Brains and Beauty Malia Review

Brains and Beauty Dolls Malia

Recall this guest post where the creator of Brains and Beauty Dolls, Niya Dorsey, introduced the 18-inch doll, Malia, that speaks positive affirmations of empowerment.  After a long anticipatory wait, the dolls have been produced and shipped to those who helped fund the Brains and Beauty Dolls Kickstarter campaign.

Before removing Malia from the box, the beautifully designed box was photographed:

The side panel contains three affirmations:
Believe in yourself.
Empower one another.
Achieve all your goals in style.

Malia is illustrated on the back of the box with a conversation bubble above that reads:
I am beautiful inside and out.  I am a leader and a motivator.  I love fashion.  I want to be a CEO of my own company and a fashion model.

Malia, still attached to the box liner in this photo, is eager to be released.

Undressed for body exam

To get a full assessment of the body construct and quality, Malia was undressed.  The vinyl is of high quality and the doll is quite sturdy.  The mid area of the body is cloth.  The voice box is located in the cloth area and is accessible in the middle of the doll's back.

Malia's voice box is housed in a small compartment in her back which zips closed.

This is a closer look at the voice box area.  Because my doll was one of the first 100 dolls purchased, she bears the creator's signature, located on the right in the above photograph.

The square voice box is shown in these two photos immediately above and below.  Before the doll can talk, the white tab in the voice box needs removing as shown next.  If the voice box is lying flat inside the compartment when the doll arrives, avoid removing it.  Because the compartment is so tiny, if the voice box is removed, it is difficult to reinsert.  Just remove the white tab.

After the white tab is removed from the voice box (by simply pulling it out), with the voice box positioned inside the cavity correctly and the back zipped closed, pressing the stomach and/or back or both will activate Malia's voice.

Malia is casually dressed in a white dress with a pink heart in the center of the bodice.  The skirt of the dress has pink polka dots.  She wears a light blue brushed denim jacket that has three-quarter length cuffed sleeves.  A pair of chestnut faux suede UGG-style boots complete her fashion.

The back of Malia's boots contain the Brains and Beauty logo.

Malia's dress is cute enough to be worn without the jacket, as illustrated here.  

Malia has pierced ears.  Upon arrival, her pearl stud earrings, with the backs in place, were in her ears.   I removed the backs and reinserted the posts into her ears (with the earrings in the lobes, the backs are not able to be placed behind the posts because Malia does not have a full earlobe).  Caution:  The earrings might fall out easily; therefore, parents of small children should heed the warning on the front of the box shown below:

The warning reads:  Choking Hazard
Small parts.  Not for children under 3 years.  (The earrings are the small parts.)

Malia's fingernails and toenails are nicely manicured and pedicured.

I did not do a physical body comparison between Malia and an American Girl doll.  However, AG Julie's casual 1970s-inspired fashion and shoes fit Malia as though they were made for her.  It's safe to assume that she can wear other clothing made for American Girl dolls.

Malia has a very sweet face.  Her brown eyes are stationary.  Her human hair wig is thick with nice coily curls. It only requires finger combing. Except for the wig being farther down on her forehead, I cannot see the difference between the production doll's appearance and the photos I viewed of the prototype.  I am pleased with the quality of the wig, the clothing, and the doll's overall sturdiness.  The medium brown color of the vinyl is beautiful.  The voice box compartment is small, which makes it difficult to reinsert the voice box, if removed.  Removal of the voice box should not be required.   If the doll is owned by a child, parents might need to assist with removing the voice box tab and zipping the back closed to ensure the voice box remains properly positioned.  The earring backs should be removed as they serve no purpose.  If owned by a small child, the earrings should be permanently removed.

Overall Assessment:  Malia was made to inspire girls to "embrace their uniqueness, individual beauty, intelligence, culture, and leadership ability."  The doll's empowering phrases will certainly do that for girls.  I love the doll and support the company's goal of empowering girls, encouraging them to dream big and to know their worth through doll play.

Learn more about Malia from the Brains and Beauty Dolls website.


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Congratulations Brains and Beauty Dolls!

I am pleased to announce the Brains and Beauty Dolls Kickstarter, which ended October 27, 2017, has been successfully funded!  Within 33 days, 71 backers pledged $22,203 to help bring this project to life!  This is proof that dolls, like Brains and Beauty Dolls, designed to accurately represent girls of color, are desired in the marketplace.

Congratulations to you, Ms. Niya Dorsey, for your hard work and dedication in creating "the first 18-inch empowering, talking doll with real stylable hair."  You did it!

Brains and Beauty Dolls Malia

Production of the Malia doll has now begun with an estimated February 2018 delivery of dolls and other products offered through Kickstarter pledges.

Although the Kickstarter has ended with successful funding, preorders for the 18-inch Malia doll continue at the Brains and Beauty Dolls website.  Buy a doll for yourself (if you are a doll collector or if you just like the concept) or buy one for a child.

While many parents routinely only purchase dolls for their children as gifts for Christmas, birthdays, and other "special" occasions, I am a firm believer that dolls are great gifts for any occasion.  So while Malia will not be available in time for Christmas 2017, this should not prevent the now-purchase of this innovative, first-of-it's-kind, beautiful, empowering, talking doll that is appropriate for any child at any time.

The goal of Brains and Beauty Dolls is "to create an entire line of dolls and accessories to keep the fun going while motivating our girls."

Shop now, here.

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Guest Post by Brains and Beauty Dolls

Malia is an 18-inch talking doll by Brains and Beauty Dolls

Niya Dorsey, the creator of Brains and Beauty Dolls contacted me about her new line of 18-inch dolls. I invited her to share the inspiration behind the dolls.

"One day my one month old daughter and I were at home in the bed cuddling, as I stared at her beautiful face and started to talk to her. I told her how beautiful she is, how I couldn’t wait to have tea parties with her, get a mani-pedi together and how I want her to grow up and follow all her dreams, become a leader and so on. Suddenly, I got an epiphany, a doll is a girl’s best friend. I didn’t remember seeing or having a doll that had the beautiful features of girls of color. 

"I wasn’t big on the Barbie dolls and the other dolls I had as a child.  I would just feed, change their diapers and comb their hair. It wasn’t always easy styling their hair either. I decided I don't want a doll that teaches my daughter how to be a good mom, I want a doll that encourages her to believe in herself and to achieve her goals no matter what. At that moment I decided to create a doll for girls of color all over the world. 

"I created an 18-inch doll whose look was based on my daughter's features. First, I reached out to other mothers and asked, 'If you had to say something encouraging or positive to your daughter, what would you say?' I took my time and read every response and created a list of twenty empowering words. As a result, I created a doll that speaks encouraging words. I believe the right words are powerful and encouraging and have a positive impact on our little girls' lives.

"Today, many young girls suffer from low self-esteem due to society’s negative perceptions, bullying, and lack of encouragement. I want to help develop self-awareness and positive self-esteem in the lives of little girls with the help of my dolls.

Made of vinyl with a cloth stomach that houses her voice box, Malia is a perfect companion doll with comb-able human hair.

"I designed the doll to have real human hair to allow little girls to play with hair that is similar to their own, that is fun and easy to style. I named the company Brains and Beauty Dolls because our dolls represent intelligent and beautiful young girls everywhere. Our tag line is:  believe, empower and achieve in style. I want them to believe in themselves, empower one another and achieve their goals in style. 

"Our goal is to inspire little girls to embrace their uniqueness, individual beauty, intelligence, culture, and leadership abilities.

"Brains and Beauty Dolls aspires to create different dolls and accessories.  This September, we will run a kick starter campaign for our first doll Malia, and hope to unlock some other dolls as well."

Brains and Beauty Dolls Contact

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/BrainsandBeautyDolls/

Website:  https://brainsandbeautydolls.com/

Currently the Brains and Beauty website shop includes T-shirts, a girl and doll pajama set, and a book entitled, You can Be Whatever You Want to Be.

KickStarter Campaign
The Early Bird Special Pledge price for Malia for the first 100 contributors is $80 and the first 100 contributors at this level will receive an autographed doll!  After that goal is met, the campaign price will be $90 for the doll. Go here to preorder Malia or to otherwise contribute to the Brains and Beauty Dolls Kickstarter Campaign, which will run for 33 days. Let's help Ms. Dorsey make Malia a reality by contributing and/or sharing the link to the campaign.

Once again, here is the link.

PLEASE NOTE:  If the campaign is not fully funded, your credit card will not be charged.

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