Giving Them Life

Paris Williams, the center doll in tan jacket, was part of Onlyalisa's recent thrift store haul (Photo courtesy of Onlyalisa)*

A couple of weeks ago after a fellow collector shared her thrift store haul from an East Cost store that included a Madame Alexander Paris doll (what?) in near mint condition for $9.99, I trotted off to my local thrift store to see if I would be as lucky. Nope. No such luck here, but I did find two So In Style dolls and a Fashion Madness Denise. All were in preloved condition at $1.99 each, with one of the SIS girls qualifying for a 50% discount due to her tag color being the "color of the week." So for a little over $5 (including tax) I received an inexpensive doll fix.

So In Style (SIS) Grace, Trichelle, and Fashion Madness Denise are as they were when found in this and the next two photos.

Grace's hair required the least work to tame.  Denise's took lots of elbow grease to restyle.

I soaked the trio in Pine Sol and gave them a good rinse before washing and conditioning their hair.  I used a dab of Elasta QP Liquid Styling Gel to comb through Denise's matted tresses.

After washing, the hair was allowed to air dry.

What a difference!

After returning the SIS girls to their original hairstyles and giving Denise a faux fishtail braid, the girls were dressed in a combination of Sparkle Girlz and Barbie fashions and shoes  Before Denise posed for the above photo, her pale white lips with painted illusion of teeth were enhanced to enlarge the lips and cover the fake teeth.  See before and after photos next.

Denise's thin lips before the enhancement

I used white dimensional paint to both enlarge the size of the upper and lower lips and to add dimension to the painted teeth.  See profile photos next (before final color was added).

I mixed a couple of colors of brown, tan, a touch of red, and white acrylic paint to achieve a neutral lip color, shown below in Denise's final photo.

This is the second lip enhancement I have performed on a Fashion Madness Denise.  The result of the first one, seen here, is not as appealing as this one.

*The other dolls in the first photo found by Onlyalisa are an International Fulani Tribal Doll, Naber Kid, Bratz Dylan, Effanbee doll possibly from the Grandes Dames collection, and an 18-inch Our Generation Girl.

I wasn't as lucky as Onlyalisa but I enjoyed giving these three life and Denise more lips.

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Fashion Madness Denise x2 More

Summer Sleek and Super Cool Fashion Madness Denise

My first Fashion Madness Denise, Shimmer Fun, arrived a year ago, in September 2013 and readily underwent a lip enhancement procedure that went wrong.  I was a little too zealous in my attempt to enlarge Denise's lips and change her too pale lip color.

Recently, I decided to purchase another Denise and leave well enough alone.  That purchase resulted in buying the two dolls shown above, which for now will remain in their never removed from box state.  The dolls were offered in a buy it now auction for $14.99 or best offer.  I offered $10 which was countered at $12 for one doll and $10 for a second.  I accepted the counter offer.

As I indicated in my Excel entry to document the purchase, I wanted to have at least one Fashion Madness Denise that maintains the manufactured appearance.  Now I have two with that look.

Kenya's World, LLC, 2013	Fashion Madness Denise, Summer Sleek	Friend of FM Kenya, Denise is 11-1/2 inches, articulated at elbows, wrists, and knees with black rooted hair, painted brown eyes, smile with appearance of teeth, pale lip color; wears brown/tan animal print dress, black and gold shoulder bag, gold high-heel shoes, silver and faux diamond earrings; purchased to have a doll with the manufactured appearance since I over-enhanced the lips of the one purchased last year.
Kenya's World, LLC, 2013	Fashion Madness Denise, Super Cool	Same doll as above with different outfit that consists of lime green tank, black faux leather jacket, blue/yellow/pink ruched skirt, black calf-high boots, pink shoulder bag, silver and faux diamond earrings and matching necklace.

Summer Sleek Denise shows off her black patent-leather shoulder bag that has a gold tone chain strap and several rows of pyramid-shaped studs that line the bottom. 

Shimmer Fun Denise has articulated knees only and now even darker lip color.  She poses with the two new girls. 

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