Dyed, Colored, and Repainted 35th Anniversary Barbie

A photo of Mattel's 35th Anniversary Barbie, released in 1993 or 1994, was taken before I dyed and colored the doll in 2017.

In the "Dyeing to be Black" 6-part series published in March 2017, I dyed and colored a 35th Anniversary brunette Barbie. The doll's hard plastic torso did not fully absorb the Jacquard iDye Poly brown dye, so I colored the torso with a colored pencil to match the doll's dyed vinyl head and limb color.

This photo illustrates the final result of the 2017 dyeing and coloring project.

Some 9-1/2 years later, after a recent mishap in the doll room caused several wall-stacked boxed dolls (mostly Barbies) to fall, with my dyed 35th Anniversary Barbie being one of the fallen, I discovered that the dyed head and limbs had faded to a much lighter brown, actually beige while the colored torso remained cocoa brown. So, I had to remedy this by painting the torso to match the limbs.

I took this photo in September 2026 after I discovered the doll's dyed head and extremities had faded.

I removed the doll from the box, removed the wrist tag, and took this photo. 

After undressing Barbie, the next three photos were taken:

I pulled her bangs away from her face and wrapped her ponytail into a bun before painting. Rubber bands held the bangs and ponytail in place. 

After rinsing the torso with water to remove as much of the colored pencil as possible, I took this close-up photo and the next full-view photo.

The following two photos were taken after painting Barbie with one layer of Apple Barrel Territorial Beige paint and placing her in an empty coffee mug to air-dry.

The paint closely matches the head and extremities. For full coverage, I applied several more coats.

The following photos were taken after the final coat of paint dried and before I attempted to seal with Mr. Super Clear Matte Finishing Spray. 

Final coat of paint, photo 1

Final coat of paint, photo 2

Sealing:

I could only seal the front of the torso before I ran out of Mr. Super Clear Matte Finishing Spray. After the front dried, the next day I used FolkArt water-based varnish satin finish. I prefer Mr. Super Clear because the finish isn't shiny. The FolkArt product adds a slight sheen.

The following two photos were taken after the sealant dried.

 

I redressed her, took a complexion comparison photo, and returned Barbie to the box as illustrated in the last three photos.

Reattached to the box liner

The 35th Anniversary Barbie's complexion falls between the complexions of redressed Barbie Fashionista 206 and the playline 60th Anniversary Barbie.

And here she is... now a near even color.

Working on this doll off and on, this project took about two weeks to complete. 

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