Treating Keyshia's Hyperpigmentation

School Girl Keyshia (the boxed doll shown above) arrived in February 2014 with a few dark spots on her arms and hands, some of which were captured in this image taken shortly after she arrived.  These were discovered after removing her black velour jacket, which I suspected then was the staining culprit.

Keysia was one of the students in my Dear Miss Conley post (see her in the 2nd photo in back near the chalk board and in the 4th photo in front of Bob in the Conley post).  Before photographs for that post were taken, she had continued to wear her black jacket.  I removed the jacket for the "Dear Miss Conley" photographs because most of the children were dressed in lightweight fabrics, and I didn't want Keyshia to "feel" out of place.  After removing the jacket, I discovered she had what would be diagnosed as hyperpigmentation in humans, which is caused by an increased amount of melanin in the affected areas.  Dark spots were all over the inner and outer areas of Keyshia's arms.  Totally disgusted by this (without taking a photo), I immediately applied a copious amount of extra strength acne cream to these areas after she received her unjust imaginary punishment from Miss Conley.

With acne cream-applied arms and hands, Keyshia stands on the kitchen windowsill facing the outside to expose these areas to indirect sunlight.

Keyshia remained on the kitchen windowsill for approximately two weeks.

As shown in the first windowsill photo, Keyshia patiently stood on the kitchen windowsill to allow the sun (on the days we were blessed with it) to aid the active ingredient in the acne cream to fade the spots.  Because Keyshia's arms are rigid plastic, it took approximately two weeks for the 10% benzoyl peroxide to completely fade the stains.  When treated with the same ointment, it usually only takes a few days to a week for stains to fade from softer vinyl.

After Treatment

"Look, Mom, no more stains!"

As illustrated above.  All except one small spot on her right forearm has faded.  Had I allowed the cream to remain on for perhaps another week or so, that area would have faded as well.

Keyshia and her family

With stain-free arms and hands, Keyshia has now rejoined her sister and father on the cubbyhole of my personal desk where they are usually displayed.  (Special Day Keyshia is elsewhere in the doll room.)

This Keyshia will not be allowed to wear that black velour jacket ever-ever-ever again.

 dbg

Cutie Keyshia x2

Fashion Madness Weekend Fun and Special Day Keyshia pose with the cardboard liner of their box.  In Vanna White style, they show off the graphics, which include two, too-cute silhouettes of the girls.

With all the recent talk about Fashion Madness TJ and then Dwayne, it is finally time for the two Keyshias to shine.  They are being allowed, after much insistence, to tell their own stories.

Hi!  My name is Special Day Keyshia!

Special Day Keyshia:  Well, Debbie removed  me from my box first and immediately examined my knee joints after making note of the open-toe, slip-on black sandals that I wear with... socks.   

Debbie thinks my socks with sandals is a fashion faux pas.

Getting me completely out of the box was a snap.  There was just one elastic band holding me at the waist.  My feet were held in place with a white ribbon and so was my long wavy and rooted hair, but that ribbon was black. 

At first Debbie thought my outfit was a dress (giggle).  It's really two pieces:  a red blouse and houndstooth skirt.  Black lace trims the waist of my skirt.  Both close with Velcro in back.  My red tam matches my blouse.  It has a tiny white pom-pom on it.  

Debbie likes my clothes, but my makers did cut corners.  (They gave me flesh-tone molded-on panties.  It doesn't look like I am wearing any!)   I'll try to sit lady-like and not bend over too much in this skirt. 

 I wear white stud earrings that Debbie initially thought were molded on, but then she noticed the post of my right stud is sticking out.  It is angled in my earlobe in an upward direction and cannot be removed. It's not supposed to be like that.  Flaw #1 (Debbie thought). 

The stud is supposed to lay flat against my earlobe.  Someone must have fallen asleep on the job when my assembly was done or they just didn't care.

Then Debbie noticed a black mark along the side of my face.  My company's poor quality control made her shake her head in disbelief.  Then she thought:  Flaw #2.  

 

She took me outside to take this picture of the black mark on my face.  I enjoyed the sunlight but I am also unhappy about the mark.  Debbie thinks she might be able to remove it though.  Now I'm shaking my head!

Next, all my joints were examined.  Debbie was relieved that they all work well, but then she noticed some discoloration and imperfections in the vinyl on the lower part of my right inner arm.  It looks like I might have gotten too close to a  heating element or something.  It really does look like a surface burn.  What were those people thinking that made me?  Oh well, it's on the inside of my arm and it's not very noticeable.  She knew her camera probably wouldn't get a focused picture of it, so she didn't bother photographing my arm problem.

Finally, she posed me in several positions and smiled while doing it, so I think she likes me even with imperfections! 

***

Hi!  I am Weekend Fun Keyshia!

Weekend Fun Keyshia:  My twin sister always wants to be first at whatever we do.  I've learned to let her have her way.  Now that she has shared her first experience in our new home, I will share mine.

I was attached to my box the same way my sister was attached to hers, except a plastic fastener held one sleeve of my blouse to the box.   After Ms. Debbie cut that, she removed my feet and hair from underneath the ribbons that held them down and removed the rubber band from my waist to free me!  

"Wow... there are a lot of dolls here!"  That was the first thing I said.  I was a little afraid at first, but within a few minutes, I saw several faces smiling back at me.  Plus, the most important thing is that  my other family members are here!  So I am in love with this place!

More About Me:  My hair is styled in two side ponytails and it is very long.  It is as long as my sister's and rooted like hers, but my hair is straight, not wavy.   Ms. Debbie did have to trim away some long strands from one of my ponytails.  My sister and I both have brown painted eyes.  Ms. Debbie thought our eyes looked beady when she saw our online pictures.  I heard her say our eyes remind her of Lauryn Hill's.  I guess I can "see" the resemblance.  

People think I'm wearing two shirts, but it's really one.

My green, two-tone top is worn with blue denim jeans.  My black sandals are identical to my sister's.  Ms. Debbie thinks they work well with my casual clothes.   I wear a black and white check neck scarf and my stud earrings are silver.  They lay flat against my earlobes the way they should.

The only minor problem Ms. Debbie found about me is that my knee joints are looser than my sister's.  I can still stand alone, but Ms. Debbie had to be careful how she positioned me to keep me from falling.  

The Two Keyshias in Unison:  Debbie's overall opinion is that of all the Fashion Madness dolls, she likes us the best!  It's probably because of our height of only 9 inches and our proportional heads.  (We all agree that the other family members have huge heads!)  Except for our waist and wrists, we are fully articulated.  Some of our other family members do not have as many moveable joints.

***

The two girls are right.  I think they are adorable.  Even though they both have issues, the issues are tolerable.  Below, the girls are joined by some of the deboxed members of the Fashion Madness Kenya family.

Fashion Madness dolls, TJ, Kenya, Keyshia, Denise, Keyshia, and Dwayne

***

Thank you, twin Keyshias, for sharing your first experience here.  I couldn't have written it any better.  I am thankful you arrived to complete your family.  Since you probably did not recognize Denise, I plan to purchase another one soon.  Instead of giving the next one a lip enhancement, I will just darker her pale lip color.

dbg

Follow my Dolls for Sale blog

Please visit and "Like" The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen

It's All About TJ, Mostly

Fashion Madness TJ Night Out is articulated with nicely made fashion.

I added an articulated TJ to my collection through an eBay seller who offered him with an "or best offer" option.  TJ along with two Fashion Madness Keyshias, purchased from the same seller, arrived last week as my first doll purchases of the year.  Wow... three dolls already during the 1st week of January.  Hope this is not a sign of my doll spending. 

TJ poses in front of the cardboard liner of his box.  The flaps of the box contain his silhouette, which I think is pretty cool.

TJ's fashion is nicer than I expected.  He wears a heather gray turtleneck sweater that has a Velcro closure in back.  Heavyweight denim fabric was used for his jeans.  His black and white check coat has a stand-up collar and black satin lapels.  His black vinyl sneakers with mock laces were made for left and right feet, not for either foot like some doll shoes.

TJ poses without his jacket. 

TJ is articulated at the wrists, elbows, knees and other usual areas.  His ankles are not articulated.  I took a nude photo of TJ and So In Style Darren for a very brief, not detailed, comparison of the two.

TJ and So in Style Darren pose for a body comparison

TJ's body is more muscular than Darren's, but his shorter legs made me think he would be shorter.  His longer torso makes up for the short legs because when side by side, the two are actually about the same 12-inch height.  I like the appearance of TJ's knee joints; however, if the lower leg is turned even slightly, he "wants" to bend his knees.  Perhaps someone has told him that many women like men with "bow legs" and he is attempting to give that appearance.  Even though he tends to bow his legs, he can stand without the aid of a stand.  His feet are slightly longer and wider at the forefoot than Darren's but the two can share shoes.  Surprisingly, they can share (some) clothing, too, as illustrated below.

TJ can wear the Ken track suit that Darren was wearing and Darren can wear TJ's Night Out fashion.  The sunglasses that each were wearing cannot be worn by the other.  Darren's sunglasses are too small for TJ's over-sized head; TJ's are too wide for Darren.

I wanted to see how TJ displays with a Fashion Madness Kenya.  The doll I dressed as Teresa Graves' Get Christie Love character volunteered to pose with Darren.

TJ and Kenya are a cute couple.

As indicated, Weekend Fun and Special Day Keyshia traveled here with TJ.

Weekend Fun and Special Day Keyshia

I will write a followup post on Keyshia soon.  In the meantime, if you are curious about her, Roxanne's Dolls has written a wonderfully illustrated review of Weekend Keyshia. 
 

More About My Articulated TJ:
TJ came with a few minor flaws that were probably not noticeable to the seller.  This is the way of the Kenya World.  Unless you are purchasing the dolls in person and can examine them up close and personal for visible flaws, you might wind up with a doll with imperfections.

TJ's right hand did have a noticeable gray powdery substance on it that was visible through the box.  Initially, I thought the vinyl of his hand had turned an ashen gray, but both shoes had this same dusting of gray stuff all over them.  I removed him from the box and washed off his hand, both shoes -- inside and out -- and his feet.  I have no idea what this was or what TJ had been up to.  I wrote the seller* to inform him of this as well as TJ's vinyl flaws, described below. 

He has a nose rub where the tip of it was pressed against the plastic lining of the box.  I used a pencil eraser to dull the shine of the rub some, but it is still visible.  He has a scratch in the center of his forehead that looks like a scar, other minor vinyl rubs to his bald head, and a discolored indentation at the nape of his neck.  Most of these were probably not noticeable to the seller, but had the doll been examined in person, a collector would have seen the "powder," the nose rub, and the forehead scar.  I took a chance on ordering online because I wanted an articulated version and the same seller had both Keyshias.  All were purchased for a "best offer" price with free shipping.  I am a little disappointed in TJ's flaws, but the fact that his clothing is better than expected, Darren can wear it, and he can wear Ken Fashionistas fashions, I won't sweat it.

*The seller, whose shipping was super sonic fast, offered to replace TJ after I returned him at my expense.  I informed him that since I had already removed TJ from the box and had basically taken care of the visible flaws as best I could, I would keep him, but I did want him to be aware that some of the dolls have issues.

dbg

Follow my Dolls for Sale blog

Please visit and "Like" The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen