palette.

In addition to removing the teeth, my goal, after starting over, was to achieve a more realistic lip size. To do this, I would not paint the full sculpted width of the lips. 

Even though pink lips on dolls with deep complexions is one of my pet peeves , I used what I had on hand to re-paint Robyn's lips.

I was about to choose a color from a box of oil pastels when I instead used a mauve-pink metallic marker. I had purchased the marker earlier in the week to use for its intended purpose, to write. 

The mauve-pink marker worked well until I filled in the center of the mouth with a gold marker. I didn't like the gold highlight. (I didn't capture that effect in a photograph.)

I used an almost dried-out brown Sharpie to cover the gold area and that is where I stopped. 

These are the markers I used to achieve Robyn's new lip color.

Robyn is shown in a before and after photograph.

I like Robyn's toothless smile and the decreased mouth width.

Ollie's_Dollies on Instagram felt the same way about her Robyn's toothy grin. Right arrow through to the third picture to see the color Ollie's_Dollies achieved.

  

By the way, because I am not a doll paraphernalia collector, I sold Robyn's kiosk. I am happy to have one less thing to clutter the doll room that is not a doll. 

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

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Robyn from Barbie Life in the City

Robyn is a character in the Barbie Life in the City series.

Ebony-complexioned Robyn comes with a café kiosk with shelves and accessories. 

Robyn has a non-articulated petite body, brown painted eyes, rooted brown natural textured hair with auburn highlights, and paint-on black baby hair. She wears a pink fruit-print top with a pink skirt, and turquoise slip-on sandals.

The café kiosk

The playset includes a kiosk with shelving, a reversible "open" and "closed" sign, a cash register screen, and a service counter. A cup of coffee, a pretzel, a muffin, and a croissant are also included. Robyn also has a leashed puppy.

This photo of the top of the kiosk illustrates most of the café accessories and the puppy.

This is a closer look at the counter and cash register screen.

The kiosk, Robyn, and the puppy are illustrated on the back of the box.

Other Barbie Life in the City characters are also illustrated.

Two Brooklyn Barbie Life in the City playsets are featured on the back panel of the box.

Robyn poses with Brooklyn Barbie

A close-up headshot of Robyn and Brooklyn Barbie

Before she arrived, based on the prototype photos, I thought Robyn shared the same head sculpt as Brooklyn Barbie, but their sculpts are different. Robyn's head is marked ©2021 MATTEL. So she is relatively new. I am not sure if Mattel has used this sculpt before, but her face looks familiar. The toothy grin is a bit bothersome, but I can live with it until I decide to give her a closed mouth with acrylic paint. 

In the final picture, Robyn sits with Barbie Looks Model #10 for a complexion comparison.

Their complexions appear to be about the same.

 I pierced Robyn's ears with quilting needles, which are used as stud earrings. 

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!